Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies = The Walking Dead + Romeo and Juliet...almost literally. As told from the perspective of a 20 something zombie, who falls in love with a human girl. His love starts to change him and also change how she sees the undead. It is a relationship that can change the world in a post zombie apocalyptic era.

Cast

 Nicholas Hoult as R
 Teresa Palmer as Julie Grigio
 Rob Corddry as M / Marcus
 Dave Franco as Perry Kelvin
 Analeigh Tipton as Nora
 Cory Hardrict as Kevin
 John Malkovich as Colonel Grigio

Who will like this:

This is the perfect date movie for your Walking Dead fans, nerds or cos players. (You know who you are). It's an undead Rom Com. It has aspects of Shaun of the Dead, mixed with Twilight. It takes several liberties with classic zombie mythology that zombie fans may take umbrage with, but when taken in the light-hearted way it was written, it is enjoyable. If you are looking for a movie that's a little bit funny, a little bit scary and a bit of a romance, it's a good one to catch.

Phantom Thoughts

When I said this was the Walking Dead + Romeo and Juliet, it wasn't just a clever description. (Although it really was, if I do say so myself) It is has taken the plot directly from ol' Willie Shakes classic love story, right down to the famous balcony scene. Teresa Palmer plays Julie (Juliet) while Nicholas Hoult's zombie main character can't remember his name, but thinks it begins with "R" (Romeo...see? Get it?) 

But how does a character express his love to a girl who is fighting against him and all others like him when he can hardly even speak? This is the point in which I have to give credit to Nicholas Hoult. There are a lot of voice over through out the movie to tell R's story by what he's thinking to the audience. And this is where a lot of the humor comes from as it's cleverly written. But for an actor to express this through just the eyes and facial expressions was done very well by Hoult. Anyone who has played a zombie around Halloween (and really, haven't we all at some point?) knows that it's pretty easy to do...just become void of emotion and shuffle along as if it's a struggle to move. But to take that and emote emotion and communication at the same time is not that easy, or believable. Hoult does it. 

The other obstacle I see in making this movie is, how do you make a disgusting, rotting flesh eating zombie, a likable romantic lead in a movie? Well, first is the make-up. Which is done by mildly altering the actor to look more of just dead than a rotting corpse. Then give him the ability to speak...just a few words, and thoughts and feelings. All of which is uncharacteristic of what we know to be zombies. Next you have to have a villain  Normally this would obviously be the zombies themselves. So to solve this, they made another level of zombie called "Bonies". These mummy-like creatures are more animalistic and vicious. They are the soulless undead that other zombies eventually turn into. They are all CGI and at times, not really well done. But you can forgive that since it's not really a horror or sci-fi movie.

John Malkovich plays Julie's Father, and the leader of the human army against the zombies. I felt his role as the bad-ass military like leader didn't suit him very well. Maybe all his work as a villain in other films as well as his bad-ass character in "Red" made him a good candidate, but it didn't work for me.

SPOILER: The love that R has for Julie starts to change him, in fact "cure" him of being a zombie. This change spreads like the virus that caused the zombie apocalypse in the first place and other zombies begin to follow his example. This leads to a battle between Zombies and Bonies that is pretty funny to watch.

Was the timing of this movie planned? Hmmmm...let's see: we are at the height of The Walking Dead craze, this Summer one of the most anticipated movies is World War Z (which there is a preview for  for before Warm Bodies) and it came out just before Valentine's Day. Yeah. I would have to say that it is perfectly timed. 

Until next time, see you in the center seat.