Warm Bodies is a romzomcom, telling the story of ‘R’ who is a zombie but with an internal monologue who, whilst on a hunt with his crew for humans to eat, stumbles across Julie who, after eating the brains of her dead boyfriend, develops feelings for her and starts becoming more human again, leading a return to humanity for the zombies before a battle between them, the humans and the ‘bonies’, zombie skeletons too far gone to change.
If you’re expecting a Twilight-esque lovey-dovey story from ‘Warm Bodies’ then you’ll be disappointed. Though it is a loose adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, it’s more funny than lovey. The opening ten minutes built around the internal monologue of ‘R’ – a style of presentation that comes back throughout the film – establishes the humour well and has several laugh-out-loud moments. It’s part zombie action film, part teenage romance, part awkward-date movie, all rolled into one and the concept, based on a novel really works. Some of the best bits are spoilt in the trailer but there are lots of funny moments that aren’t, so don’t worry too much about that.
It also pokes fun at its own genre at several points, much needed in a media that’s currently saturated with zombies in the cinema, on television and in video games.
The cast really gel together and the story is rounded off by some well-placed flashbacks and even though I still can’t not think about Pascal Sauvage and his bad French accent every time I see John Malkovich on screen, he adds a star name to the cast. Nicholas Hoult and Rob Corddry were great in the film and nailed the zombie acting, and Teresa Palmer as R’s love interest was equally enjoyable.
Alongside the sweet natured and funny plot, there’s actually a lot of surprisingly well done CGI in the film based around the bonies, even if they do have a similar resemblance to the alien in ‘Signs’. There are several tense action sequences but it’s the humour – sometimes obvious, mostly subtle – and the relationships between the zombies that make the film, in particular between R and “best-friend” M.
There’s a little bit of something for everyone in the film from gory action sequences to spot-on humour, to some romance, and though it may lose a little momentum in its middle-third, was a very enjoyable film with several laugh-out loud moments that cement it as a great film. Definitely a movie I’d like to see again.
Warm Bodies – 8/10
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