THE HOST

Synopsis:

• A monster attacks people in a sea-side city, and a man desperately struggles to try to save his daughter, who has been dragged away by the monster.

Pros:

• The monster looks pretty good for the most part
• The origin of the monster (and his appetite for humans) is well done
• The movie is well-paced
• There are some good comedic moments
• The movie makes you care about the daughter and root for the protagonists to find her in time

Cons:

• Some of the supporting characters are not well-developed (like the man's unemployed college graduate brother)
• Some viewers may be dissatisfied by the ending
• The conspiracy subplot doesn't quite make sense

Notable:

• The movie is part political satire, touching on or alluding to SARS, the Iraq war, and Hurricane Katrina

Bottom line:

• This is an entertaining monster movie with some good bits of political satire thrown in.  While the last act of the movie suffers a little (the utter incompetence of the authorities stretches the suspension of disbelief quite a bit), this movie is still recommended for fans of those old B-level monster movies.

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