Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Snowmeow]

The movie "The Host" is very well reviewed at suicidegirls.com, which of course is the authority in movie criticism (/insert sarcasm). Has anyone seen the movie?

A snippet:

The Host director Joon-ho Bong
By Daniel Robert Epstein
Mar 6, 2007

Many critics and fans are calling the Korean horror movie, The Host, the greatest monster movie ever made. That�s not just hyperbole, The Host is fast, fun but still manages to sneak in some very astute social commentary on the side of both the Korean and US governments. The plot is simple, a creature was created due to a US military pathologist [played by Scott Wilson] pouring dozens of bottles of chemicals into a Korea based US military base sink, where they are then washed into the Han River. The creature smashes and attacks people in the small city until it captures a young girl and boy. The father of the young girl believes her to be dead and a memorial service is held. But the girl has managed to take a cellphone with her and places a call which ignites her family to her aid."

[Bibbitybop]

It's ok for an over the top, not scary horror movie. It's nice to see something filmed in Seoul. Also, from I understand, the Korean name doesn't translate to "The Host."

[Stinky Llama]

I just saw this movie a couple weeks ago and found it to be pretty entertaining. I found it more comedic than even remotely scary though. ^^

[oneofthesarahs]

There's a fine line when a horror tries to incorporate comedy without it just become schlocky and over-the-top. I thought it walked the line fairly well. It's a fun movie.

It's a comedy/sci-fi/horror/drama/satire/monster movie/some other thing, but it's also the sort of script that actually fits together without being abrasive or self-consciously wacky.

[trigger123]

[RACETRAITOR]

The movie had elements of comedy and horror in it, which didn't bother me at all. The characters are weirdos so it's okay, but all the rest of it is played pretty seriously. I didn't think it was all that scary for sure.

Ebert and Roeper (or Roeper and random guest) reviewed it. Roeper thought it was anti-American propaganda and the other host compared it to Godzilla, who was also created by American force.

[JeJuJitsu]

I haven't seen this due to so many of you on here saying it was beyond terrible, but since Ebert & whoever gave it two thumbs up, TheOnion AV Club gave it a good review, I gotta see it.

Note to self: Don't take movie review advice from Dave's

[The King of Kwangju]

Saw it last week, I thought it was great.

Here in Toronto it's the toast of the town. Screenings at the Toronto Film Fest were sold out, and all the hipsters are going on about it.

[Hollywoodaction]

[ajgeddes]

I thought it was a piece of crap movie. It is almost, or possibly is, the worst Korean movie I have ever seen from the past 5 years.

[Dev]

[flakfizer]

There've already been some threads on this, but as I mentioned before, the movie was terrible and doesn't really classify as a "monster movie" in my book.
To me, a real monster movie is about the monster and the urgent need to stop it. In this movie, the focus was not at all on the monster and it's destructiveness, but on rescuing a girl. You could have removed the monster from the movie without changing the plot too much. Just have the girl be missing and trapped somewhere while the family stops at nothing to find her. Monsters should be scary because they are a huge threat and seem unstoppable due to their amazing prowess or keen, almost human cleverness. The monster in this movie had no personality. Didn't seem hell-bent on destruction, didn't seem clever or stealthy, didn't frighten. Oh, but it was an excellent diver. I am shocked that "critics" anywhere saw anything good in this movie.

[JeJuJitsu]

The Onion's AV Club had this to say:

Bong Joon-ho's vastly entertaining creature feature The Host shattered box-office records in its native South Korea, which counts as an encouraging sign that Hollywood has lost its monopoly on effects-heavy escapism. But even that achievement sells short the film's specific virtues, like a daylight monster attack that could stand toe-to-toe with anything in Spielberg's oeuvre or the playful mix of tones that made Bong's previous film, Memories Of Murder, so distinctive. It can also be appreciated as a sweeping metaphor for America's toxic intervention abroad, though never to the point where it could be accused of high-mindedness. Most of all, The Host functions as a popcorn movie par excellence, loaded with the most familiar conventions, but shot through with such conviction and visual panache that even its clich�s seem invigorating.

In the prologue, an American military officer orders dozens of dust-covered formaldehyde bottles to be poured down the drain, ignoring protests that the noxious liquid will go directly into the Han River, which flows into Seoul. Cut to six years later, when oafish layabout Song Kang-ho minds the riverside snack trailer owned by his family, including his scolding father Byeon Heui-bong, his young daughter Ko A-sung, and his sister Bae Du-na, who's in the national archery finals. (Not that her skills will figure into the story at some point down the line, of course.) Suddenly, on this ordinary afternoon, a giant creature with tentacles springs out of the river and starts devouring everyone in its path. When it scoops up Ko and deposits her in its sewer lair, it's up to Song and his family to rescue the girl before it's too late.

Bong and his special-effects team take a major risk by exposing their creature to the light of day, where it could easily look cheesy or disconnected from the real environment, but the CGI could pass muster in a production with 10 times its budget. Still, what really sells the monster is Bong's impressive arsenal of old-fashioned visual tricks, like tucking crucial information in the corner of the screen or outside the frame altogether. At a full two hours, The Host could use a little trimming, especially in the sagging middle section between the first-rate opening action and slapstick sequences and the suitably gripping climactic showdown. But Bong still offers a powerful rejoinder to his Hollywood counterparts: Anything you can do, I can do better.

A.V. Club Rating: B+

[tomwaits]

It's the first Korean film I have seen in Canada outside an arthouse.
(Maybe Chi-hwa-son but I was in Korea at the time..)

It opened to a surprising amount of hype and pretty glowing reviews...Hey I'm sure it beats hell out of that retard Will Farrel movie about figure skating.

I liked it but it dragged on too long as most Korean flicks do...Yes it was funny but it seeemed lost on the crowd I saw it with...All in good fun though


Is it really the "high
est grossing Asian film of all time" as they are saying?

[travel zen]

300 was better