The Host (2006)

Saw The Host (the Korean 2006 film, not the 2013 Stephanie Meyer film) It was a godzilla-style film about a river-monster born from unnamed but dusty chemicals poured down the drain on the orders of a prim British dude. The film is an adventure/comedy and therefore the main protagonist is a dunken goofball who is usually sleeping. His daughter is stolen by the river monster and as the film progresses, the comedy gets dialed down as the hunt for the adorable daughter ramps up. Various, similarly flawed, characters are introduced and each gets their moment of redemption. There's some hilarious early scenes where you think a redemption is just about to happen, only for it to fall completely flat. Also, there's the Korean super-melodrama which I'm beginning to enjoy and laugh at. I imagine it would spoil a more straight-faced film, but this is kind of a goofball anyway, so hey, what's it matter if the film busts out the violins and slow-motion at the drop of a hat?

Much more interesting to me was the role of Americans in this film. Early on, when the daughter is being stolen, a blonde american dude (who turns out, of course, to be a Private in the military) leaps into action, fighting the monster much more effectively than the bumbling protagonist until he's devoured. Later, the American officials claim the monster is spreading a virus. Bird flu and SARS get name-dropped. The Americans suggest the deployment of the experimental and apocalyptic Agent Yellow. The Americans are almost as much of an antagonist as the monster is. This is not particularly unusual, mind you, but this film seems particularly angry to me. Interesting.

So not a bad film, but not really great either. The protest scenes at the end had some interesting things going on and the anti-American stuff was interesting to see, but the main thrust of the film is standard action-adventure.