The Host

Poor The Host. (Although, 'poor' might not really be an accurate word to describe a movie that has collected $30m in a week. It was made on a $40m budget, according to Wikipedia.)

But poor the movie, it felt rushed. While I was still trying to grasp the emotion in one scene, the next scene was already up.

Since it's only appropriate to compare it with another Stephenie-Meyer's-book-to-movie and because it's the easiest thing to do -- I really like the book, more than I like Twilight. So I had a high expectation for the movie. I followed Twilight for the fun and the broody vampires with unwashed hair. With The Host, despite still taking a lot of notes from the Twilight playbook, I really wanted it to be good. I don't think the 800-page-book-cannot-be-squeezed-into-a-two-hour-movie excuse is enough for me.

So it was a bit confusing when the three guys behind me commented that the movie was slow. One guy next to me got into the hall just to finish his popcorn and drink, then left after the first half of the movie. This was a Monday morning (my favourite time watching movies) crowd, not even half of the seats were filled. Another guy on my right snored about 40 minutes into the movie, woke up 20 minutes after and left. Seriously dude, you are disrespecting a section of teenage girls all around the world right now. He totally didn't look like the demographic, by the way: he wore contractor boots! And yes, there were quite a number of guys in the hall. I hate to think they were expecting Terminator when they heard the movie was about aliens.

If I had not read the book first, I wouldn't understand the characters at all -- why they fell in love, why they became friends, how confused they were, why they were angry or scared or happy. I don't think the relationships and characters in the movie were given enough time to develop like the book did. Book Ian described the reason he's drawn to Wanda with 'It's not the face, it's the expression on it. It's not the voice, it's what she says. It's not how she looks in the body, it's the things she does with it.' I don't see how Ian in the movie had enough time to notice all that.

While I also wish the camera work pulled the viewers in, I love the score (by Antonio Pinto) especially the one in the chasing scene between Aaron and Brandt and the Seekers. And if it does make any difference, the dialogue is less cheesy than Twilight's, the acting is good and the cast is likeable. Also, I'm glad no one is shirtless in the movie. We are so over that selling point already. In fact, I'm digging the '50s oversized sorbet coloured shirts.

Bottom line: I don't really care if this movie is all about squeezing money, it could have been a better movie. God knows I’ve been waiting for ages for it.

p/s Doesn't Jake Abel remind you of Kevin Bacon?

Image: Open Road Films