Warm Bodies or Dial "Z" for Zombies

Warm Bodies
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, and John Malkovich
New Release Review

First, I must be completely honest: I wasn't interested in seeing this film in theatre. I saw the trailer a couple of times and it just didn't resonate with me. I appreciated the idea of the film but was not nearly impressed enough to add it to the movie list. I saw the film on a fluke (the film I wanted to see was sold out) so from the beginning I was indifferent on the film and the situation.

Warm Bodies is a post-apocalyptic love story with a twist: the couple at the forefront of the story is an extreme case of "star-crossed" lovers, with one half of the couple being a zombie. Meet "R" - a zombie who is different from the rest of his undead kind. He has thoughts - which uniquely narrate this film. He longs for something more than the life of a zombie, wondering what life used to be like and how people used to connect with each other. Now, his life consists of moaning, stumbling around, occassionally sharing moans with his "best friend" M which somewhat resembles a human relationship, and on top of everything - craving human flesh and brains. Feeding on brains gives "R" a chance to "feel alive" as it allows him to absorb the memories of the human. On a routine attack, "R" sees Julie (Palmer) for the first time and instantly falls in love with her (though he doesn't understand how to act and deal with these new feelings). "R" kills Julie's boyfriend and feasts on his brains, absorbing his memories of Julie, making his feelings for her stronger. He rescues Julie from the rest of the pack of zombies and takes her back to his home to keep her safe. There, the two get to know each other, while "R" begins to slowly change and become more "alive" through his feelings for Julie.

Yes, this story does sound a little ridiculous, doesn't it? But here's the thing - it was better than expected. I went in thinking that it was going to be another one of the many irritating teen-supernatural type films that have come out in the past few years. But I was pleasantly surprised. It was light (with the ocassional dark moment, but that can't be avoided as it is a movie about undead creatures killing humans) and it was funny. Not laugh-out-loud funny. More chuckle-and-make-you-smile funny.

It was fairly clever - a nice twist on a (excuse the pun) beaten to death concept of zombies. We are most often shown a darker, more intense storyline when dealing with the zombie subject (save Shaun of the Dead and arguably the Dawn of the Dead remake). It was nice to see a different take on the zombie genre.It had a over-arching, Romeo & Juliet type vibe, and it worked. Don't get me wrong; it was corny. But it worked.

My only negatives were the underdeveloped "Bonies" who looked more cartoonish than scary and the lack of Malkovich. He was definitely underused but in this type of film, any more use of Malkovich would most likely deteer from the tone of the film. Though he was alotted one great moment to showcase his chops, even if it was brief. I wouldn't want to piss him off!

Final Verdict: See it. Based on the novel by Isaac Marian and directed by Levine (50/50), Warm Bodies isn't perfect but it doesn't need to be. It's got charm, laughs and a refreshing take on a overused topic.

Rotten Tomatoes

PS the title of this post comes from a classic Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode where the Simpsons family faces off against zombies. Check out this clip here: