Rating (as a monster film): **/*****
Rating as a film: ****/*****
Actually supposed to be watching Sophie Scholl today, but alas, it was off screen, so ended up watching ‘The Host’, as suggested. At first, I was a bit doubtful about the quality of the movie cuz he said that it was a ‘monster’ movie. I’d rather much watch a horror/evil/scary movie, cuz can see him jump and yelp, instead of some monster movie, where people all run helter-pelter in front of a pair of huge gaping jaws drooling with saliva.
Surprisingly, it was such a FUN & FUNNY movie!
Although the monster was revealed within the first 15 min, it wasn’t the monster that made the movie, it was the satire that made me give it two thumbs up! :D
A synopsis:
Heck-care angmoh morgue doc orders the poor korean sub to poor all the formaldehyde into the drain, which ends up in the big big korean river (i’m sorry, i can’t rem the exact name, Han river???), two fishermen find some kind of mutated fish in the river…
Weekend afternoon, loads of people chilling along the river, this mutant fish-reptile emerges from the river and proceeds to rampage, killing and sort of like swallowing people (reminds me of most monster films), pple run pell-mell, the small girl is eaten up.
Later on, the father receives a call from his daughter, but no one except his immediate family believed he wasn’t hallucinating so… they all break out of the quarantine place (apparently, this US sgt who valiantly fought and monster and lost an arm in the process came down with some kind of odd virus that killed him… and the US is flooded with messages of condolences… v corny). Family starts hunting for the girl, amidst lots of ironic, sad-funny scenes… US military and WHO decide to intervene when Korean authorities were deemed unable to handle the situation. They claim that there was a virus spreading (when there obviously wasn’t, and scientists/lab techs at ground zero were bbqing), and decide to unload a toxic chemical there (called agent yellow), seriously, it’s just an excuse to test some new fanky chemical warfare… (looked suspiciously like mustard gas hah!) The ending was just the family all pitching in to kill the monster, no mention or sight of the fabulous weapons of the US military or even any weaponry or backup from the Korean authorities…
My favourite scene:
The father is restrained and kept for tests to isolate the ‘virus’ at the laboratory. Meanwhile, he tries his hardest to get the people to understand that his daughter is still alive, and not eaten up by the monster as previously witnessed by all along the river bank. The doctos have given him anesthesia in an attempt to sedate him while doing all kinds of tissue biopsy on him, but he remains awake, likely secondary to shock. So, they have no choice but to do the biopsy with him screaming and yelling in pain…
Enter angmoh doctor, sees the scene and shakes his head…
AMD: What is going on here, no no no… come, let me… (he takes over, sits down, adopts a concerned expression and cups the man’s face with his hands…) What is the problem?
Father: My daughter is still alive, she called me on the mobile, I heard her, she’s in a sewer somewhere, I have to safe her!
(translator translates…)
AMD: Oh, I believe your daughter is still alive, but why didn’t you tell us? Or the police? Or perhaps the military?
Father: But no one will believe me!!!
AMD to korean doc in Englis: Has he had a psychiatric evaluation? I think the problem is here, up in his frontal lobe… Yes, yes, I believe that’s where the virus is… (he continues pointing and tapping the father’s forehead)
Next scene: brain biopsy being done…
Anyway, at this juncture, we were totally squirming in mirth and laughing really really LOUDLY. I think the people in the rows around us were probably wondering what we found so funny that we had to laugh that loudly…
All in all, it was a fantastically entertaining movie, and I think we both enjoyed it a lot. :D
