‘Host’ is a monster movie with a sly sense of politics

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 8, 2007

Connoisseurs of great monster rampages need to get themselves to “The Host” – and show up on time. This smart South Korean film has one of the great monster-amuck scenes of all time, and it comes early.

We are in Seoul, along the banks of the Han River. Gang-du is a layabout who works at a sidewalk food stand with his father and young daughter. Their ordinary urban afternoon is interrupted by the sight of something large and slimy unfurling itself from beneath a bridge.

What a splendid entrance – and this is only the first of the film’s visual coups. Things are about to get really cool, as the creature – big, angry, somewhere between a giant lizard and a toothy fish – comes ashore and chases the locals.

This is where director Bong Joon-ho shows off his skills. For instance, a shot looking down at the monster from a speeding elevated train is one of those great moments just waiting to happen in the monster-movie world.

But Bong has more on his mind than action. What makes “The Host” a memorable movie is its sneaky humor, and its interest in tying together the appearance of the monster with a larger commentary about politics – especially the way a government, when threatened, might spread disinformation and restrict citizens’ rights.

Bong might also be tweaking the relationship between South Korea and the United States: He’s said that some of the references are meant for Koreans to ponder. After all (in a scene based on an actual incident), it’s an American military man, played by Scott Wilson, who orders chemicals dumped directly into the river.

A couple of years later you’ve got a man-eating monster. Coincidence? I think not.

“The Host” has zany family dynamics, as hapless Gang-du unexpectedly bonds with his father, brother and sister. The latter is a champion archer, which you can bet will come into play during the monster’s attack.

The film’s humor is so odd you might wonder whether the reels got mixed up with another movie at some point. Yet the monster itself is played straight – and rendered with mostly terrific special effects.

Gang-du is played by Song Kang-ho, a popular Korean actor (he was in Bong’s “Memories of Murder” and Park Chan-wook’s wild “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”). With his slack expression and orange hair, Song allows himself to look like a real doofus here.

“The Host” stretches out to a full two hours, and it would work better at 90 minutes. There are some extremely slow patches in the middle going. But if you’re into this kind of thing at all, stick with it – the ending’s a killer.

Creature feature: A South Korean monster movie that has one of the great creature rampages of all time. But director Bong Joon-ho also has ideas about how this attack might prompt a government to spread disinformation and restrict the rights of its citizens, an approach that gives the movie some real bite. (In Korean, with English subtitles.)

Rating: R rating is for violence.

Now showing: Alderwood Mall, Neptune