Watch Video Review
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that creature-feature loving teens will want to see this movie, subtitles or no. If they go, they'll see plenty of scenes of the half-fish, half-reptile monster chasing, attacking, eating, and ripping up its human victims (its lair is filled with corpses and bones). In fact, the CGI-heavy violence is so excessive that it ends up being somewht comedic. Humans use a variety of weapons against the monster (and each other), including guns, arrows (some flaming), and gas. The government lies about a virus and then assaults demonstrators with a toxic gas called "Agent Yellow." Some mourning scenes show characters crying over lost loved ones. Subtitled swearing includes multiple uses of "f--k" and plenty more salty language.
Families can discuss monster movies. What's the appeal of creature features like this one? How does the movie update and also pay homage to classic monster movies that warn against human carelessness and arrogance, like Godzilla? Are the characters in this movie being warned against anything? What could the creature be a symbol of? Families can also talk about the Parks' bravery. What brings them together with unity and purpose? How does Hyun-seo become a hero in the film, rather than only a victim?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
The top-grossing movie in South Korean history, THE HOST (Gwoemul) is a wild, rewarding ride that's equal parts creature feature, cautionary tale, family melodrama, and political critique.
It starts, as many monster movies do, with human error: a sinister U.S. military pathologist (Scott Wilson) instructs a minion to dump formaldehyde into South Korean waters. This act produces a ghastly mutation -- part fish, part reptile -- that emerges from a river in broad daylight and, in a riotous scene, attacks a crowd, killing some and kidnapping others.
Among the abductees is 11-year-old Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko). At first, her family -- including her big-hearted man child of a father, Gang-Du (Kang-ho Song), and grandfather Hie-bong (Hie-bong Byeon) -- grieve along with other similarly afflicted Seoul citizens (the mourning wall, with pictures and tokens, resembles memorials like those for 9/11 victims). Carted off and quarantined for possible monster contamination, Gang-Du is despondent until he gets a cell-phone call from his daughter, who describes the place where the monster has dumped her as a "really big sewer." With that, Gang-Du -- with help from his father, unemployed brother Nam-il (Hae-il Park), and champion archer sister Nam-Joo (Du-na Bae) -- sets off to find her, no matter what lies the government tells them.
While the Parks' ensuing adventure follows some conventions (family bickering and bonding, inscrutable monstrosity, institutional obstructions), Joon-ho Bong's film offers all sorts of brilliant visual surprises. Its influences are many, from Godzilla, Jaws, and Alien to John Carpenter's The Thing and Sally Mann's photographs. The creature has an uncanny grace (the image of it slipping off the bridge into the water is oddly breathtaking), while its official human opponents remain odious: the TV news reports impending U.S. interventions, local police are untrustworthy, and doctors are deceitful.
But Hyun-seo and her family are courageous. Looking small in her schoolgirl's plaid skirt, the girl makes her way through the shadowy underground, her face smudged with grime, determined to combat the creature as it threatens a very frightened younger boy. At once poignant and grim, she's a terrific young heroine.
Fans should check out other monster movies, like King Kong, Starship Troopers, Alligator, or Tremors. For another imaginative foreign film with a plucky young heroine, try Pan's Labyrinth.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual ContentBrief reference to an ex-wife who "popped out the baby and ran off" brief shot of girls' legs under a table. |
 |
 |
|
|
ViolenceMultiple attacks by monster. It chases, terrifies, eats/chomps, throws/drops, and dismembers human victims; dog attacks owner; suspected infection victims are dragged off in plastic bags (resembling body bags); humans fight monster and each other with guns; brief scene shows brain surgery (some cutting and drilling); Nam-joo shoots monster with arrows; homeless man pours gasoline on monster so flaming arrow can light it on fire; children confront monster in sewer (dark shadows, tense moments, brave kids); memorial services and mourning; sad scene showing a child's death. |
 |
|
|
|
LanguageIn subtitles: several uses of "f--k," plus other language ("s--t," "god damn," "bastard," and "bitch"), as well as "Jesus Christ." |
|
|
|
|
Message |
|
|
|
|
Social BehaviorKorean and U.S. officials (police, media, medical, military) commit illegal acts and/or engage in cover-up; central family counters the officials' deceit and oppression with displays of courage, loyalty, and intelligence; homeless kids and man are brave in the face of danger. |
 |
|
|
|
Commercialism |
 |
|
|
|
Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoHomeless man is drunk on soju (Korean rice-based alcoholic beverage). |
|
 |
|
|
