The Host

In my review of The Silver Linings Playbook, I discussed some of the differences between the book and the film in the ongoing issue of which is better. On that occasion I concluded that both formats shed a little more light on the characters (basically fudging the issue in a typical Literature graduate manner).

With The Host, I've found my conclusion much easier to come to, and given that this is a Stephenie Meyer based text, it might be a little surprising. Let me state on record right here that I have read all four Twilight novels; I've seen all five Twilight films (I'm not including The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner in this list because, let's face it, who has the time for that?) I paid actual money to see those films at the cinema. Perhaps most appallingly, I've even read that godawful Twilight-fanfiction rip off, Fifty Shades of Grey - it's probably testament to how bad E L James is as a writer that she makes Meyer look talented. I've not enjoyed very much of these things, but anybody who reads this blog regularly has probably gathered by now that I'm incredibly picky with books and films: my not enjoying something is much like everybody else shrugging and saying 'it was okay.'

But The Host I enjoyed. I remember reading it pretty compulsively and getting quite involved in the whole Wanda-Ian-Jared-Melanie odd triangle/square thing. I loved Ian, but also like Jared. In fact, it was really only Melanie who irritated me, suffering as she was from a little bit of Bella Swan-itis. Yes, this was essentially the same story only with aliens rather than vampires, but at least Wanda, and to some extent Melanie, actually considered the effects of their actions upon others, which was refreshing after Bella and Edward's 'but we love each other' for thousands of pages.

So I was really excited when the film came out. I was looking forward to seeing it all played out on screen and to not seeing K-Patz clogging up the screen with their overly brooding and miserable presences. I was hopeful.

In the end, though, it was all a bit underwhelming. Firstly, the screenplay was a bit poorly put together in my opinion. Possibly the cheesy dialogue was lifted straight from the novel and it's just a bit more palatable in printed form; certainly the suspension of disbelief was easier for me when reading the novel than when watching the film. Because of the sometimes duff line, the acting was a bit wooden at times, although Saoirse Ronan did a good job acting against herself and coming across as two different characters, making Wanda and Melanie distinct entities.

Secondly, the film was quite slow. Again, not wholly its fault: the novel is pretty long and from what I can recall, Wanda and Melanie spend ages in the desert getting to the secret hideaway; I probably got a bit bored at that point of the novel too. But watching the film reminded me what I had loved about the novel, and the film didn't quite capture it. I loved how Wanda was gradually accepted into the colony, the chessboard moves between her, Jared and Ian, and how sweet the relationship between Ian and her was. This was rushed, in my opinion, in the film, and I found myself sniggering instead of swooning. It wasn't really made clear why Wanda preferred Ian to Jared; the characters needed bulking out a little more, although both actors were pretty (more so than Edward and Jacob in Twilight so at least they hit those buttons for me).

It was, in summary, a pretty disappointing adaptation and I would urge anybody who has even a passing interest to read the novel.