Warm Bodies

Director - Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Night Before)

Starring - Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, Clash of the Titans), Teresa Palmer (Lights Out, A Discovery of Witches), and John Malkovich (Con Air, Mindcage)

Release Date - 2013

Genre - Romance/Comedy/Horror

Tagline - "Who say's romance is dead?"

Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Way back in 2013 I was in a rough spot. I’ve been a fan of zombie movies for as long as I could remember but the premier of the television adaptation of The Walking Dead turned zombies into a pop culture phenomenon. After that first season I found myself overwhelmed with indie zombie flicks for review along with the dozens of moderately budgeted zombie flicks that were lining the shelves at Walmart and Target. In 2013 we had some seriously enjoyable zombie flicks but there was so many. We had a film adaptation of World War Z, Bath Salt Zombies, The Dead 2, Buck Wild, Pro wrestlers vs Zombies, and the romantic zombie comedy Warm Bodies. I actually watched Warm Bodies in theaters and remember liking it. It was a fun popcorn flick that didn’t try to reinvent the sub-genre but contribute to it. I’ve watched the film a few times since that initial theatrical viewing and still find that it holds up. A few weeks back I received the UHD release of the film for review and used this opportunity to revisit it one more time. 

     The film follows R who is a zombie that is a bit different than the others. He was able to keep a bit of his past self and often reminisces about being human. He still has an insatiable taste for human flesh but once he has fed he goes back to mundane tasks until the time has come for him to feed again. Things change for him when a group of zombies he is with attack a group of survivors savaging for medicine where he spots the beautiful Julie. He saves her from the horde of the undead and takes her back to the airliner that he calls home. Soon a relationship blossoms and when he falls in love with her he finds his heart start beating again. It’s a race again time as the survivors and the zombies continue their war as they try to stop both sides from killing each other while they have a cure for the plague. 

      When horror fans talk about zombie flicks they often mention Romero’s Dead series, Fulci’s Zombi, The Dead Next Door, and so on. They want bloody and gory zombie flicks with amazing practical effects and an overwhelming sense of dread. However, as much as I love those films I still find myself floating toward the movies that take risks with weird stories. Warm Bodies is one of the few romantic comedies that I enjoy. It doesn’t over do the romance and relies on the story to get to the point. It’s a popcorn flick with zombies and some cheap laughs that don’t really find their marks. The acting in this one is very enjoyable. Surprisingly, I’m a big fan of Nicholas Hoult. He’s been in several films that I enjoy and I look forward to his newest film Renfield. I’m also a fan of Rob Corddry. Hot Tub Time Machine was one of my go to comedies for several years and I still randomly binge Children’s Hospital. The remainder of the cast is just as great, Malkovich included. The story for this one a goofy movie with zombies falling in love with their food and saving the human race. It’s that simple and straight forward. We have a side story about a war hungry human wanting to eradicate the undead with a similar threat in the zombies with the ghouls. It’s a fun film with a fairly generic story that finds a way to work. Finally, the film relies heavily on visual effects. We get some make up effects on the normal zombies but most of the deaths and the ghouls are CGI. This will be a turn off to most horror fans but those expecting a popcorn flick will not let it ruin the experience. Overall, Warm Bodies is a cute flick for people looking to shut their brains off for an hour and a half. It’s not Dawn of the Dead or Zombi but it’s fun for what it is. Check it out