Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Analeigh Tipton, Rob Corddry, Dave Franco, and John Malkovich
Written by: Jonathan Levine (screenplay) and Isaac Marion (novel)
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Running time: 97 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for zombie violence and some language)
Warm Bodies is something rather unique for a zombie film; it’s not traditional at all. Summit Entertainment is attempting to market the film to the same audience as its mega-blockbuster Twilight franchise, the tweens and young adults. Whereas the Twilight films are teen friendly, they also alienate the die-hard horror fan. What makes Warm Bodies different is that I don’t believe it will push away the average horror fan. Yes it’s a zombie romance but its main focus is zombies first and romance second. The fatal mistake that Twilight made for the die-hard horror crowd is that it’s a tween
romance first and foremost and vampire/werewolf story after the fact. Warm Bodies is a film with a lot of heart without alienating any demographic. It’s a poignant tale of life, love, and the undead.
Adapted from the novel by Isaac Marion, the world has gone through an apocalypse of unknown origins. Humans are in a fight to survive and are being overrun by zombies with a taste for human flesh. The zombies favorite delicacy is human brains because when the eat brains, they get to experience the memories of the person they’re eating, and it’s like a drug to them. We are introduced to R (Nicholas Hoult-X-Men: First Class), he’s a zombie shambling his way through his existence, not knowing why he does what he does, only that he craves human flesh and must constantly search for it. He can’t remember his name only that it started with an “R”. R isn’t like the other zombies in that he isn’t content with shambling around aimlessly looking for food, he wants more out of his undead life – He longs to be alive again and to have the live he once had.
There are survivors of the apocalypse that have walled themselves up into several city blocks in order to stay safe from the zombies on the outside and what they call “Bonies”, undead skeletons which are much fiercer and more dangerous than the regular zombies, and seem to be the governing body of the zombie population. Julie, played by Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four) and a group of her friends have to scavenge outside of their encampment to find much needed medical supplies. While on a hunt, the group is attacked by zombies and R mysteriously saves Julie from an attack. R has to hide Julie from his hungry friends in order to keep her safe, and then something strange begins to happen. R and Julie develop an unlikely friendship which triggers a physical and emotional change in R that may have world changing implications.
I was a little reticent about seeing Warm Bodies for fear it was going to be another lovey-dovey teen romance and I was happily surprised. Director Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) has crafted not only a fine piece of genre filmmaking, but has infused warmth, depth of character, and human emotions to a lovable zombie character.
What a standout performance by Nicholas Hoult as R in the film. He is able to convey so much emotion without even talking for most of the film by just using his facial and eye expressions. Hoult is often hilarious to watch as he struggles to regain his humanity, you can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he emotes without words what he is feeling. Teresa Palmer is also outstanding in her role as R’s love interest. The pair have great chemistry and it’s a joy watching the two of them in their scenes together. Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine) also turns in a fine performance as R’s best zombie friend M. Finally, John Malkovich (Shadow of the Vampire) is his always solid self, playing Julie’s stern and tough-as-nails father who is the leader of the survivors. He adopts a kill first and ask questions later attitude when it comes to the zombies, which turns into a real problem for Julie and R. 
I had such a blast watching Warm Bodies; it was definitely not what I was expecting. I had a little problem with some of the effects used in the film, especially for the Bonies. They used motion capture for the Boney effects and they just didn’t cut it. It was better than stop motion animation, but not by much. The rest of the effects were on par, especially the human zombies.
Warm Bodies is the perfect example of what a filmmaker can do with the right source material. Jonathan Levine made a pretty darn good film without screwing up the adaptation of the original novel, I commend him for that. This film is one that horror and non-horror fans alike will dig. There’s something for everyone in this warmhearted tale of a zombie looking for a little bit more out of life than fresh brains, check it out, Recommended.
Watch the trailer here,
