Warm Bodies……Film Review By Emperor Cole

Warm Bodies caught me off guard when I first saw the trailer– because I heard the premise of the film and I thought it would be the dumbest movie ever made. I was under this impression because it was something completely new and had never been done before. A zombie movie that was going to be a “love story”…completely LAME is what I initially thought….and  I am proud to let you know right from the jump- I WAS WRONG.

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When the film opens up it is being narrated by the main character as he walks through the airport that he and many others who are undead now reside in. He speaks from the place of his inner voice in his head which knows that he’s dead but still can’t quite figure things out. This was a GREAT touch and the source of much of the comedy in the film. For one he can’t remember his name just knows it stated with a “R” so hence he becomes known as simply “R” to the young woman Julie.

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The zombie apocalypse theme is without a doubt one of my favorites and also one of the most commonly used plots in film for about the last 5 or 6 years. One thing that has never been done is making a zombie movie that centers around a love story– one where a  zombie and a human fall in love. Kudos to the producers for getting the money to do this and pulling this one off.

The film has a few elements of modern horror because there are the regular zombies and then there are the “boneys” who eat just about anything– including other zombies. And these versions of the undead truly become the antagonist in the storyline. In addition to being at the top of the food chain they can also run pretty fast– this makes them formidable. Picture Olympic track stars……..now picture them  as zombies.

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One thing I will say they movie is aimed at a younger “teeny bopper” audience and lets be serious that is obvious from the two lead stars Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palma. Both do a decent job with their acting but there won’t be any Oscar nods coming anytime soon for this performance. The director Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness) did a very good job and balancing the love story elements and the danger of the zombie threat. He placed comedy in all the right places without making it “goofy” or forcing it.

The notion of having R have a best friend who he occasionally sits with and tries to have conversations was brilliant. It gave life to the idea that these legions of the undead were still attempting to go on with “life” even though they couldn’t. I think it was the ground work and foundation for the concept that there was still a small amount of humanity left in each one of them. And anything with a little humanity could still be saved at some point can’t it?

Warm body friends

The CONs  

While the movie did some things very well there are one or two things that could have been pulled off better. “R” develops this strong attraction to Julie because he eats someone very close to her. The audience is aware of this the moment that it happens. She is not. And there is a point in the movie where she finds this out and she doesn’t get upset. This none response and lack of any emotion came across as ridiculously  false to me. It gave the film a moment of “are they serious”. R had to build himself up to reveal that to her and the whole time you are invested in him and her hoping it works out and knowing that this information will have to be given to her at some point and when it is having “nothing” as her response took away from the movie.

 

Another item that goes on the needs improvement list with me is the character of Julie’s Dad who is played by John Malkovich, who happens to be a General or Lieutenant of  some sort in the military that protects the city. The character is too one dimensional with him being a hard ass just for the sake of it. No information is given for his backstory as to how he got that way other than that his wife (Julie’s mother) was eaten by the zombies.

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When she tries to tell him that “R” was a zombie he won’t listen and doesn’t entertain her conversation although R isn’t showing or behaving like a typical zombie. He is too unreasonable without proper justification. For example– he allowed his only daughter to go out beyond the wall that protects they city to look for supplies with a group of other “trained” people. If his heart was so hardened after losing his wife why would he allow his only child to go out into the danger like that… See what I mean.

With the success of Twilight where a vampire and human girl fall in love– I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone pitched the idea of a zombie and human love story. But the difference here is that it was executed without being too “cheesy”. All in all I like this film and would recommend it to all couples looking for a good movie with a solid love story as well as a few decent scares. Warm Bodies is a fresh re-imagining and blend on the zombie horror and romantic comedy genres.

 

MindBender Movie Meter Score………………..67 %

 

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