The world is overrun with zombies, known as corpses, who wander the streets in search of their next meal. They can't remember their lives or speak. R (Hoult) is a recently deceased corpse who collects knick-knacks as he wanders. His whole changes when he encounters a group of human gatherers. After killing the group leader, Perry (Franco), R eats his brains and gains Perry's memories.
Perry's memories cause R to rescue Julie (Palmer), Perry's girlfriend. He hides Julie and they begin to form a strange friendship. He starts to speak and feel, and affects the other corpses. Their relationship puts them in danger, as they are a threat to the paranoid humans, led by Julie's father Grigio (Malkovich), and the violent Bonies. Can humans and corpses have a happy ending?
In 2010 author Isaac Marion imagined a new twist on a love story, specifically Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet": a love story with zombies. He originally worked on the concept in a short story titled "I Am a Zombie Filled with Love." The novel became a YA hit and naturally, it joined the ranks of popular YA novels to receive a big screen adaptation.
Zombies are popular in film; I have reviewed several horror comedy films about zombies (A Little Bit Zombie, Last of the Living, ParaNorman, Shaun of the Dead, Wasting Away, and Zombieland). This is a different take on the genre, with much less blood and gore (don't get me wrong, it's still there, but it isn't traumatizing to watch). It was a smart move, allowing the film to ride the zombie hype, while still appealing to teen girls.
The film has a great cast. Nicholas Hoult has excellent comic timing and an expressive face. His running monologue draws the audience in from the beginning. He was the perfect choice for the role (I haven't read the novel, so perhaps his isn't... but he is great in the film version of the character). His leading lady is Teresa Palmer, who is typically cast as the lead character's girlfriend / crush... but finally gets the opportunity to step into a leading role. She is fine here and has good chemistry with Hoult. Analeigh Tipton is funny as Julie's best friend Nora (the Nurse in "Romeo and Juliet"). She is more of an audience surrogate, who has Julie's back but doesn't always understand what she is thinking / doing. Dave Franco doesn't get to do much as Perry, but makes the most of his screen time. As usual Rob Corddry is funny, he might be funnier here since he doesn't get to talk as much. Although John Malkovich has a small role, he is a dominating presence in the film.
It is an ok movie, but not the best... apparently Marion wrote a prequel and is working on a sequel to the story, so don't be surprised if there are more films to accompany this one (even though it seems to have a clearly defined ending).
Warm Bodies (2013) 98 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence and some language
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult as R
Teresa Palmer as Julie
Analeigh Tipton as Nora
Rob Corddry as M
Dave Franco as Perry
John Malkovich as Grigio
Cory Hardrict as Kevin
A movie that pays more attention to its characters is always good for me and that’s what I liked most about this flick. Good review Sarah.
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