Warm Bodies, 2013.
Directed by Jonathan Levine.
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, Cory Hardrict and Analeigh Tipton.
SYNOPSIS:
A zombie saves a girl from an attack and the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that could transform the entire lifeless world.
Every year we get a slew of romantic comedies, most of which are the same thing we see all the time. Sometimes we get one or two that take a chance to do something different and it ends up working out for the better. Warm Bodies tries something very different and ends up being one of the most original and inventive films in quite some time.
Written and directed by Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness), Warm Bodies tells the story of R (Nicholas Hoult), a zombie who’s just trying to make the most out of being dead. He’s a bit different than your normal zombie. Not only does he have a thought process, he can also slightly talk and manages to get around better than a normal zombie would. When a group of teenage survivors invade the airport where R lives he saves a girl named Julie (Teresa Palmer) from being bitten or worse – eaten alive. They spark up one of the most interesting relationships you’ll ever see, but it won’t be easy to stay together with zombies and Julie’s over protective father (John Malkovich) standing in their way.
A zombie love story isn’t something you would ever think could make for a good film but what Jonathan Levine has done with Warm Bodies is impressive. Taking a sort of modern day spin on Romeo & Juliet, mixed with zombies, the film transcends the typical romantic comedy and gives you something you’ve never seen before. Surprisingly enough it all works out quite nicely. Combining romance, comedy and zombies together with a good script makes for a truly great film.
They do some very interesting things with this film that made it even better to watch. For instance, if a zombie eats the brains of a living person then they can see all of that person’s memories. That right there is a pretty clever idea. Also seeing how R and some of the other zombies start gaining human abilities again makes for some of the best parts of the film. My only complaint would be the CG on the characters they call bonies – zombies that are completely devoid of skin and are worse than zombies. The filmmakers do make them work but I feel like they could have looked a little less CG.
Surprisingly the film is very funny and most of that is because of the very game cast. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) gives a really great performance here and brings a lot of life (no pun intended) to the film. It’s the best performance by someone playing a zombie I’ve ever seen. Teresa Palmer is quite good here as well considering her previous roles weren’t much to look at. The supporting cast here are all great, including Dave Franco, Analeigh Tipton, John Malkovich and Rob Corddry, who hilariously plays R’s best friend.
Warm Bodies is an original, smart and sweet romantic comedy. It combines comedy, romance and action all into one very entertaining film.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Jake Peffer
Originally published February 1, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
