“Warm Bodies” is a 2013 zombie romantic comedy, directed by Jonathan Levine. The film follows follows a zombie named R, played by Nicholas Hoult, who rescues a girl named Julie Grigio, played by Teresa Palmer. We hear R’s thoughts and that he’s able to make simple words with his fellow zombie friend named M, played by Rob Corddry. R and M live in an airport, with R actually living in an airplane. In the plane there are a second class of zombies called Bonies, which are a more vicious group of zombies that have more exposed bones.
Let’s get this out of the way; the zombie genre has been a little overexposed as of late. There aren’t many new interpretations of zombie material, as most films follow the same formula. This isn’t to say that the zombie genre isn’t good, but no one really has decided to do anything new until lately. What’s interesting about this film is how they’ve decided to do some new things with zombies.
It’s implied that all regular zombies can make coherent thoughts but can only really grunt or maybe make a word. There is also a reason why they like brains; they get “high” off of them. That means that when they eat a brain they calm down and experience the thoughts of the person who they’ve eaten. This is actually a new idea to the zombie genre which is rather interesting.
On the acting side we have Nicholas Hoult as R and he actually does a good job. Even in voice over, where the lines can be a little cheesy, he delivers them well. Teresa Palmer as Julie is alright, but doesn’t really do anything outstanding in her part. As the main two of the film’s couple, it feels like Teresa Palmer isn’t doing her part which hurts in a romance story. Also these actors don’t really sell comedy well as they don’t really give a punch that is needed in some jokes and don’t really take advantage of its zombie material.
To decide if “Warm Bodies” is for you, there is going to be a bit of a spoiler, not a major one but it’s nice to give warning. Last chance if you want to avoid any spoilers just jump down to the next paragraph. Alright, a plot point involves R slowly turning back into human because of his love for Julie. This can be seen as one of two ways: Either as a huge slap in the face to how logic works or a story of fantasy love. After reading that, you can decide if this is the movie for you.
Anyway, there are things to complain about in this movie that can be distracting. First off are the special effects and make up which are confusing and dull respectively. There are points in which CG is used to put airplanes in the airport, a laughable pan over of the city, and even a tear going down Julie’s face. Nobody had a dew dropper on standby? Don’t go to this movie expecting great zombie make up as all it is is grey skin, contacts, and a little blood spilled on their faces. There is also Julie’s father General Grigio, played by John Malkovich, and how he’s supposed to be portrayed.
While he’s really only in the movie for the last act, we’re told that he’s mean and strict by Julie. Last time I checked that is a problem, if there wasn’t a zombie apocalypse going on. This feels like something straight out of a teenage romance novel cliché book that doesn’t translate.
Overall, you should really think before you want to see this movie. On one hand it’s cheesy and is drenched in romance, but on the other hand it does things in zombie movies not seen before. The cast is a bit of a mixed bag in how they act and there will be things that will irritate a pure zombie fan. However, if you look past the nit picks of zombie lore, you actually get an okay romance. If what I have written here hasn’t changed you wanting to see the movie and if you can wrap your head around the premise you will like this movie, if not this movie isn’t for you.