The Host

The Host was better than I thought it would be.  It wasn't perfect. I really liked the novel. It has an interesting premise and though it is still adolescent romance, it was an engaging story. I wanted the movie to be as engaging as the book. I had heard the movie wasn't; that it was bad. It received poor ratings and did not make what I think people expected from something related to Twilight. (Love it or hate it, Twilight made a lot of money.)

From what I had heard, I expected The Host to be completely toneless. It almost was.  The movie had the bones of the novel.  There were no gradual build-ups. The characters would meet, do what they're supposed to do, then they are suddenly in love, or forgive each other or hate each other. Relationships, romantic and otherwise, need to develop.  They did not, they were whatever they were supposed to be.

Saoirse Ronan, who played Wanderer/Melanie was the bright spot for me.  Lucky for the movie, she was the lead actor, or they would have had nothing.  Ronan was lovely. I think she was able to create two distinct personalities in Melanie, the human, and Wanderer, the alien who inhabits her body. Ronan brought emotion to the characters and the movie, but she can't be expected to carry the whole thing on her own.

The movie existed at the same tone for the entire two hours.  There were not ups and downs except for the end during Wanderer's "final" words.  Everything else was even. The story from the book is a good one.  A movie with emotional valleys and mountains could have been great, it could have been better than Twilight.  It wasn't.  It wasn't horrid, at least.

(Wow... That's an awful last sentence to end on... Oh well.)