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There’ll be many who’ll apply the praise “Better than ‘Twilight!’” to “The Host,” as this new (and occasionally superior) film also is based on a book by “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer. But such kudos would wrongly suggest that the “Twilight” flicks raised some kind of artistic bar, and what’s more, this dystopian soap opera bears more than a passing resemblance to the ballad of Bella and Edward.
The plot is enough to make one’s head spin: Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is one of few humans left on Earth after the invasion of a race of body-snatching “Souls,” whose possessions are marked by the presence of glowing irises. Melanie gets possessed, too, though not fully, as she mentally fights against her occupier, “Wanderer,” and leaves two minds working to control the same body, presenting the ultimate internal conflict. Things get especially tricky when Melanie urges Wanderer to run off to a human hideout, where Melanie’s beau, Jared (Max Irons), and another hunk, Ian (Jake Abel), each fall for one half of the same form.
So, once again, Meyer has penned an elaborate female fantasy, wherein two men pine after a “special girl” of remarkable power (for reasons never explained, Melanie also possesses superhuman strength). That’s all fine and good for the film’s target audience, but there have already been enough apologetic reviews lobbed at “The Twilight Saga,” which repeatedly got off the hook because “the fans would love it.”
The truth is, “The Host,” like its epic, soul-sister predecessor, offers a cavalcade of preposterous dialogue, thin characterizations, on-the-nose metaphors and romance-novel-lite couplings — all of it adding up to a whole lot of not much. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the film also inexplicably throws in pseudo-biblical names like Jebediah (Melanie’s uncle played by William Hurt), and proves a poor vehicle for Ronan, whose goofy narration makes her “The Lovely Bones” voiceover seem comparatively poetic.
One major plus is that the in-pursuit “villains,” led by Diane Kruger, have near-three-dimensional depth. It’s a pity the same can’t be said for the film in general.
The Host
PG-13
One reel out of four
Opens tomorrow at area theaters
Recommended Rental
LUV
R
Available Tuesday
A sort of urban cousin to “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “LUV” follows a young boy (Michael Rainey Jr.) as he’s taught to live in a tough world by his ex-con, gangster uncle (Common). Rapper-turned-actor Common shines as the unlikely father figure, and though the movie stumbles as it reveals its typical crime-lineage plot points, the bond between the central figures feel true. The underseen film also stars Danny Glover, Dennis Haysbert and Meagan Good.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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