User reviews

I have read the book before the movie came out, but ill give a movie review separate from my book ideals of what it should have been.

As a movie on its own, its good. Not great. They have a little bit of action, and when i say little, i do mean little (under 5 minutes). There are some chrome vehicles, modern looking bland clothing etc. This movie is really about what makes us human. With a love triangle. Not nearly as dominant as it was in twilight. A very interesting premise for a movie. The acting was great, I really loved Jake Abel as Ian O'Shea. Dian kruger added some depth to her seeker attitude. Max Irons I found to be the weakest actor of the bunch, some of his lines were delivered poorly ("so help me"), but what really ties the cast in is William Hurt.He ties them all together, and ads some charm to his cliché lines that makes him very likable. Other noticeable actors were Scot Lawrence (Doc) and Francis Fisher (Maggie), but neither were given the screen time needed to develop any sort of charter, although it would have been ve3ry interesting to see. Nice scenery, and nice shots. The music (and some scene lacking) was great and added a indie touch to it.

Now, based off the book this movie kinda blew it. it was extremely different, cutting out characters and adding things that never were. I personally felt that by making all the Aliens dress the same, drive the same vehicles took away from the depth of the battle between the resistance and aliens. They were supposed to be creative, and find individualism in human hosts, which was very lacking. Instead the movie went in the direction of aliens turning humans into one mass of boring un unique sheep. I also wish they had kept a few of Wanda's experiences from other worlds in the movie, even as flash backs etc. This movie lacked as a sci-fi, as all we see are humans with contacts. It lacked as a romance as her love interest was gone for most of it.

If anything its a good movie about : "what is considered human? a and how shall we react that makes us human".

Not bad, i enjoyed it anyways, and my husband actually stuck around to watch it too lol./

In the future, Earth has been invaded by aliens that take over the human bodies with their souls to live a perfect life in a world without crime, violence or war and with the environment restored. However, a few humans still resist to the invaders and they are chased by The Seekers.

When the teenager Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) that belongs to the resistance is captured by the leader of The Seekers (Diane Kruger), the alien Wanderer takes over her body expecting to find where the humans are hidden. But Melanie is still in her body and resists to the Wanderer and asks her to not tell to The Seeker what she has learned to protect her brother Jamie (Chandler Canterbury), her boyfriend Jared Howe (Max Irons) and her friends. Wanderer feels empathy for her and keeps the secret but The Seeker decides to put Wanderer in another body and take her body. Melanie asks Wanderer to flee to meet her friends in the middle of the desert.

When Melanie's uncle Jeb (William Hurt) finds her dehydrated in the desert, he brings Melanie to his hideout and calls her Wanda. He also protects her from a group led by Ian O'Shea (Jake Abel) but along the days, Ian falls in love with Wanda. Meanwhile The Seeker is obsessed hunting Wanda down in the desert.

"The Host" is a movie with wrong marketing that misguide the viewers that expect to see a tense or full of action sci-fi in the style of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and find a pleasant romance. The plot is developed in low pace disappointing a great number of viewers. But the story is actually beautiful despite the flaws.

The beginning is too rushed and there is a poor development of Melanie. It does not make sense why Jeb's group wants to kill Melanie when they find her in the desert if Doc is trying to save the humans removing the alien "souls" from them. If the aliens are so peaceful, why is The Seeker so evil? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Hospedeira" ("The Host")

Note: On 12 March 2023, I saw this film again.

I was invited to "The Host" premiere last night and was very impressed by the film. I'm not a Twilight fan and have not read the book; If anything I was very suspect of this film and for whatever reason even felt negatively towards it (in an eye-rolling manner).

That said, I found myself walking out of the theater quite surprised. And yes, I still have my manhood and haven't transformed into "A Hoster" or a "Hostling" or whatever they may call the new breed. Honestly, I thought it had a wonderfully intriguing plot, good acting, and I was completely engaged. Yes, there was a bit of "romantic cheesiness" but it seemed to handle itself well and even poked fun of itself at times for this fact. I think if it wasn't for the excellent work of Niccol and Saoirse it might have easily slipped into laughable cheese, but amicably doesn't. Plenty of sophisticated action as well as thought-provoking concepts of love, loyalty, perseverance. A well rounded film overall. I especially enjoyed William Hurt but all the acting was on par.

Perhaps the Twilights were focused on teenagers but as a 30something guy I really liked it. I would definitely recommend giving this movie a chance to all. I'm just in the market now for a shiny silver Lotus.

The Host has an intriguing conceit. It is about a post-apocalypse where aliens take control on every human body then the remaining unpossessed humans fear them despite that these aliens only want peace. The story might have an idea that the humans could be the real enemy here or it's just both of them. The Sci-Fi bits are pretty interesting but it doesn't end there. It's based on a young adult novel so definitely there will be teenage hormones scattered around the context. It has romance that is suppose to save their world and change their lives, but once again just like any other young adult film, the romance is nothing more than a bunch of good looking people falling in love and doing romantic cliché stuff. Love may not be a problem to these stories but this romance is terribly empty. They're just making out and saying ridiculously cheesy lines. It would have been a fascinating idea but it just can't get away from its typical teen angst.

It is kind of similar to the recent young adult novel based film, Warm Bodies, except the antagonists in The Host are virtuous beings instead of ravenous monsters. It seems that both stories have the same morality. Humans are not the most peaceful beings either and maybe the order and mentality of both sides are the reason why they couldn't get along. When it goes to the romance, it says that Melanie and Wanda's love between the boys might revolt their world's condition. But it strays from its plot giving us a lousily told story and romance. Mostly the romance. It is noticeable that most of their "love" only rely on their lips. Which means they kiss a lot. We do not get to know much about why they care for each other, other than being one of the last normal human beings of their age. It is also filled with plot holes because of course it wants to appeal teens for the endless love that didn't even work. It is directed by Andrew Niccol who is somewhat a Sci-Fi expert but it looks like he's afraid that too much Sci-Fi than romance might disappoint these children. He could have been more indulgent.

The film has a solid cast but not all of them standout. Saoirse Ronan plays two roles here and she fills enough heart on both characters. Diane Kruger looks like she is enjoying playing the film's villain. The roles of Max Irons and Jake Abel seems to be only designed for kissing, slapping, and sometimes strangling, leaving William Hurt being the only likable gentleman of the picture.

The script explains some points of the concept which is fine in that way in spite of the plot holes but it gets terrible on the romance. There are dialogues that may get way out of hand, ends up being laughable. Even more laughable is one scene when the protagonist tries to wake up her subconscious by kissing her boyfriend. I don't know if I should blame anyone about it. I mean what choice does she have? Still, it's ridiculous. The film is at least stunning. It gets to explore something magnificent around. The exteriors serves a lot of intrigue to its world. It features shiny cars and choppers. Most of the action are well shot even though the action itself isn't really that interesting but everything in the film looks good.

The Host is not interesting enough. It thematically talks about peace and stuff. Well, you can make peace out of love but the film only shows kissing and I think there is more in love than just making out. Hormonally, this could be a perfect escapism for teens. An apocalyptic world about relationships of these good looking couples with fast awesome cars crashing on the road. But the story seems to offer more. Again, they are unable to show it because the only fan service for adaptations of teen books is to follow every single sequence from the book because they love comparing. Too bad, they could have also shown what's behind the words as well. The Host is another victim of a generic young adult film adaptation that doesn't understand much of the meaning of the story, and throw away the most bland of all romances.

Let us establish some facts here 1)The host is not twilight 2) Saoirse Ronan is not Kristen Stewart and 3) (Melanie / Wanda), well we can argue that point, is Bella 3.0t. If I had seen this movie first i would have definitely liked it more than twilight. I love the psychological play in the movie, i liked the story, but I really really really loved Saoirse Ronan in that role. She played it marvelously well, and the director did a great job portraying her two personalities. I can't tell you what it was missing yet; I am not getting payed for this so i am allowed to not know. I encourage you to see it, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a solid 7/10 for me.

Outside of The Twilight Saga, The Host is Stephanie Meyer's biggest novel and since the success of her supernatural series, her sci-fi novel has been adapted. There is a stronger cast and director for The Host, than the Twilight Saga, but how does it fare on its own terms? In the near future, Earth has been conquered by a parasitic alien race known as The Souls, who implant themselves into human bodies. Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan) is a member of the human resistance who gets captured when she tries to protect her younger brother, Jamie (Chandler Canterbury). Melanie gets implanted with a Soul, called Wanderer, with the aliens planning to use Melanie's memories in order to find the human resistance. As Wanderer explores Melanie's memories, she finds out about Melanie's lover, Jared (Max Irons) and the pair plan an escape to the desert to find the resistance camp. Within the camp, Wanderer falls for another human, Ian (Jake Abel), causing problems for all of them.

Let's get the comparisons with Twilight out the way; yes there is a is love triangle (or should that be a love square?), The Host has a much better lead actress with Ronan then Kirsten Stewart and has a stronger supporting cast, with the likes of William Hurt and Diane Kruger. Andrew Niccol also gives the film more creditability behind the camera, acting as both the writer and director. The Host has interesting ideas that had many potential avenues to explore: but unfortunately it focuses more on the love story instead of all of the other aspects that could have lead to a much more meaningful film.

Ronan does rise above the material and gives very strong performance, as you would expect from her. This is even more remarkable that she has to argue and talk with herself, like Homer Simpson arguing with his own brain. Whilst there was the potential for themes of locked in syndrome as Melanie is trapped inside her own head, fighting to control her own body or going through a more literal, internal conflict. But it turns really silly when she argues with herself over two men, as opposed of having a much more difficult time of having a stronger conflict within her character. Ronan gets battered and beaten throughout the film as she gets hit, verbally abused and discriminated against and yet, still persevere through everything she's up against.

Whilst Ronan does a good job, the two men she is meant to be conflicted about are blank stales. Neither actor has much of a personality or character and they are very indistinguishable from each other. Ronan has no choice but to carry the film, considering that there was nothing going for the main love interests. At least Hurt and Kruger looked like they were having fun with their roles and were highly professional with their performances.

The idea of some sort of insider for an oppressive regime having an awakening, usually because a love interest and ends up turning against their own side has been used before. We have seen it in novels like Nineteen-Eighty Four, Fahrenheit 451 and We and films such as Metropolis and THX-1138. The Host does twist this age old idea in sci-fi, even if the execution was lacking.

The Host had a really strong premise with opportunities to explore multiple themes. They could have been themes about identity, the battle within the mind, split personalities, trust and how humans would survive after this invasion. But like Twilight, the film only touches on these concepts and puts all of its focus in the wrong places.

Much like Twilight, The Host has been criticised for its dialogue and being unintentionally funny. It is true that the film has some bad dialogue, but with some of the moments that were comical that had be intentional, with some of its moments of cultural clash and the bickering between Wanderer and Melanie. There are also some dark moments and there were really refreshing when they do come around.

Niccol is known for being an excellent writer director, making Gattaca and Lord of War and was nominated for an Academy Awards for his screenplay for The Truman Show. The Host is his first adaptation and it felt very rigidly close to the source material. What it results to is a bland experience that has episodic nature, having mini-plots with some developments, instead of a larger overarching story. Looks wise, the film is pretty flat and dull, using nothing but silver chrome for the alien technology, concrete and glass for the buildings and the humans are based in an empty desert environment. The cinematography and the special effects were solid but, Niccol was coasting and he is much more capable then this.

Currently on Rotten Tomatoes, The Host has an 12% rating and seemingly on course to be considered one of the worst films of 2013. Whilst it is hard to argue that The Host is a good movie, it is certainly not terrible: its crime is merely being mediocre, dull and forgettable.

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This movie you will either enjoy or hate to be honest. If you want something that is action-packed and filled with cool sci-fi moments do not see this movie. Yes the movie is sci-fi but it's more about romance. It also is a tad slower.

However, the cast was fantastic and the script was beautiful. There were cheesy moments but it was still really sweet and well done. Basically what I am saying, is if you like romance with a twist go and see it! If you are expecting something like Gattaca, you will be disappointed.

I really loved the movie and felt it held up to the book. I usually hate movie versions of books but this was really good! If you like the book chances are you are going to like the movie. There are tweaks of course, but I thought they were mainly well done and helped get the same message across.

The power of love in the midst of alien invasion.

One of the more unusual sci-fi films, in the sense that everything about it is low key and quiet. There are no big action scenes or impressive chasing; they do take place but are not central to the plot.

We follow a team of people who try to survive in an occupied planet where their lives take an unexpected turn when one of them is taken over by the invading species, so whilst on the outside it is Melanie, on the inside she is a host. Being resistant means that she is not entirely taken over.

Her presence amongst what used to be her people proves controversial as some are happy to see the Melanie they loved and missed, other see the mark of hosts and want her dead - understandably so.

As said earlier there is a sense of numbness about this film but it is such for a reason. This movie is about a group of people trying to survive and it is about abducted Melanie who tries to survive. The latter though occupied by a host is still resisting, hence not being instantly killed by her team. As their struggles to endure are joined this forms the centrepiece of the storyline.

Those who anticipate a sci-fi movie in the action sense are in for a disappointment. Despite the deadness to it, it has a moral to convey and holds its ground without ever being tiresome. William Hurt is outstanding.

An intelligent, inventive addition to the genre.

I came to see this film because of Andrew Niccol (Gattaca is my favorite movie),a bit afraid of Stephanie Meyer's work but still open minded to a quite good SF plot with some romance. But I found myself in front of a terrible teen-movie. And not the good kind like we used to see in the 90's. Artistic work is completely absent. The world shown in this film is interesting but not described sufficiently.

I found that the narrative form was quite ineffective and the dialogs were so dull that not a single piece of "philosophy" can be extracted.

On the top of all that, the love story is foretold and occupies the 3/4 of the scenes. And the acting (even Saoirse Ronan that already did very good job in other movies) was so lame, you can't relate to the characters.

In my opinion, this film lacks of an audacious directing to be good. There was material but it has been spoiled.

If you're over 15, I don't recommend this film. If you're under, well I don't recommend it neither, but I'll understand if you find some pleasure to see it.

This movie is beautiful from the beginning to the end. This is its prime interesting. I don't want to speak about the acting, the story or the editing in details. I wouldn't know what to say except it all concurred to make of this movie a beautiful experience I would love to share. I need to see it again and again. Not too often so that I don't feel anything after a while _ I want to relive this moment again and again.

I know it is not fair to judge a film in comparison to book source material, but The Host leaves out crucial elements (a la "Walter" and the souls with the baby in the park - for those who have read the book). Therefore, it did not meet my expectations. That being said, standing alone it is a good movie. It starts off a bit slow (as does the book) but picks up speed about 15 minutes in to the film.

Despite the non-resemblance of the film characters to the book characters, I thought casting was brilliant. Basically, the production was smart enough to hire the best actors they could find. While Saorise Ronan was fantastic as Wanda (she missed the accent a few times as the voice of Melanie), it was William Hurt as "Jeb" and Chandler Canterbury as "Jamie" that stood out. In even the simplest of scenes, Hurt commands the dialogue in a way that is so natural and poignant. He connects in a way that everything he says is important and heartfelt. Canterbury nails the entire emotional range of "Jamie" and was quite the surprise; sensitive, caring and upbeat at times and yet tortured by the longing for his sister. I was amazed how he could move from tears of sadness to tears of joy almost instantly and really make you understand with just facial expressions. Another one to mention was Diane Kruger as "the seeker". She was not what I imagined the character to be at all. That being said, she sold it! Not evil but clearly inwardly conflicted.

The cinematography was just stunning. The score was good and certainly added to key moments. The script was okay. I felt the dialogue was a bit cheesy at times but the actors handled it well and were able to sell the material. It was difficult to get past the inner dialogue of Melanie talking to Wanda in the beginning of the film. I got used to it towards the middle and there were some (I believe intentionally) funny moments in the film with Wanda and Melanie going back and forth. As I said before, Melanie's Louisiana accent was a bit off at times which was a distraction for me.

All in all, it is a good film. Not great but good. I will certainly see it again when I can rent it on Redbox!

If I had payed to see this I would've asked for my money back afterwards... that's how bad it was.

One of the worst book adaptations I've ever seen. I read the book a couple of years back and absolutely LOVED it. It's a great book - intelligent, innovative, entertaining, and addicting. To put it in perspective, the book in about 600 pages, and the move was about maybe 200 pages of it? It made me sad because they turned it from Hunger Games status to Twilight status - and Stephanie Myers is to blame there. Known for Twilight and vampire love stories, the writers and director of the Host tailored to the sales rather than the story. They cut out all the action and background information and just gave the love triangle - which is exactly what the Twilight movies did. Honestly, it was just so bad. My friends never read the book and were so confused the entire way. I had to explain everything to them afterwards because in the movie they took out all the background information! They skipped over WAY too much. The result of the movie: a futuristic story about aliens taking over the mind's and body's of the human race which leads to rebellion and a cheesy love triangle. ALSO: The ending sets up for a sequel to this movie - a sequel that doesn't exist because Myers never wrote a second book of the Host... so I don't know what they're trying to pull but seriously I don't get it. PLEASE I BEG YOU DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. I'M TIRED OF THE FILM INDUSTRY GETTING AWAY WITH THE MURDER OF GREAT NOVELS. DON'T SEE IT!!!!!!!!

I have to say that this movie only works for people who have read the book. I have read it and there're some parts in the movie that you can truly understand if you have read the book.

I liked the book years ago, because the love story between Ian and Wanda is very moving. You can't see this in the movie. It comes out cheese. Jared and Wanda develop and interesting relationship, too. For example, in the book, Jared cries when Wanda is going to see the Doc to take her out of Melanie's body.

I know a film is never like the book and I also know the movie isn't a very good one, I'm only saying, that the film is only truly appreciated by people who have read the book.

First of all... I'm not some high-brow snooty movie critic type: I enjoyed "Olympus has Fallen" which was pure escapist action/violence/nonsense. I can also 'do' camp: I enjoyed "I am Number Four" and I'm pretty sure there won't be an "I am Number Five" (even though I WOULD go to see it). And I love (and essentially live for) science fiction. So it was because of the Sci-Fi angle that I had SOME hope of at least an enjoyable time.

I'm posting this review TRULY and ONLY to warn you.

This was one of those movies where the director also did the screen writing, which is rarely a good idea. It turned out that the "dialog" in this atrocity was nearly beyond tolerance: NOTHING left to the imagination, nothing left unsaid, nothing implied. The actors might as well have been faceless walking sticks. Who needs to act when you're saying everything you want the audience to feel and understand and think? The special effects were okay, and acting was okay.

If I had anything else that I might have done (I already finished my taxes and don't need any dental work) I would have left part way through the "event". And because I really didn't want to ruin any one else's experience, I was a bit uncomfortable that my and my girlfriend's audible groans throughout the movie might have been doing that. (Other's may have been thinking... why don't those two just leave?) And we should have. But you know how sometimes a train wreck is morbidly fascinating? You get the idea. Really. DON'T LET ANYONE TALK YOU INTO SEEING THIS! You've been warned.

/Steve. (@SGgrc)

I have not read the book, so I only had a vague synopsis of the story from a movie trailer. After watching the movie, I want to read the book to discover more details that a 2 hour movie cannot possibly accomplish for such a lenghty novel.

I found the movie intriguing and well written. It captures the distinct personalities of both Melanie and Wanda, which could have been a disaster. It was sci-fi movie that explored many emotions and was a great escape for 2 hours. The cinematography was awesome from the desert scenes to the futuristic.

It is different from the "Twilight Series" and I wish people would not compare the two. Hopefully, there will be a sequel!

I went into this movie expecting something decent. Perhaps my hopes were a bit too high. First off, I have not read the book and now being aware of the whole plot, I definitely don't plan too. The plot never really went anywhere. It starts out with plenty of action and anticipation, but ultimately falls short and ends up being really boring and lacking any real conflict. At one point I thought Diane Kruger was going to save the film, but the character development was poor. Overall, the acting was weak, the plot never took off, it became a make out session with no emotional attachment to characters. I strongly recommend you not waste your time or money on this sorry excuse for a film.

I went to see this film last night, expecting it to not live up to the Twilight Saga, as both are adapted from Meyer's novels. When the first film of the Twilight Saga came out, it wasn't near as good as the book, and I was slightly hesitant that The Host was going to repeat that.

How wrong was I.

Although I was slightly confused at the beginning, the movie suddenly gripped my attention. I feel as though the film had just the right levels of tension, action, drama and comedy.

However, I felt like more information could have been added. It's as though editors cut out scenes which I feel would be necessary to the plot.

Ronan's performance was superb, I doubt they could have cast a better actress to play the role of Melanie/Wanda. I also appraise Kruger for her role as the somewhat "villain" of the film, The Seeker.

As many reviews have previously stated, the "cheesy" parts were a bit hard to digest. Although, the elements of comedy within the cheese made it more laughable than having me cringe in my seat.

As a whole, I think it was a good adaptation of the novel, although some parts didn't make sense due to necessary scenes being deleted, it did leave me thinking about the possibility of an alien host. And any film that leaves you thinking that it could happen is always a good film.

okay, so I read the book and loved it. Stephenie Meyer should've gotten famous based off this book because it rocks, whereas Twilight...not so much. I thought I would like the movie since I enjoyed the book so much, guess what? I don't, the acting is bad and when the actors are talking they're so breathy nothing seems serious. Surprisingly enough it doesn't vary from the plot of the book too much. mostly it is the acting and music, those combined give the movie a very mellow emo feel that is hard too explain until you watch the movie but nonetheless make it boring and cheesy. I'm actually so disappointed by this movie that I got on here as I'm watching it to write this review.