Well since I'm watching #thehost alone I will share my pointless commentary with you guys :). #luckyyou
— Jessica (@BooksATrueStory) August 23, 2013
I thought I’d expand on my tweets I did about The Host a few days ago, add some animated gifs and BOOM I’ve got a movie review and hopefully something entertaining for you to read :)
Before I even turn on the movie, I notice on the DVD menu that it’s Jake Abel aka the bad guy from Percy Jackson! I don’t know why I didn’t realize that before.
So the movie starts out with President Snow from the Hunger Games narrating that there is no hunger and no violence and there’s all this peace and stuff. ONLY, IT’S NOT OUR PLANET ANYMORE. I guess that’s how the Hunger Games ended – aliens invaded.
One of my favorite things about this movie was the the soundtrack. It was very simple, beautiful and featured a lot of piano music (especially the song “Wanderer”). I might have to go buy it. Also, I didn’t know the song “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons was on there! I kinda like that song.
Well, the music is great until you get to the end of the credits. Then there is random elevator music. O.o
Anyway.
The voice-over did not really work for me … It worked better in the book. I mean, I got used to it, but it was still kind of disjointed and bizarre especially since it had this echoey quality a la the extremely weird wolves scene from Breaking Dawn Part 1 that I always fast-forward through.
Also – why does it have to be blurry? I get that it’s a memory. Ok. Sorry. Complaining over.
The scenes with the little brother really got to me. I’ll come right back….:'(
As I watched the movie, I got this really weird hokey vibe while being deeply moved at the same time. I can’t explain it.
I laughed out loud (is LOLed a term??) when Wanderer is all “Can I borrow your car?” And complete stranger is like “Sure!” I think it’s these aliens that aren’t going to survive very long.
Speaking of cars, when I saw what they looked like my first thought was this:
Oh hey! It’s the old guy from Tuck Everlasting!
Wow the caves look just like I imagined them. Well done on that one.
And then Wanderer (aka Wanda) goes to the Apple store to get some food and stuff and she doesn’t have to pay.
Oh wait. It just said “store” not “apple store.” But look! More chrome!
And suddenly I’m invested in the story. These actors did a good job making it not seem crazy and all.
I’m not crying I’m not crying
Wait. WAIT.
Who’s the actress for Wanda 2.0? Is she that girl from unfortunate events? *gets on imdb*
Holy crap it is! I love it when I’m right.
Overall, I liked it! I got used to the weird voice-over and I was invested in it. It gets less cheesy as it goes on. No, it’s not the best movie ever made but it’s not the worst either. I think it’s worth a watch. I found it entertaining at the very least. The book was definitely better, though.
Have you seen it? What did you think? Did you like how they adapted it from the book?
Teresa K. says
I just loved this review! I read it twice just for the entertainment value. Now if only the movie is as good.
Jessica says
Thank you :) Have you seen the movie? It’s not terrible – you could give it a try :)
Kathryn @ Clean Teen Fiction says
Hahaha loving this. I only read the first half then stopped because I haven’t read the book or watched the movie yet! I wasn’t sure if you’d mention something that happens at the end. I know you normally don’t do spoilery stuff, but I didn’t want to risk it. :D I just bought the eBook when it was a daily deal so I will have to read it soon. My husband wants to get the movie from redbox, but I told him I had to read it first. So he’s reading it now while I’m finishing some other books first. Poor guy has to wait.
Jessica says
Oh sorry – I kind of did a spoiler at the end, but it probably wouldn’t make sense out of context. But if you’re paranoid like me you can skip the end of my review :) I got the ebook on daily deal too even though I’ve read it. It’ll be worth the wait! It’s kind of cheesy but I think the movie was really good and so was the book. Tell me what you think of it, k? That’s cool that your husband wants to watch it. My husband didn’t want to at all so I watched it when he was out of town – hence my review since I had no one to talk to LOL :)
Angie says
I liked this movie too but didn’t love it. I haven’t read the book so I went into it knowing nothing. I thought it was interesting and I am sure that it is better in the book with all the thoughts the main character has going back and forth with herself.
Aylee says
Bahahaha, so glad you did this – hilarious!! Oh but yeah, the voiceover was a definite no-no. It wasn’t a terrible movie or anything. It just wasn’t a great adaptation. Would have like to have seen one that did that awesome book justice!
kathy says
This was so funny! My husband and I watched this the other week (neither of us knew anything about the story) and I thought it was decent. We thought the blond guy was familiar too so we had to look him up to find out that he was the guy from Percy Jackson.
And I noticed everything being shiny silvery chrome in the evil!future too. :)
Laurie C says
I read your review all the way through because I may never get to the book OR the movie, and this way I can experience it vicariously!
Roxy says
I just watched this the other night – I’d been waiting for AGES! I’m with the rest of you – it was okay but not great. I didn’t really like the casting, and it was funny how Mel’s Louisiana accent tried to pop up every now and then, but mostly was nonexistent. My husband watched about 10 minutes with me, and then couldn’t stand the voices in her head! I was wondering how they’d accomplish that, but the book was definitely better. Thanks for a great review, it had me laughing!!!