The Host - A decent book adaptation

Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight Saga, wrote a wonderful adult sci-fi book called The Host.  It's about alien beings that inhabit planets by inserting souls in the creatures of the planet.  These aliens come to Earth and take over humans.  One alien, Wanderer, has inhabited many planets and comes to Earth and struggles with the being inside her head, Melanie.  The host body belongs to Wanderer, aka Wanda, but the mind and its emotions still belongs to Melanie.  They seek out Melanie's loved ones and so the struggle really begins.

The Host movie isn't much different from the book.  The story is virtually the same.  Only small insignificant details are changed.  If you never read the book, those changes wouldn't be noticeable.  What is missing and what may bother a reader or a non reader is the passion.  Melanie and Wanda have such great passion and loyalty that they risk there lives numerous times for love.  This was implied in the movie, but it wasn't felt throughout the movie.  These actors (Saoirse Ronan as Melanie/Wanda and Max Irons as Jared Howe) aren't very well known although they have been in many movies.  They need a few more years under they're belt to evoke more emotion from the audience.

Stephenie Meyer doesn't seem to have the ability to pick great screenplay writers and directors.  They tend to butcher her books, and she seems to be ok with it.  I'm still pissed at the outcome of Twilight the movie.  Poorly done.  The Host movie isn't as bad as Twilight, but it wasn't as good as it could have been.  This movie may bring in the few who read the book, but it won't captivate those who didn't.  It was a decent adaptation.  I've seen movies that should have never been made.  This isn't one of them; it just should have been made better.  One thing that could have made it better other than better acting is the exploration of the planets the souls have inhabited.  Wanda's stories of these planets are some of my favorite parts of the book.  They are completely missing from the movie.  I was really looking forward to seeing what a claw beast looked like.   Maybe in 15 or 20 years, someone will remake it and get it right, until then....just read the book, if you haven't already.