Reviewed by Jon Barton

In a time of such diversity I was inclined to explore the work of other directors, which led me to Adrian Pikios. His talent and popularity as a director is hardly questioned at all, thus I was relatively excited when I downloaded the visually dangerous Bodily Functions. I wasn't disappointed.

Being so unfamilair with his work other than he has made projects similar to Redwampa's ideas, in all fairness I had no idea what to expect, least alone a preview pic to go with the review that hardly summed up the essence of the movie at all. So when suddenly the powerful score by James Newton Howard kicks in and the camera pans and spins through the cords and glands of the human body I was instantly drawn in. Everything from the ideas of the red cells biologically combating a virus with the help of the anti-biotic boost, to the genuinely quite frightening Germ army, to the emotional payoff in the climax as the music roars to life and the cells succeed as the camera pans back the way it came right out to view the human form himself. As a result the movie is not only stunning but very beautiful, matched with superb camerawork and a brilliant construct of the body. This kind of thing could be considered a deathtrap to the less experienced director, yet Pikios demonstrates such a defined skill with narrative construction that he makes it look so easy.

True, Bodily Functions is not without its flaws. Sometimes the black screen backgrounds present contradictions. At one point the organs of the torso hold focus completely against it, and then on other occasions there may be a close-up of the cutesy red blood cells so there is no time for such detail, thus the action is framed against the background. On other occasions the weight of the HMCs seem to make the animation far more complicated than it needs to be, making the virus incredibly difficult to mange on screen. Having said that Pikios does a fantastic job, giving the virus such a terrifying figure that its enough to make you instantly root for the completely opposite and adorable cells. Again, little things make Bodily Functions very very watchable. Even when said detail is required to make a sequence look good (such as the heart pumping) it still amazes and astounds.

Bodily Functions surely wears its heart on its sleeve, and depicts so well the battle between protagonist and antagonist. Good and evil have never been so fairly represented! Touching, emotionally uplifting and bloody entertaining, this movie is a stroke of HM genius. Accuracy is measured only by the entertainment value of the movie. It won't disappoint you. At least not enough for you to care.

9/10