Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo ( Ah-sung Ko), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying monster.
I don't know if anyone has even heard of this movie, but I happened to check out the trailer for it because it was attached to my blog (FEEL FREE TO CHECK OUT ANY OF THESE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE, PEOPLE!), so WW decided to go and check it out. This movie is the dictionary definition of a tale of two halves. The first half of this movie was awesome. The monster attack scenes were great, and let's face it that besides Aliens and Predator - those types of scenes usually screw the pooch. This movie nailed it though. Also, you find yourself falling totally in love with the goofy/dysfunctional family that has decided to find their taken young one and the monster. Unfortunately, about half way through the movie it goes from being totally kick ass to completely boring and assinying, and I found myself staring more at my watch than the movie wondering how much longer was left.
I wouldn't really recommend this movie to anyone in theaters. Not that it really matters anyway because it's barely playing anywhere. It's somewhat worth checking out on rental though because the first half of the movie really was great. Damn them for not finishing it that well!!!
