I’m not going to gush over this film too much or try to over hype it. That being said, I went into this film with low expectations and ended up thoroughly enjoying myself considering the genre this falls into. ‘Warm Bodies’ is a zombie love story told from the point of view of the zombie. The trailers play this up as a straight comedy, but it is also a film with a surprising amount of heart and was not filmed tongue-in-cheek. It had the surprising depth and poignancy that reminded me of last year’s ‘Seeking a Friend at the End of the World’, but is more targeted at the teen age audience.
This is the story of ‘R’ (he can’t remember his name, started with an ‘R’ he thinks) played by Nicholas Hoult. After the zombie apocalypse, R wanders the streets in search of meaning and connection even though he can’t think or feel those urges. He has a sort of friendship with another zombie named ‘M’ (played by my comedic favorite, Rob Corddry), but they merely sit around and occasionally grunt. He doesn’t know what is missing from his life because he can barely think, but he knows that his life of lurching around in packs and hunting humans trying to eat their brains is an unfulfilling existence. The premise is eye-rolling comedic, but as I said surprisingly poignant in its’ execution.
When R and his band stumble across a pack of armed humans foraging for supplies they attack. During the violent battle, R kills a young man named Perry (played by James Franco’s better looking brother David) and as he eats his brains experiences some of his memories and feelings. R immediately sees Perry’s girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend I suppose),the beautiful Julie (Teresa Palmer), who is still fighting, through a new perspective and becomes transfixed. He saves her from the other zombies and takes her back to his converted airplane habitat where he can hide her. Of course, Julie is terrified and can’t comprehend a zombie behaving like this. She tries to communicate, but R is only able to communicate through grunts. We understand what R is feeling through his narration, but Julie is left trying to understand why a zombie is protecting her. R is equally confused because for the first time that he can remember (or the fact that he can remember) he feels something... a connection.
I’ve been watching Nicholas Hoult ever since his great and quirky performance in ‘About a Boy’. He has grown up and I’m glad to see he’s made the transition from childhood actor. Like I said, I’m not going to make this film anything more than it is. Still, he shows his acting ability by being able to make a zombie sympathetic. The film’s success rests on the audience empathizing with the zombie and rooting for him as he slowly wakes from his trance. It is a silly premise and has cornball humor, but it also has truly touching moments that you wouldn’t think could exist in this type of film.
Julie’s father (John Malkovich), who is the leader of the human resistance, comes out searching for his daughter. His hatred for zombies is unparalleled and Julie finds herself in the strange position of trying to protect R from her father. When Julie is safely rescued, R realizes that he cannot live without her (odd since technically he is already dead). He realizes that his anguish and longing means that he is not truly dead. He sets off to the human stronghold to reunite with Julie. In a sense, Julie and R are star crossed lovers and you hope that the zombie and human can find a way to be together (as weird as that sounds).
This is a fun film in the midst of all the heavy Oscar season films and coming out right before the Jan -April slow period. If you are just looking for an entertaining movie on a weekend night then go for it, otherwise it can wait until it comes out on DVD. I wish the trailers didn’t portray it only as a comedy as it is a lot more and I think that will do it a disservice at the box office. A movie I dismissed before I went to see it, but I am glad that it was made.
I give this film ** 1/2 stars
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