"Warm Bodies" - directed by Jonathan Levine
The current craze for Zombies continues with "Warm Bodies".
Who'd have thought that after Vampires had been bled dry with "True Blood", "The Vampire Diaries" and the barely qualifying as Vampires at all sludge that is the "Twilight" series that the shuffling rotters would be the go to creatures?
With three films from 1968 to 1985 George A Romero almost single handedly invented the shuffling undead, created the lore ('Shoot em in the head!') and effectively used them to dissect modern society.
What more was there left to do with what are pretty basic 'creatures' in the first place?
Turns out quite a lot.
Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" remake in 2006 made zombies scary again (and allowed them to run) and the three seasons that we have had so far of the truly excellent "The Walking Dead" might represent the very best zombie property to date.
And then there is "Zombieland".
An hilarious movie benefiting from not only the formidable talents of Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson but featuring possibly the best cameo appearance of all time from one of the funniest actors of all time.
If the current surge in popularity of zombies allowed "Warm Bodies" to be made it is certainly "Zombieland" that seems to have carved the road ahead tone-wise for it.
The similarities are obvious with both films putting a gawky, awkward young man at the centre of the action.
In both cases this character is the narrator and both films use this device to bring us up to speed with the state of the world.
Both films present a world overrun with the undead in which humanity has little or no hope of lasting more than another generation.
The difference here though is that the awkward lead young male character is one of the zombies himself.
Also- like "Zombieland" it is at heart romantic comedy.
More precisely it is a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Just like the rivalry between the Montagues and the Capulets the world of "Warm Bodies" pits humans against zombies.
In the midst of this conflict one from each camp falls in love with the other.
It begins when human Julie is saved by a zombie who only recalls the first letter of his name - R.
R and Julie / Romeo and Juliet.
It's obvious but it's cute.
Neither side approves of the coupling of course and there is the constant threat that R will be shot by one of Juliet's Fathers soldiers or that one of R's fellow zombies will attempt to eat Julie.
Smartly realising that both threats don't represent a strong enough obstacle given where the story is headed the scrip throws in a third point of conflict.
The film would have us believe that there is something worse than being a zombie.
Zombies who 'give up' either scrape the flesh from their bones or rot away to just bones and become skeletal savages named 'bonies'.
These creatures are fast and ravenous and will eat just about anything.
It doesn't make a lot of sense in terms of zombie lore but I understand the need for there presence.
The plot demands that a lot of things are reasoned away.
The big one is how does an unfeeling walking corpse develop feelings for a live woman?
The device here is that true love re-sparks even the deadest of hearts and this is indeed what happens to R upon first laying eyes on Julie.
She is blasting away at several of R's undead friends at the time just as her own friends are being eaten by R's friends.
Love will make R progressively more human - more alive- the more his feelings for Julie grow.
It's a strange idea that a zombie could find love with a real live human woman but I bought into it fully.
A lot of is the perfectly cast Teresa Palmer as Julie.
Palmer has been good in a bunch of stuff over the past few years including "I Am Number Four", "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and Nash Edgerton's wonderful short film "Bear".
As Julie she plays both spunky, determined warrior and vulnerable woman in peril and she nails both.
The time she spends initially with R is a tearful affair as she gets over the recent loss of loved ones and also comes to terms with what is happening.
Palmer handles the transition of her character perfectly as she begins to trust R then fall in love with him.
There are scenes that are far more touching than I would have believed possible given the scenario but I award a lot of the credit to Palmer's performance.
It also helps that the nature of the romance demands that physical expression of love is not an option so other means are utilised.
A love of music shared by both is a nice solution and the time that Julie spends in R's 'home' - a grounded jet airliner- are very effective in showing the developing love.
The use of the classic Romeo and Juliet story even allows for a terrific balcony scene.
No doubt a second watch will reveal even more homage moments but the ones that I noticed were very nicely done and made me chuckle to myself several times.
What is not so well handled is the rather clumsy attempts to explain Zombie communication.
The grunts and very occasional word that R and best zombie friend M use to 'talk' early on miraculously become close to full fledged sentences as soon as the plot requires them to be able to communicate with each other.
Nicholas Hoult as R does great work with very little to work with.
He is not allowed a full expressive range- he is a zombie after all.
However Hoult conveys everything that he is required to.
Analeigh Tipton has been a favourite actress since the superb "Crazy, Stupid Love" a couple of years ago.
She is well used here even though she is grossly underused.
More screen time for her would have done the movie a huge favour.
As much as I liked the performances of Hoult, Tipton and specially Palmer the standout is certainly Rob Corddry who turns in a performance that shows there is more to this actor than his abrasive, loud personas from films such as "Hot Tub Time Machine".
As M he has a similar restriction as Hoult does but considerably less screen time to play with.
Nevertheless he is a clear highlight.
Sharing a similar plot and feel to "Zombieland" ultimately hurts "Warm Bodies" more than it helps it.
It's just nowhere near as good as Ruben Fleischer's wonderful movie.
"Warm Bodies" suffers by comparison every time it brings the other film to mind.
And it's a lot.
Still- this is an oddly touching film with excellent performances and enough originality to make it worth a look.
I saw a morning session two days after release and was alone in the cinema so this doesn't bode well for its box office prospects.
It has already vanished from screens in the US but it did pull in almost twice its $35 million production budget.
It deserves to find an audience and I hope that it does.
I liked it quite a bit without actually loving it.
Worth it for Corddry and in particular the astoundingly good Teresa Palmer.
Who'd have thought that after Vampires had been bled dry with "True Blood", "The Vampire Diaries" and the barely qualifying as Vampires at all sludge that is the "Twilight" series that the shuffling rotters would be the go to creatures?
With three films from 1968 to 1985 George A Romero almost single handedly invented the shuffling undead, created the lore ('Shoot em in the head!') and effectively used them to dissect modern society.
What more was there left to do with what are pretty basic 'creatures' in the first place?
Turns out quite a lot.
Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" remake in 2006 made zombies scary again (and allowed them to run) and the three seasons that we have had so far of the truly excellent "The Walking Dead" might represent the very best zombie property to date.
And then there is "Zombieland".
An hilarious movie benefiting from not only the formidable talents of Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson but featuring possibly the best cameo appearance of all time from one of the funniest actors of all time.
If the current surge in popularity of zombies allowed "Warm Bodies" to be made it is certainly "Zombieland" that seems to have carved the road ahead tone-wise for it.
The similarities are obvious with both films putting a gawky, awkward young man at the centre of the action.
In both cases this character is the narrator and both films use this device to bring us up to speed with the state of the world.
Both films present a world overrun with the undead in which humanity has little or no hope of lasting more than another generation.
The difference here though is that the awkward lead young male character is one of the zombies himself.
Also- like "Zombieland" it is at heart romantic comedy.
More precisely it is a retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
 |
| Nicholas Hoult, Rob Corddry and Teresa Palmer |
In the midst of this conflict one from each camp falls in love with the other.
It begins when human Julie is saved by a zombie who only recalls the first letter of his name - R.
R and Julie / Romeo and Juliet.
It's obvious but it's cute.
Neither side approves of the coupling of course and there is the constant threat that R will be shot by one of Juliet's Fathers soldiers or that one of R's fellow zombies will attempt to eat Julie.
Smartly realising that both threats don't represent a strong enough obstacle given where the story is headed the scrip throws in a third point of conflict.
The film would have us believe that there is something worse than being a zombie.
Zombies who 'give up' either scrape the flesh from their bones or rot away to just bones and become skeletal savages named 'bonies'.
These creatures are fast and ravenous and will eat just about anything.
It doesn't make a lot of sense in terms of zombie lore but I understand the need for there presence.
The plot demands that a lot of things are reasoned away.
The big one is how does an unfeeling walking corpse develop feelings for a live woman?
The device here is that true love re-sparks even the deadest of hearts and this is indeed what happens to R upon first laying eyes on Julie.
She is blasting away at several of R's undead friends at the time just as her own friends are being eaten by R's friends.
Love will make R progressively more human - more alive- the more his feelings for Julie grow.
It's a strange idea that a zombie could find love with a real live human woman but I bought into it fully.
A lot of is the perfectly cast Teresa Palmer as Julie.
 |
| Analeigh Tipton, Teresa Palmer and Dave Franco |
As Julie she plays both spunky, determined warrior and vulnerable woman in peril and she nails both.
The time she spends initially with R is a tearful affair as she gets over the recent loss of loved ones and also comes to terms with what is happening.
Palmer handles the transition of her character perfectly as she begins to trust R then fall in love with him.
There are scenes that are far more touching than I would have believed possible given the scenario but I award a lot of the credit to Palmer's performance.
It also helps that the nature of the romance demands that physical expression of love is not an option so other means are utilised.
A love of music shared by both is a nice solution and the time that Julie spends in R's 'home' - a grounded jet airliner- are very effective in showing the developing love.
The use of the classic Romeo and Juliet story even allows for a terrific balcony scene.
No doubt a second watch will reveal even more homage moments but the ones that I noticed were very nicely done and made me chuckle to myself several times.
What is not so well handled is the rather clumsy attempts to explain Zombie communication.
The grunts and very occasional word that R and best zombie friend M use to 'talk' early on miraculously become close to full fledged sentences as soon as the plot requires them to be able to communicate with each other.
Nicholas Hoult as R does great work with very little to work with.
He is not allowed a full expressive range- he is a zombie after all.
However Hoult conveys everything that he is required to.
Analeigh Tipton has been a favourite actress since the superb "Crazy, Stupid Love" a couple of years ago.
She is well used here even though she is grossly underused.
More screen time for her would have done the movie a huge favour.
As much as I liked the performances of Hoult, Tipton and specially Palmer the standout is certainly Rob Corddry who turns in a performance that shows there is more to this actor than his abrasive, loud personas from films such as "Hot Tub Time Machine".
As M he has a similar restriction as Hoult does but considerably less screen time to play with.
Nevertheless he is a clear highlight.
 |
| The gorgeous Teresa Palmer is a standout |
It's just nowhere near as good as Ruben Fleischer's wonderful movie.
"Warm Bodies" suffers by comparison every time it brings the other film to mind.
And it's a lot.
Still- this is an oddly touching film with excellent performances and enough originality to make it worth a look.
I saw a morning session two days after release and was alone in the cinema so this doesn't bode well for its box office prospects.
It has already vanished from screens in the US but it did pull in almost twice its $35 million production budget.
It deserves to find an audience and I hope that it does.
I liked it quite a bit without actually loving it.
Worth it for Corddry and in particular the astoundingly good Teresa Palmer.
| Rated | M for minor gore |
| Running Time: | 98 minutes (1hr 32 mins without end credits) |
| Starring: |
| Nicholas Hoult | --- R |
| Teresa Palmer | --- Julie |
| Analeigh Tipton | --- Nora |
| John Malkovich | --- Grigio |
| Dave Franco | --- Perry |
| Rob Corddry | --- M |
| Clifford LeDuc-Vaillancourt | --- Boy at Airport |
| Cory Hardrict | --- Kevin |
| Daniel Rindress-Kay | --- Soldier |
| Vincent Leclerc | --- Perry's Dad |
| Chris Cavenver | --- Soldier |
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