Warm Bodies Review

*Promotional Poster for the movie Warm Bodies*

WARNING: This review will most likely contain spoilers.

Zombies, who would have thought that reanimated corpses would have so much mileage given their most of their greatest moments involve grunting and eating people. Well Warm Bodies creators appears to have picked up on this worn out sub genre and decided it was time to inject some new life into the overdone undead. 

R, played by Nicholas Hoult, is a zombie who is very aware that he is just that, however, things are not as they seem in this

world's interpretation of 'zombies. R has the ability to feel, although he is not able to show it at first, he longs for a life with

meaning and seems to cling onto whatever little humanity he has left. Sounds like something a zombie just can't do, given a zombie is dead right? Well Warm Bodies doesn't seem to care about this logic, as these zombies are treated as more or less infected people with cannibalistic tendencies rather than the living dead. R has layers and depth perhaps more than any other zombie portrayed in a film before him, which honestly may not sound like a huge accomplishment, but it does stand tall about the rest regardless. When he feeds, he consumes his victims brains as a way to relive there lives through ingested memories, perhaps the only thing that really runs this movie close to an R rating: R's eating habits.

Aside from R, we have a band of survivors lead by Teresa Palmer's character Julie, who leads a group into territory overtaken by zombies in order to find more rations for their establishment. M, who is R's best friend, and who the film thankfully chooses to not make a typical antagonist opposing R's advancement's towards the living, but instead a good

and reliable friend throughout the films length. Julie's best friend, Nora, played by Analeigh Tipton, and at the helm of the

human survivors is Colonel Grigio played by John Malcovich; a hardened man with zero tolerance for the horde. Colonal Grigio is also Julie's father. It's just a minor complaint, but it's a shame that John Malcovich didn't have more screen time in this film. He's character's are always very interesting and unique given his talent, and this is perhaps his best character since his role in 'Burn After Reading'. It's easy to relate to his feelings of self preservation and doing what he needs in order to keep his family and fellow humans alive, but his cause at the core is more humane than his cold exterior leads you to believe. His complexity by the end of the film is perhaps the only element of surprise the film genuinely has, and he is the sole wild card that makes you believe everything as you know it could chance in a dime by his hand. That's what makes a good character, the ability to make you question what you know, and engage you, challenge you, make you want them to be wrong or right when they should be. 

But I digress, and everyone involved in this film does a great job with their characters; Nicholas Hoult especially for playing perhaps the first zombie on screen that has to gradually become less of a zombie and more of a man in the span of 100 minutes or so. As the story progresses, R and Julie go from meeting to becoming lovers. R journey with Julie sees them stumbling along with awkward attempts at communicating turning into a lasting and deeply caring relationship. The plot is predictable, and the story has been done before in many ways; think "Beauty and the Beast" with zombies... almost. But this is okay, Warm Bodies has enough originality in it's concept of bringing the dead back to life, in a much more literal sense, that it's formulaic story telling can be easily forgiven.

The movie however does choose to hand hold a bit in attempt to make everything more accessible. R's narration throughout the whole film is completely coherent and polarizing compared to his character's actual dialogue, but

these narrations are done with such wit and so humorously, and so good at humanizing, that it makes everything R

does easy to relate to and easier yet to cheer him along for doing. The movie itself explores many themes, like love, discrimination, misunderstanding, and other contemporary issues that, like any good movie, examine the consequences of ones actions given a situation and what is called for in one's best interest vs. doing what you know in your heart is right. These things may not be as simple as we hope, but that's what makes the movie more authentic. Every character is driven by their own needs, but pulled together to achieve a collective goal by the end in uniting man and zombie to destory the real threat: bonies, which are more or less zombies too far gone to be saved. They really only exist the give the movie a true evil threat, deepen the world, and progress the story. As R and Julie grow closer, R begins to regain his humanity, which is shown through his body beginning to start functioning like a living breathing system once again, to the very point where he bleeds to ultimately prove his accomplishment.

Warm Bodies plays it safe with it's storytelling, but again, it's themes are meant to be the showcase. If you can't communicate effectively, then the point of your film is lost, unless your point is to miscommunicate. So doing things more by the book to make sure everything new your trying is easier to taken in and enjoy, may just be the right answer. If Warm Bodies was directed more like a super low budget indie film with numerous art-house elements, it might not have been a bad film, but one would have to question if it would've been a more enjoyable experience or even had the same or as effective of a message. Thankfully it doesn't seem preachy in it's approach to advocating coexistence, but it is something to consider it's achievement as a horror movie within the positive message it sends. It somehow manages to be a love story, a story about war, a story about faith and hope, while also probably unnerving some off it's younger audience all at the same time. It's taken a sub genre that's primary focus is usually always on blood and gore, and manages to make into a story with a heart just as big as the heart of our protagonist by the films end.

Basically, you need to see this movie. It's a fun ride, and while again, very predictable and very safe within all the expected steps taken in stride, what it does attempt to do that is new, and what it does attempt to drive home through great performances and strong themes, makes this a good watch in more ways than one. It's not all that uncommon right now to find that innovation is in high demand and many are trying to do something new or using already existing mediums to put a unique spin on something familiar; Warm Bodies manages to be both new and place a spin on a familiar subject at the same time, providing the film world with a blistering portrayal of existence at it's grimmest that doesn't leave you feeling sour and bitter after watching it. My hats off to all involved in making this movie as it is always a treat these days to see great films being made that don't have large budgets and giant green screens to provide ample enough eye candy; although you probably don't need a big budget to make a good horror movie. But it's also hard to pass up a good zombie movie, no matter how many have come out in the past five years. Take this one to the bank, it's a good watch.

Check out the trailer for Warm Bodies provided below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07s-cNFffDM

Review Score Card:                                                                                                               

Storyline:          A love story; formulaic, but clearly understood and engaging.

Charatcers:       Well developed and interesting to say the least; feel authentic.

Pacing:             The movie doesn't drag often, but it does have it's filler moments.

Interest Level:    If you like zombie movies, and romance, or both, this is required viewing.

Overall:           8.5 out of 10 - A good zombie movie with much to offer at it's core.