by Allie Jackson, Guest Reporter

The Host, the latest adaptation of a Stephanie Meyer novel (writer of Twlight), is a science fiction love story about a strange love quadrangle and what it means to be human. I’m admittedly a fan of the novel, so this review will inevitably make references to the book, though I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.

It’s the not-too-distant future and Earth has been completely taken over by an invading alien species that the humans refer to as “Souls”. The Souls are wormlike creatures that take over the bodies of the hosts they inhabit, erasing the person within the host. The plot centers on a Soul called Wanderer who is implanted into a human host, Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan—Hanna). Unlike other hosts, Melanie refuses to fade away and continuously fights against Wanderer’s attempts to access her memories in order to protect her loved ones from being discovered by the ruthless Seeker (Diane Kruger – National Treasure). Wanderer/Melanie are eventually reunited with Melanie’s family, including sage uncle Jeb (William Hurt—Robin Hood), boyfriend Jared (Max Irons—Red Riding Hood), and new love interest Ian (Jake Abel—I Am Number Four).

The movie is pretty much carried by Ronan, who is impressive as the alien, mild mannered Wanderer and the sarcastic, feisty Melanie. Melanie’s conflict with Wanderer is done exclusively through voiceovers, which are a bit jarring at first. Over time, Melanie’s snide remarks provide comic relief, often commenting on the ridiculousness of the situation. Ronan does an admirable job despite the fact that much of the character development of both Wanderer and Melanie is lost without the book’s narration.

The main problem with the movie is that, much like the book, it can be rather slow, especially at the beginning. The novel is very much about the characters, romance, and exploration of what it means to be human. There’s not a lot of action and the complexity doesn’t translate well on the big screen. In order to cover the major plot points without running 3 hours, the movie cuts a ton of character development, leaving the viewers with good actors doing their best with rather one dimensional characters.

Part of the problem is that too much focus is placed on Kruger’s antagonist and not enough developing Wanderer/Melanie’s relationships with the other survivors. The love quadrangle doesn’t make as much sense in the movie because the audience never really gets a chance to know the characters and see their feelings develop. Despite not having much to do besides fight over Wanderer/Melanie, Irons and Abel are likeable and believable in their roles and each have decent chemistry with Ronan.

Despite my complaints, writer and director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, In Time) remained fairly faithful to the source material and did his best to improve on it. It could have been a complete waste of time in another writer and director’s hands, but Niccol manages to make you care about the characters and tell an interesting story. The only real failing in terms of the script is that it’s fairly superficial and doesn’t delve more into the interesting philosophical questions raised by the premise like it could have. On the other hand, Niccol did a great job with the sets and locations even if the setting is a departure from the books.

Overall:

The Host is a decently entertaining movie, if ultimately a bit forgettable. Fans of the novel will probably enjoy it but it may be a bit too slow or sappy for the uninitiated. Like the book, the movie ends with an opening for the inevitable sequel or two. However, it’s been five years since the story was published, and Meyer is nowhere near done with the planned sequel…so a movie franchise is unlikely at best. In the end, The Host was better than any of the Twilight movies (that just needed to be said).

ComicsOnline gives The Host 3 out of 5 Soul stealing aliens.

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