Undated Film Still Handout from Warm Bodies. Pictured: Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. See PA Feature FILM Film Reviews. Picture credit should read: PA Photo/Entertainment One. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature FILM Film Reviews.

Warm Bodies, a movie that has been unfairly compared to Twilight and the reason I say this is because unlike Twilight, Warm Bodies is a great film that could well be the biggest surprise of the year.

Perhaps the reason I was so surprised by Warm Bodies was because I wasn’t particularly looking forward to watching it, and the main reason for that was the stereotypical attitude aimed towards it. Now I am definitely not a fan of ‘rom-coms’ or even films with a primary focus on love, but Warm Bodies is a different kind of movie, mainly because it is full of enjoyable elements that appeal not just to a female audience, but to a male demographic as well.

The film stars Nicholas Hoult as R, (a highly unusual zombie) saving a woman named Julie from an attack and from there onwards the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that may transform the entire lifeless world.

Of course judging from the plot I think it’s fairly obvious that this isn’t your average zombie affair. If you go into this movie wanting to see zombies in the same vein as George A. Romero’s, well then you’re going to be in for a shock, as Warm Bodies really is a zombie movie that plays out like William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, or at least that’s the impression I got from it.

In terms of acting the cast all do a very good job. Nicholas Hoult is great in the leading role as R and co-star Teresa Palmer is just as good. Obviously with any movie that revolves around romance the two love interests have to have a strong chemistry and thankfully Hoult and Palmer do. Surprisingly John Malkovich shows up and whilst he’s good, his role isn’t quite substantial enough to leave a mark.

Believe it or not Warm Bodies could well have one of the best film soundtracks this year. It features a wide variety of music (mostly old) and yet it manages to fit the film really well.

The make-up applied to the zombies is effective without being totally gory and at times the 12A rating occasionally felt stretched. There really are some interesting creatures in this film most notably the skeletons known as Bonies. So hard-core zombie fans don’t completely fret, as there are a few sequences here that play out like your typical zombie movie, but hey, one of the main things I enjoyed about Warm Bodies was the way that it put a new spin on a classic sub-genre.

Overall Warm Bodies is great film that I feel you should see. It’s been unfairly compared to Twilight and this factor alone almost completely put me off watching it, and I would hate for the same to happen to you.

8/10