In the world of science fiction and horror, one crucial element has long been missing - the monster movie. It had its prime in the 1950s and 1960s with movies like "This Island Earth" and "Godzilla, King of Monsters," but in the past few years, a lot of movies have fallen short. Maybe it was the Matthew Broderick remake of "Godzilla" that killed it all off.
Or maybe it was movie audiences becoming too obsessed with the grisly to really let the fantastic come in again. But in the films of the last few years, only "Slither" really stands out. It wasn't all that great - but it was fun.
And that's exactly what a good monster movie is about. Fun. Joon-Ho Bong realizes this.
The South Korean director has given us a film with all of the same plot details as the usual monster movie and made it fun to watch. An American scientist instructs his Korean lab assistant to dump formaldehyde down the drain, where it will go into a nearby river. But every monster movie would have us know how terrible an idea this is.
In this instance, it causes a giant, amphibious creature to rise out and attack the town. All the bystanders are quarantined - but Park Gang-Du thinks his daughter, Hyun-seo, is still alive, and he convinces his two siblings and father to go after her. But everyone believes that Gang-Du carries the virus from the creature, so the whole of the government is after him and the family.
The CGI is impressive - more impressive than a lot of the clunky CGI in Hollywood productions. The monster, until the finale, seems to fit in well with the environment. And it actually looks kind of cool, though comparisons can be made to the thing from "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
" All in all, "The Host" is a mindless monster fair with its heart in the right place. And in between the heart, there's lots of fighting and shooting and monster action. It's a movie that will hopefully shed some light on the Korean horror industry, as the Japanese ghost story has run its course with a few too many creepy girls with long black hair.
Well, just so long as the monster of "The Host" doesn't go on to fight giant moths and robotic versions of itself.
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