Review: The Host

BY DANIELLE ONAFRAYCHUK

The Host, the highly anticipated film, based off the novel by Stephanie Meyer, was finally released on March 29, 2013.

In The Host there is an unseen enemy, almost like a virus, that conquers the bodies of humans and tries to eliminate bad behavior to create a “perfect world.” One girl manages to fight back and attempts to save the rest of humankind. The cast is comprised of Saoirse Ronan as Melanie, Diane Kruger as the Seeker, Jake Abel as Ian O`Shea, and Max Irons as Jared Howe.

The movie dragged and didn`t make sense in some parts, but there was something about it that kept me drawn in. The effects are phenomenal and the background shots in each scene are really beautiful. As much as they categorized it as an action and adventure movie, it mostly revolves around the romantic aspect.

As mentioned before, the movie was extremely long for no apparent reason. There were many long scenes leading up to nothing that could have been removed to shorten the two hour and five minute run time. When the movie first began I was completely lost on what was happening. There was no background knowledge given before the first scene or even during the first scene, just a girl being hunted down for no reason. As it continued you sort of get the gist of what is occurring, but I still was wondering what is going on from time to time.

No one really enjoys a movie where nothing bad happens, and that is what The Host is. None of the main characters die in some tragic way that leaves you heartbroken and the evil people are defeated. Basically it was just too much of a happy ending movie, which is what most of us think we want, but in reality just ends up being boring.

Despite the negative drawbacks there was still some positive aspects to the film. The few select scenes of action are pretty intense and thrilling and the acting is good. Saoirse Ronan acted phenomenally well in a role with two very different personalities. Basically every actor/actress in The Host portrayed their character extremely well and was able to make you feel the emotions they were going through and understand the reasons for their actions. In many movies you don`t feel the connection between you and the leading actors, but this movie did a great job of covering that aspect.

All in all The Host wasn`t the greatest movie I`ve ever seen but if you have spare time and happen to be stuck at the movies, you might enjoy it. I would recommend it if you`re in the mood for a fairytale ending or a girl looking for a sappy romance.