With its global distribution earlier this year, Warm Bodies seemed to be just another one of Hollywood’s pumped out blockbusters, and I myself skipped it at the cinemas due to this exact reason – “it was just another cliché teenage zombie film, nothing out of the ordinary” and in most places it was. However, what I enjoyed most about this modern take on an “end of the world” narrative is that it rejected the norm for the most part and found itself changing the ending to a zombies ‘life’ by flipping the bird to death.

After the apocalypse many of the zombies that took over a city are shown to congregate mostly at a nearby airport where they spend their days wandering around aimlessly, much like the typical lifeless un-dead…but then we meet, R, (Nicholas Hoult) a zombie with a conscious mind that is almost intact. R finds himself trying to remember what it felt like to be alive and to try and figure out who he was before he turned. Warm Bodies ends up being a story through a zombie’s perspective – a seemingly different and refreshing angle than most apocalyptic storylines.

We’re introduced to Julie (Teresa Palmer) who finds herself trapped and surrounded by zombies whilst on the hunt for survival gear with the rest of her team. R, stops eating part of a brain and realises Julie’s beauty, and feels an incredible rush of ‘aliveness’. He then makes it his priority (the best he can; being a zombie, covered in blood and looking dead) to show Julie he will protect her and that she should follow him to avoid being eaten, without any other alternative Julie agrees.

Their relationship strengthens as the scenes unfold. Julie attempts to escape multiple times but is always rescued by R. Because of this she leans into the idea that this strange, confusing zombie is different from the others she has encountered, and begins to feel safe around him. On the flip side, R becomes increasingly more aware of his feelings and can feel the infection beginning to leave his body. This realisation also affects the other zombies at the airport and unfortunately puts them all in grave danger as zombies are not the only dangerous predator that have risen from the dead. In an effort to show humankind that they are beginning to get better, the zombies join teams with the humans in their ultimate fight for survival.

Towards the end of Warm Bodies the audience can somewhat guess how the final few scenes will play out, as the Hollywood undertone kicks in. Nevertheless, you are not left feeling let down or that the film has led you to an anticlimactic ending. What you feel is actually a little more optimism about what could happen if the world was to someday become what today’s sources of entertainment seem to be preparing the world for; a zombie apocalyptic future. Teaching zombies to love and to feel alive again may just save us all!

The name of the film comes from when Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds out his odds of survival are 50/50 after finding out he has spinal cancer. The film was written by Will Reiser, who was actually diagnosed with spinal cancer in real life, which is what undoubtedly helped it feel so genuine. The focus of the film is to show how cancer can affect more than just the person with it but also the people around them. It does that surprisingly well.

Adam is not risk taker, when the crosswalk blinks do not walk, he stays put, even when no vehicles are to be seen. The 27 year old does not drive because it is the 5th leading cause of death. So it is ironic when after going to the doctor for some minor back symptoms, Adam is diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer, rendering his chances of death 50/50.

Adam gets along with his girlfriend well enough but at the same time you can tell that something is missing from that relationship. He does not realize it at first. It is brought to his attention when two fellow treatment patients question the fact she will not even step inside the hospital. However, it becomes even more evident when she does not answer her phone and shows up an hour late for picking him up.

If it were up to his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), Adam would be using his cancer to his advantage for picking up new girls. In fact, Kyle picks up someone at a bookstore by telling her that he is taking care of his dying friend. On their date, Kyle sees Adam’s girlfriend kissing another guy and even snapped a picture on his phone for proof. At the end of the date, Kyle rushes to Adam’s to show him the picture. Needless to say, their relationship came to an end.

Even though Kyle’s repeated attempts to set Adam up with girls have failed, he ends up meeting someone on his own. Turns out it is his 24 year old student therapist that is helping him through treatment. Since he recently broke up with his girlfriend, she offers him a ride home and will not take no for an answer. The first thing he notices about her car is that it is very messy which she insists on him not to judge her for it. The slightly odd scene turns cute when he demands her to pull over so that he can throw away her trash in the car that he could not stand any longer.

Just as things are starting to look up for Adam, one of the patients he got close to passed away. That served as a harsh reminder to him that he may die at any moment. Adam takes his frustrations out on everyone around him; his therapist, Kyle and even his Mom. Up until now he has taken the cancer news fairly lightly so it was only a matter of time until the frustrations settled in.

Not many actors today can make me laugh out loud as much as Seth Rogen does. In most of his films I find myself laughing even when I am watching it by myself (which is the ultimate test), this film was no exception. He did a great job at not dominating the film too much as the supporting actor. Granted, he did play his usual role in the film.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance felt effortless and brilliant. The awkward romantic scenes between Anna Kendrick and him were outstanding. Most of the film he plays it cool but he shows his range of emotions by the end, particularly well in one “freak out” scene. His career is really starting to take off after recently doing, (500) Days of Summer, Inception and now currently working on Christopher Nolan’s long awaited The Dark Knight Rises.

After watching the trailer for 50/50 when it first came out, I jokingly said it had a 50/50 shot at being good. That depended on which way director Jonathan Levine approached the film. Luckily, he balanced the right amount of comedy and drama together in a very realistic manner without all the pitfalls of a stereotypical dramedy. The situations that Adam gets into seem to all be completely natural, it did not suffer from a cheesy movie-like moment. I was kind of hoping “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson played for the final scene instead of Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter”, if you saw the film you know why.