And the blokes behind "Shaun of the Dead" thought they were clever.
"Warm Bodies" is one of the few films in recent years that explores a territory that is truly unexplored in the world of movies. How many movies, outside of porn, feature a human kissing a zombie? Truly remarkable stuff. This film is not satisfied to skirt by on novelty, however, and also features great acting performances matched with well-executed cinematography, writing, and music to make a memorable film.
"Warm Bodies" begins with the internal monologue of one of the millions of zombies wandering the earth, shuffling from place to place until hunger draws them closer to human dwellings. I was immediately hooked. R, the protagonist, describes the way he goes about each and every day which is, indeed, the same as every other zombie. R takes up his residence in an airport with dozens of others, but R is inherently different. In addition to the fact that we, the audience, are inside his head, we also see that he enjoys his own private residence in an airplane and enjoys hoarding away trinkets from the world before it was destroyed. Like WALL-E, but a zomb-E.
"Warm Bodies" follows the adventures of R as he falls in love with a living human girl, Julie, and saves her from the rest of the zombie population while taking her as a pseudo-prisoner in his home. He provides for her every need and always attempts to "stop being creepy" while around her. Interesting concerns for a zombie. Julie undergoes a strange Stockholm Syndrome in which she is at first understandably terrified of R but soon sees that he is different from the others. R protects Julie and loves her, so much so that he begins to come back to life. R inspires other zombies to do the same, and the zombie population begins to regain its humanity.
A movie in which an actor plays a zombie that is able to talk for most of the movie seems like an opportunity for overacting and cheesy dialogue, but Nicholas Hoult portrays R very believably, and the progression from a zombie to a human seems not only natural, but inevitable. The dialogue offers many laughs and the casting was generally superb.
What is fascinating about this film is that humans are not even onscreen for the first ten minutes, and I already found myself empathizing with R in his continual restlessness as he shuffled among the other zombies. This empathy for zombies is the root of the movie, and allows the audience to not only connect with R, but with the entire zombie population.
Another interesting thing about this movie is that it may be the first movie featuring zombies in which precisely 0 of the antagonists are zombies. The problem of "Who's the antagonist then?" is solved by the "Bonies." Bonies are the zombies of the zombies, un-dead people that gave up on any attempt at humanity and ate any extraneous flesh off of their own bodies until they were nothing more than bones and muscle. Bonies are faster and more vicious than any zombie, and are obviously willing to consume zombie-flesh.
The most important aspect of this movie is that it flips the script on everything we have been taught about zombies and movie monsters in general. Not only does a zombie fall in love with a human girl, but he inspires others to do the same. The zombies have their own monsters to be wary of. We empathize with zombies so much that we begin to view humans as the enemies until one of them learns to have sympathy for a zombie herself. Several mediums have shown us the concept of a group of humans disguising themselves and walking among a large group of zombies, such as "Shaun of the Dead" and "The Walking Dead," but "Warm Bodies allows the opportunity for R to walk unnoticed among the humans as he becomes more and more lifelike.
The movie pays its tributes to George A. Romero, advocating the stern "Zombies can't run" rule...until they are no longer zombies. And the movie even makes fun of this rule in one of the earliest scenes: as R and a group of "friends" begin their long march to the city, the narration remarks "God, we move slow. This might take a while..." Another classic zombie trope that is turned on its head is the concept of "BRAAAAAAINSSSSS." Zombies still eat brains in this world, but for entirely different reasons. When zombies eat human brains, they catch glimpses of the memories of that person's life. This seems like a strange idea to throw into an already strange movie until R is able to see through the eyes of a person he killed and witness himself as a monster. "Warm Bodies" changes the perspective on zombies in so many ways that it could almost create a new genre in itself.
The "rom" part of zomb-rom-com, a term I came up with myself but honestly probably didn't, is also handled quite well. Just another way in which this movie flips expectations around is that R manages to fill all the rolls held by Edward Cullen but much better. R protects Julie, provides for her, loves her, and watches her while she sleeps because he cannot. Edward does like, half of these things. And when R watches Julie sleep, it's endearing and not fucking creepy like Edward. Fuck vampires. No, don't fuck vampires, I meant...forget it.
The movie is often self-referential in its humor, including a scene in which R is about to be given a makeover to appear human and "Pretty Woman" begins playing in the background. However, Julie cuts the montage short by saying its "not funny" and the music is changed. The way in which the zombies are shown coming to life, namely, by a large animation of a glowing heart in their chest beginning to beat, is a bit cartoonish but enjoyable nonetheless. I noticed a scene near the end of the movie that was obviously and overtly reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet," in which the girl is sitting wistfully upon her balcony, daydreaming of her lover who appears just below her and calls her name in the night.
This may be obvious to many of you already, but it took me a full eighty minutes to realize that "R and Julie" was, in fact-shock and awe!-"Romeo and Juliet." It may seem paltry and a little bit lame, but the concepts fit the ideals of the movie. The Montagues and the Capulets are now the humans and the zombies. The funny part is that the zombies accept Julie much faster and with much less pressure than the humans are able to accept the zombies. However, this movie has a much different and much more cheerful ending then the classic tragedy.
"Warm Bodies" is a thought-provoking and entertaining film, showing the extents of love on a battlefield to the inherent awkwardness of young men, regardless of vital signs. This movie earns a Watch It rating, and I would definitely recommend it for a first date...if your date doesn't mind a touch of gore with their rom-com. And really, why would you?
Until next time, what are your thoughts on "Warm Bodies?" I love to hear the opinions!
-kmaker
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