'THE HOST'

I'm usually not too big on foreign films, unless they are of Asian descent and feature either elaborately choreographed kung-fu sequences and/or giant monsters terrorizing entire cities. Lucky for me, I had a certain Netflix on ice since last month when a few hours opened up this past weekend for a movie that had plenty of the latter.

A South Korean film, 'The Host' received and continues to receive a large amount of hype since it's release in 2006. While the film is a good old-fashioned monster movie at it's core...this is most definitely not your father's Godzilla flick. Personal struggles amongst the film's protagonists are just as frightening as the beast they are trying to take down. Plus, there are no foam suits or chicken wire here...this film is visually stunning in it's capture of the dark surroundings that serve as the backdrop to an FX masterpiece of a monster on par w/ Jurassic Park.

There is some parity to the cautionary Atomic tale of Godzilla, as the creature's origins offer some light political commentary based loosely from an actual incident in 2000 (wiki it, fool). Never a heavy-handed anti-US statement, the film does a great job w/ making the government's handling of the incident just as scary as the monster itself. There film also has it's goofy/comedic moments, but unlike most of the Godzilla flicks...it's intentional when they happen.

Bottom line, it's a blast of a flick that has a little something for everyone...sci-fi/horror nerds and art-house film geeks alike. Avaialble via Netflix and it sounds like they are working on a sequel for 2008 as well. Enjoy.