The Host

An update of the classic Asian monster movies of yore, "The Host" boasts a wicked sense of humor and vastly improved special effects. (Not once do you see a zipper up the back of a rubber suit.)

Korean writer-director Joon-Ho Bong has crafted a film that just kicks butt from start to finish, even though its anti-American sentiment feels a bit half-baked. He is clearly well-acquainted with the genre, though, and is confident enough in his abilities to make it his own.

Reminiscent of another recent smart, sly horror movie, 2004's "Shaun of the Dead," "The Host" begins with a dry, frequently absurd comic sensibility, but steadily grows darker, more intense and truly thrilling.

Pollution in Seoul's Han River (caused by a thoughtless American scientist, naturally) gives birth to a freakishly large, angry, mutant fish that's a marvel to behold — the product of a collaboration between the visual effects specialists at Weta Workshop (the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy) and The Orphanage ("Sin City").

The creature is at once both familiar and unlike anything you've seen before: It swings gracefully from bridges, leaps from the water to lash people with its long tail and frequently just hops up on shore and runs after its prey. And the first time we see it, it thunders onto the scene — no oppressively melodramatic music to accompany its arrival, which makes it even more powerful. The monster knows how to make an entrance (and so does Bong).

Oh, did we mention? The fish has feet. And several buggy eyes that sprout all over its scaly head, with a mouth that opens like a tulip, sucking people in and either spitting them back out or devouring them to their bones. Very clever and cool.

One of the victims it picks up and scampers off with is teenage schoolgirl Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko), which forces her slacker dad, Gang-Du (Kang-ho Song), and the rest of her dysfunctional family to spring into action to rescue her.

Hyun-seo's aunt, Nam-Joo (Du-na Bae), is a competitive archer with a propensity for choking at the most crucial moments (though her skills do come in handy as the film progresses). Her uncle, Nam-il (Hae-il Park), is the family's comparative success story: He actually has a college degree, though he has no job. And, family patriarch Hie-bong (Hie-bong Byeon) runs a longtime food stand on the banks of the river, where Gang-Du works (but mostly snoozes).

At first, they assume Hyun-seo is dead, along with countless others who fell in the path of the monster's rampage; rather than console each other, they collapse in a pile of kicking and slapping and laying blame for her fate. But then, they receive a scratchy cell phone call from the sewer and realize she's still alive — and that they must save her, even though they have absolutely no clue what they're doing.

They're a Korean version of the "Little Miss Sunshine" clan, complete with a minivan (which they've stolen), which would seem annoyingly trite if it weren't so curiously charming itself. They're so well developed, you really grow to care about these people.

Meanwhile, a hysteria is spreading across the region, as it seems anyone who came into contact with the monster is carrying a deadly virus (hence the title). The government borrows a U.S. military device for cleansing the area: the very mysterious Agent Yellow, which causes nothing but paranoia and panic. Basically, everything American in the film causes paranoia and panic, a political concept Bong broaches but never truly fleshes out.

But the director does know how to create a mood that tingles with suspense; he grabs you and doesn't let go, and he doesn't go for the easy ending. And that's anti-American too, in the best possible way.

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To craft an effective horror comedy is a difficult enough task in its own right; add some heartfelt family drama, poetic political commentary, and a giant formaldehyde monster into the mix, and you've got a serious challenge on your hands. While all signs indicate that a big-budget genre-bender such as Bong Joon-ho's The Host should well buckle under the weight of its own ambition, the filmmaker who explored Korea's first-ever serial-killer case in the stunning Memories of Murder creates a stunning creature feature that is every bit as thrilling, moving, and darkly humorous as that earlier effort. A film that shares strong parallels with the original Japanese Godzilla, The Host opens with a recreation of an actual military transgression that took place on an American military base in Seoul in February 2000. Ordered by a high-ranking American military official to directly violate accepted procedures for chemical disposal by dumping gallons upon gallons of expired formaldehyde into a drain leading to the Han River, a low-ranking Korean soldier reluctantly carries out his duties under visible duress. While it may not have the visceral impact of the hydrogen bomb blast responsible for spawning Godzilla, the reckless polluting of the planet as presented illustrates precisely how humankind has failed to learn from its past mistakes while simultaneously highlighting increased international concern over military arrogance. Of course, it goes without saying that the illicit chemical dump has some particularly troubling consequences in the film, and this is where Bong's talents as a filmmaker truly begin to shine.

When we first meet the Park family, they come off as a textbook study in modern dysfunction; immediately after precocious schoolgirl Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-sung) complains that her uncle has shown up in her classroom reeking of alcohol, her developmentally stunted father responds by plopping her down in front of the television and slapping a cold beer in her hand for dinner. Not only is Hyun-seo's bumbling man-child of a father an entirely ill-suited candidate for parenthood and her uncle a hopeless lush, but her aunt is a self-flagellating overachiever who seems hell-bent on sabotaging a potentially successful sporting career. The only member of the family who seems to have his head screwed on straight is Hyun-seo's put-upon grandfather, but he's too busy running the family food stand to serve as an effective (grand)father figure to the young girl. When a giant rampaging beast comes blasting up from the Han and snatches up little Hyun-seo, Bong goes over the top to portray the family's desperate struggle to avert military quarantine for a purported monster-borne virus and rescue the young girl with a grace generally not afforded to the typical monster flick. The thoughtfully written characters are exceptionally well-realized by a talented cast, the pacing is unique and distinctive, and the highly innovative twists are both thrilling and shattering. Much credit for the film's distinctive tone goes to composer Lee Byung-woo, whose classy and memorable score helps the film transcend its slimy mutant-river-monster origins and elevate it to a new and emotionally resonant level. The final showdown between family and beast is staged with a genuine elegance. Despite the fact that some of The Host's humor and cultural commentary may be lost on foreign viewers, the film still stands as an impressive blend of drama, action, and humor that never ceased to be entertaining, and is likely to stick with the viewer much longer than your run-of-the-mill monster flick. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide