Aliens vs Zombies: 'The Host' and 'Warm Bodies'

I watched a couple of movies last night for the fun of it and noticed some similarities and other little things that I thought would make for a good blog post. Since reading the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, I've always meant to read her book The Host, which I've been told is much better. It's on my to-do list, but last night I found myself watching the newly released film adaption. There were several points where I sat there thinking, I'll bet this scene was SO much better in the book. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it! Afterwards, I decided I wasn't sleepy enough for bed, so I watched Warm Bodies too.

I'll warn readers now that this post may contain spoilers.

Overall, there are no HUGE similarities, but aside from both being post-apocalyptic, I couldn't help thinking that there was an underlying theme that they shared: the acceptance and co-existence of species that are different and formerly considered enemies and the ability for the 'bad' species to change and become good.

In The Host, this was shown through the alien Soul Wanderer's (Wanda's) ability to empathise with her human host, Melanie Stryder, who was still trapped and alive inside her body. Wanda was able to see Melanie's memories and hear her voice inside her head, sometimes letting Melanie control their shared body. Melanie was able to convince Wanda to go to the other humans who are in hiding, where they are reunited with Melanie's brother and lover. While at first the majority of humans were not accepting of Melanie's body acting as Wanda's host and they did not believe that Melanie was still alive and trapped inside, some of the other humans realise that Wanda was empathetic of what her species was doing to them and begin to love Wanda and Melanie simultaneously. Eventually, Wanda agreed to free Melanie's body although she believed she would die. But the humans had learned to love Wanda too and found a way to preserve her in another human body that had already otherwise died, meaning that both Wanda and Melanie had their own bodies and Wanda could live with the humans. (Also, Jarad and Ian could both be with the women they loved without the awkwardness of them sharing the same body.)

In Warm Bodies, the theme is shown through the zombie R's ability to save a human girl, Julie, from the pack he was hunting with and try to keep her safe. Although he ate her boyfriend's brain, Julie eventually forgave him and even missed him when she returned to the other uninfected humans her father had built a wall to protect. When R showed up inside the walls, wanting to prove to her that he loved her, Julie was amazing to see that he and the other zombies were coming back to life because of whatever she'd triggered inside him. Julie's father took some convincing, but when he realised that R could bleed (zombies can't bleed), he told the other humans that there'd been a change in circumstances and welcomed R and the other zombies-coming-back-to-life into the city. They ended up working together to kill the skeletons who were trying to kill them all, which was apparently a good bonding activity.

I thought this similarity was cool. But that might just be me.

While I'm talking about Warm Bodies, I had the biggest WAIT A MINUTE moment when Julie realised that R was in the city. She was sitting on her balcony and he called up to her. And later they ended up in a pool together. R and Julie. Romeo and Juliet. Did anybody else notice this?! I thought it was clever! Ha ha :)

I've also just found out that Warm Bodies is a book, written by Isaac Marion. I must had this to my to-read list.

Who else has seen 'The Host' and 'Warm Bodies'? What is your opinion on the books, if you've read them? Do you prefer aliens or zombies? And would you rather a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion of planet earth and your body? 

- Bonnee.

Movie Adaptions of Books: The Hunger Games

If you're like me, then you'll agree that movies are generally not as good as their book counterparts. Unfortunately, it is often because a movie is coming to the 'big screens' that a lot of people even take notice of the book. They come out with a huge hype about the movie, and then people who've read the book, or who will read the book later, end up disappointed when they compare it to the book (or in the case of the Twilight movies, just how bad the movies are, period.)

The Hunger Games, for instance. I hadn't heard about The Hunger Games until people started going on about the movie. It caught my interest, and I ended up watching the film first (about a week before reading the book). But even without reading the book, there were moments I thought 'this is bound to be a better scene in the book'. After reading the book, I found that I was mostly right.

I'll focus on characters. First, Rue, who I thought we only got a proper glance at for two minutes during the film. While Rue and Katniss don't develop the deepest relationship in the book, I found that we still got a better sense of the way Katniss related Rue to her own little sister, Prim. We got to actually know her a little better in the book, and learn about her District and where she'd come from. In the movie, she's just a kid who hides in shadows and comes out to buddy up with Katniss until... well. Ya'll know what happened there.

Peeta. I HATED, Peeta in the movie. I couldn't stand him. But in the book, I thought he was the sweetest. The way the movie showed him giving the bread to Katniss when they were younger confused me, while I got it quite clearly in the book. In the movie, I couldn't tell if he was trying to be horrible to her by throwing it to the ground and giving so much to the pigs, instead of putting it straight into her hands. And as far as his 'love' for her went, I wasn't quite so convinced in the movie. I felt like he was acting as much as she was at points. In the book, I believed much more of it.

Haymitch. Complete opposite to my reaction to Peeta. I loved him in the movies and despised him in the books. He seemed a lot more caring and nurturing of Katniss especially in the movie, after she and Peeta had made it clear that they meant business in the Games and actually wanted to stand a chance. In the book, it didn't seem to matter how much he wanted them to win; I don't think he could have been more of an $*#hole if he tried. It bugs me when the movie changes a character's personality.

And of course, we have the ending of the film to compare to the ending of the book. Hm. I have to say, I hate it when they change the endings. I mean, for something like Harry Potter, where it ends with the Hogwarts Express taking everybody back to Kings Cross every time, that's a little different.

Of course, there were still a couple of good pointers to the movie. I liked the way the movie allowed us to escape from Katniss's point of view now and then. We see Haymitch interacting with sponsors, and we see people back in the districts watching the Games. Showing those other perspectives which go unseen in the novel gives a fuller, better idea of what is going on in their world.

Overall, I'm not saying that it was a bad movie. I enjoyed the movie, and I'm glad I saw it before I read the book. But it didn't live up to the hype it was given. Expected, but disappointing nonetheless.

What did you think of the movie adaption of The Hunger Games? Any other film adaptions you'd like to give a mention?

- Bonnee.