Movie Review: The Host

Last week MrCaptKirk and I were lucky enough to score advanced screening passes for The Host! I was extremely excited about this! I as you know, I am a HUGE Twilight and Stephenie Meyer fan so I was thrilled to get an early peek at The Host, which is based on the book of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.

Here was my initial reaction upon seeing the movie, as seen on my Facebook page:

"The Host movie soooooooo awesomely awesome! I want to see it again asap. So different from Twilight but a great movie in my opinion. (So if you loved or hated Twilight give The Host a try!)"

The Host is about a parasitic alien race that invades Earth and takes over human bodies, turning humans into...Hosts. Get it?? Yeah... :) But as one might imagine, sometimes getting rid of all the human-ness out of a body might be more difficult in some cases and therefore leading to engaging story.

There is a love triangle but oh man it's got a twist to it! And The Host is not just a "love story," there is so much more going on. It's about survival and what it means to be human. It's about relationships, both romantic and familial, and what that means when your loved ones aren't your loved ones anymore. 

I read the book probably about four years ago now. (Wow, has it been that long!? I want to reread it soon. See more about the book, The Host, on Goodreads.) I remember liking The Host, thinking it was way different from Twilight, and it taking me a while to get into it but once I did, I really dug it. But I don't remember enough to really compare the book and the movie at all. I would say that I thought the movie pacing was very good and I didn't feel any long, disconnected period in the beginning like I remember feeling with the book. 

Saoirse Ronan, the actress that played Wanda/Melanie, did a fantabulous job! I was really blown away. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to play two characters. At once. Ah-mazing.

While I was watching the movie, I did notice (and how I missed this knowing how much I worshiped Stephenie Meyer's work at one point) that Stephenie has a thing for eyes. Stay with me here, in Twilight the eyes were one way you could identify the vampires and you could also tell if they were hungry and if they were "vegetarian" vamps or dined the more traditional vampire way, based on their eye color. Well in The Host you know when the alien soul had taken over a body...by the eyes!! Ahhh, mind blown. And sure like everyone else who has ever been remotely interested in Meyer's work already knew this. But I guess SEEING it on the big screen really made it clear to me. Like the old saying, "The eyes are the windows to the soul." (Clearly there wasn't a real point that rant, but isn't that cool?!)

My only real "complaint" with The Host was it was a little bit cheesy. But it actually kind of worked with the story. Imagine how lame you might be if you were new on the planet. You'd might be a bit lame too. So just go with the cheesiness as it provides some comic relief.

The movie ended at a good point but left it open for a sequel that I'm REALLY hoping for! And hey, it could happen! Stephenie confirmed she was working on a Host 2. See more on that on Hypable.

I asked the Mister what he thought about The Host. (He has also read the book.) Here's what he said, "My thoughts on The Host is that I REALLY liked it, and think that if there are more books coming in the series that it could be the next big series. I loved the character development and the acting.

In summary...WE LOVED IT. We totes recommend going to see it! I wish I could be there tonight for the 9 pm show! (I hate work gets in the way of my non-work interests!) Oh well, to help pass the time til I can see it again, I'll post the movie trailer. Although, watching it again REALLY makes want to watch the movie again. Like now. 

Let me know if you are planning to see The Host! Have you seen it? Leave me some comments, this is one item I'd love to discuss more!