Whether you like it or not, author Stephenie Meyer created a
worldwide phenomenon with her Twilight
series. The books were adapted into a hugely successful film franchise as
Twi-hards turned out in droves to watch Kristen Stewart choose between the
hunky werewolf Jacob or the pale, sparkly vampire Edward. Meyer looked to catch
lightning in a bottle once more with her follow-up novel The Host, which has been turned into a big-budget picture by Open
Road Films and Universal.
The Host falls firmly
into the realm of science fiction, but continues many of the themes Meyer
tackled in Twilight, specifically
teen romance and a female protagonist trying to find her place in a topsy-turvy
world. The Host is basically Invasion of the Body Snatchers for tweens
as the Earth is invaded by alien beings known as 'Souls.' The Souls quickly
possess the majority of the human population with only a few scattered pockets
of resistance. Among those still free is Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), whose
father chose to kill himself rather than be taken. Melanie has survived on the
run alongside her younger brother, Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), and boyfriend
Jared Howe (Max Irons, son of Jeremy Irons). Unfortunately, she is captured on
a supply run by a Seeker (Diane Kruger) and implanted with a Soul known as
Wanderer. Melanie's spirit remains strong and she resists Wanderer's attempts
to access her memories to discover the whereabouts of other free humans.
Melanie and Wanderer enter into a reluctant symbiosis as
they evade the Seeker and journey to Melanie's home in the Arizona desert.
There, her Uncle Jeb (William Hurt) has transformed a vast cave system into a
self-sustaining sanctuary. Jeb takes Wanderer in and nicknames her Wanda in
spite of everyone's protests and firm belief that Melanie is dead. The plot
thickens when Wanda develops feelings for the hunky Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel).
The crux of the story revolves around the odd love triangle
in which two girls share one body. It’s a credit to the abilities of Saoirse
Ronan (who was cast after producers saw her in Hanna) that she is able to argue with herself less silly. This is certainly a
Herculean task given the hoary dialogue Ronan is forced to speak, such as "Kiss me like you want to get
slapped." The tangled romance loses more credibility given that
Melanie/Wanda's love interests are a couple of cardboard cutouts from an
Abercrombie & Fitch display. The movie slowly atrophies once it focuses on the
young and the beautiful as they moon for each other.
The Host doesn't
get off to a bad start. Director Andrew Niccol, who also helmed Gattaca and In Time (along with the underrated Lord of War), knows how to handle slick sci-fi. Niccol sets the
right atmosphere by immersing us into the sleek, utilitarian society of the
Souls with their chrome sports cars and minimalist shops simply named
"Store." However, once The Host
settles into the desert caves, the story slows to a crawl as we are introduced
to a number of uninteresting characters and their equally insipid
relationships. On the positive side, Melanie is a stronger and more independent
heroine than Twilight's passive and
mopey Bella. Also, you can always count on actors like William Hurt, Frances
Fisher, and Diane Kruger to bring some gravitas to even the most lackluster
material.
If you're going to watch a movie titled The Host, skip this Stephenie Meyer adaptation and go for Bong
Joon-ho's monster movie instead.
Rating: * (*****)