Rated PG-13 for zombie violence and some language.
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Dave Franco, John Malkovich, Analeigh Tipton , Cory Hardrict , Rob Corddry.
Written by Jonathan Levine, based on the novel by Isaac Marion.
Directed by by Jonathan Levine.
GRADE: **1/2 (two and a half stars out of four)
GOSPEL DOCTRINE-O-METER: Two Angel Moronis (**) Despite the obvious problem of a story based in a world devoid of the Second Coming or pending Millenium (let alone a lot of dead people walking around - so much for resurrection), there are a few gospel themes that can be derived from Warm Bodies. One is the squeaky-clean romance, absent of the slightest hint of sexual activity (although the female lead does remove her shirt - seen only from behind). The other is a lesson on tolerance and accepting people seen as hopeless cases. The idea that love can cure a malady as terrible as Zombieism can be seen as an allegory for rescuing souls via missionary work or visiting/home teachers among the less active. Then again, it IS a movie about zombies that eat brains.
REVIEW:
Zombie
lore has been an unavoidable staple in film and television lately.
There is a significant amount of zombie movies, comic books and TV
series out there, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before a
zombie romantic comedy would get the green light. Warm Bodies may be the
first romance based in the world of the walking dead, and it may not be
the last.
Nicholas Hoult plays “R” (since he can't remember his
living name), a young zombie who wanders around an airport with other
people in his same predicament. His story is set in the world after the
“zombie apocalypse” where uninfected humans have barricaded themselves
behind a huge wall in a major city, sending out patrols of volunteers to
recover supplies for survival. The living are led by General Grigio
(John Malkovich), a harsh man whose only mission in life is to kill all
the zombies.
During one such mission, Grigio's daughter Julie
(Teresa Palmer) runs into a band of zombies which also includes R. As
Julie's boyfriend (Dave Franco) becomes R's brain brunch, the young dead
man is smitten with her, and she is saved by him from the other
zombies. R takes Julie to his airport hideout at the airport as a
hostage.
During her captivity, R begins to have feelings usually
reserved for living people, including a faint heartbeat. Julie also
starts to have feelings for R, especially after he saves her life on
more than one occasion.
Julie eventually gets back to the “living
people” encampment and tries to convince her father that love can cure
the zombies, but not before a band of more violent “skeleton” zombies
engage in an attack on the living, who are joined by other zombies who
have discovered feelings after being inspired by R.
Warm Bodies
is a unique film, and could be considered a romantic comedy, if not for a
substantial amount of zombie gore and scary moments, giving it the feel
and tone of a horror movie. The clever script (mostly narrated by
Hoult) has a lot of comedic elements, while the romance doesn't get too
sappy, if not implausible.
And speaking of romance, if you pay
close attention during Warm Bodies, you'll notice more than a few
similarities to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (R=Romeo, Julie=Juliet,
the forbidden romance between star-crossed lovers...there's even a
“balcony” scene).
The problem with Warm Bodies, as I see it - is
the rather apparent blasphemy that most zombie movie fans will not take
lightly. It's a well-known “fact” that there is no cure for “Zombieism”
and the possibility of being able to reverse the effects of the living
dead kind of makes the “Apocalypse” seem more like your garden-variety
epidemic, easily handled by a few strict guidelines from the CDC. What's
more, The idea that a forbidden love story could derive from the world
of zombies might appeal to the folks who were willing to overlook the
tenets of vampire lore and accept the likes of the Twilight series.
For true Zombie fans, it may be a little too much to swallow.
What's next? A zombie musical? Heaven forbid.
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