'The Host' (12A)

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Having avoided all of the ‘Twilight’ films after enduring the first, I wasn’t keen to sit through another cinematic translation of Stephanie Meyer’s work. However, ‘The Host’ has a far better overall premise than all of the vampire books combined. In the near future, Earth has been invaded by an alien species who enter into the human body and take over their lives. The ‘host’ bodies look no different apart from having a bright blue ring around the pupil, but this means that the remaining humans are easily identified. The film starts with Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) falling to her death to escape the clutches of the possessed humans, only to have an alien implanted in her body, who calls herself Wanderer. Melanie refuses to be obliterated, however, and so begins to the relationship between human and alien, inside one body.  

Stephanie Meyers has made her millions from writing unconventional love triangles, with one angsty teen being fought over by two hunky males, and essentially ‘The Host’ is no different. Wanderer is interrogated by Seeker (Diane Kruger, with distracting collar-bones) in order to find the human resistance, but Melanie’s lover, Jared, remains human, so they (Melanie and Wanderer, in the same body) go on the run to try and find said beloved and her younger brother. So enters Jared (Max Irons, son of Jeremy,  minus the acting capability) who can’t accept that Melanie is locked inside her own body, and Ian, who has the hots for Wanderer, now called Wanda. Kisses, lingering looks and hunky men running to the rescue follows – it truly is a teenage girl’s fantasy.

However, the film shouldn’t be dismissed on the grounds that it has a very specific target audience. Ronan is perfect at Melanie/Wanderer/Wanda, managing to juggle two accents to portray the difference between the characters in one body. It cannot be denied that she has a very engaging face, as a well as a vulnerability which suits the little-alien-lost role well. There is a good supporting cast featuring William Hurt as Jeb, the elderly, gun-wielding ‘Uncle’, and Jake Abel is perfectly fine as loved-up but ultimately second-best Ian. The tension is well sustained and the film doesn’t feel overly long, although the final five minutes could well have been cut.

There are some issues, however. We are never told where the aliens come from, why they invade the human bodies, or where they originate from. There is also a surprising amount of violence towards a teenage girl, which can make uncomfortable viewing. Similarly, Ronan feels too young to make the love scenes comfortable, and there is a ridiculous scene in which both Jared and Ian have a passionate snog with Wanda to try and bring Melanie back. Despite this, it is light-hearted entertainment with a supernatural twist that makes for entertaining viewing, with added eye-candy.

And now a few points from a guest reviewer, Alex, who has read the novel:

·         The casting is all wrong – Ian is meant to have black hair and be quite broad. The doctor is also meant to be creepy instead of a kind-hearted black man

·         Max Irons cannot act

·         Key points of the novel are missed out, such as where Wanderer has come from and the planets she has visited before

·         We should learn more about the relationship between Wanderer and Melanie before they meet up with the humans living in the desert, something which is covered in the book