Book vs. Movie: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host, the Book:

Publisher's Description:

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. But Wanderer, the invading "soul" who occupies Melanie's body, finds its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Soon Wanderer and Melanie-reluctant allies-set off to search for the man they both love. Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

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The Host, the Movie:

What I liked: Let’s start with the positives first since there is actually very little I liked

• The plot stays true to the novel (considering the thing I liked the best about The Host, the novel was the story, as opposed to say… the writing, I’m glad this remained the same). 
• The plot remains the same pacing when it comes to major plot events. Remember how there are like three separate climaxes to the story? They’re all in the movie too. 
• Parts of the movie are laugh out loud funny. Some of the lines are delivered tongue-in-cheek, as if even the actors can’t believe they have to say them. 
• Jeb is excellently cast. Just fantastic. He almost makes up for all the other terrible actors. 
• The desert scenes look fantastic… until they get into the caves and you realize you’re staring at a plaster set reminiscent of bad displays at Disney’s Epcot. 
• The eyes of humans with a Host are awesome. 

What I didn't like: Where to start… where to start. Oh right, the biggest problem: the actors are horrendous. I’m pretty sure Meyer and co. pick actors based on physical resemblance to characters alone and completely ignore acting capabilities. Also:

• The entire beginning of the movie is overly clinical to the point where it just looks super fake The super shiny silver modes of transportation that the Seekers use which look CGI’ed 
• The voiceovers where Mel is resisting her host. They alternatively made me want to shudder or laugh… they’re just so bad. Not enough sincerity. 
• Mel’s occasional southern accent
• The movie had serious pacing issues. Because it doesn’t move as fast as the books read a lot of the franticness of the situation is completely lost on screen. Instead the entire plot becomes very slow and overly dramatic/sentimental 
• Have I mentioned how bad the actors are? 

Overall: Redbox it if you want a good laugh. I went with two friends, one who had never read the book and another who had. The one who read the book has self-admitted “very low expectations” and liked it. The one who hadn’t read the book couldn’t fathom how that movie made it to the screen. So take it for what it’s worth, my recommendation is spend your $10 on buying the e-book rather than a movie ticket. It’s a fast read.

Book vs. Movie Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies, the Book:

Publisher's Description:

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel. 

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

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In this quaint not-quite-traditional Zombie love story, our lovable, but definitely dead, protagonist R, meets and falls in love with a young woman after consuming the brains of her boyfriend, and thus his memories. Easy to read, fun, light and full of hope and plenty of chuckling, I really enjoyed Warm Bodies. I think it'll translate nicely on to the screen as a lighthearted comedy (look for a movie review coming soon too!)

I love, love, loved R's voice. His inner monologue is much more extensive than what he's actually able to verbalize, but subtly gets better throughout the book as he gets his feelings and humanity back again. He still retains a few very human aspects - his love of music for example.

I also really enjoyed the thought Marion put into the post-apocolyptic Zombie world. The little details like the city in a stadium, the zombie-land at the airport and the different factions and jobs people take after the Zombie-plyse are nice details that set this "zombie-novel" apart from others.

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Warm Bodies, the Movie:

I finally got a chance to go see the Warm Bodies movie last night after I won a Fandango gift certificate!

What I liked: The tone of the movie and the style in which it was filmed really kept the feeling of the novel. R's monologues are almost word for word out of the book and the first two thirds of the movie stick almost exactly to the plot line of the novel. Nick Hoult makes an amazing R, he's kind of awkward and dead, but still loveable. He's not over the top either as a zombie or a human and really portrays "I'm just a kid that got stuck in this weird situation" really well. Teresa Palmer reminded me a lot of a much better Kristen Stewart (maybe just because she has similar facial features when she's acting) and I thought she made an excellent Julie. I wasn't too invested in either of the characters ahead of time though, so I wouldn't have been too picky about who played them anyway. The soundtrack, by the way, is fantastic.

What I didn't like: There are major changes to the end. Warm Bodies the novel is the first in a series and is left very open ended. The movie, naturally, goes further and ties up all of the open strings. I really loved the idea of this city within a stadium that didn't really come to life in the movie. They also took some creative liberties with the city (which is supposed to be post-apocolyptic impoverished, not mansion-y). Also can I say what the hell?? to the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene in the movie? Where did that come from? And whyyyy on earth was it put it? So terrible! It almost ruined the rest of the movie from me. Come on now, your viewers aren't so dumb that they don't realize that "R" and "Julie" and "M" aren't based loosely off of Romeo and Juliet! Yuck.

Overall: Would totally go see it again, would probably buy the movie on DVD. I just adored the feel of the movie. I know that's very ambiguous, but it was clever, funny, and beautiful with a kickin soundtrack.

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