7 - The Host

    Dumping toxic chemicals into the Han river in Korea results in a strange monster, which rampages the surrounding area.  A family that owns a snack shop rallies to save their youngest, a girl, who has been taken by the monster.  Meanwhile, the government tries to figure out how to deal with the monster.
    I had heard about this movie several times, but it really never reached the point where I was willing to put the effort into watching it.  Now that I've seen it, it's good to have more knowledge of it, but it's hard to say that I really liked it that much.
    It's actually a good story.  It has a certain amount of horror, a certain amount of humor, and it works on some more serious levels.  Plus, we don't get many monster movies anymore.  But the weakness is that it doesn't transcend cultures that well.  I can tell that if I were aware of what life in Korea was like, I'd appreciate those levels much more.  I also suspect that the dubbed version of this may have been hamming things up more than it should have.
    It's also just shy of being two hours long.  Again, this is likely a cultural issue, but I think it could have been tightened up a little.
    It seems more surprising that I don't have stronger feelings about this movie.