Warm Bodies
Cast of Characters:
R – Nicholas Hoult
Julie Grigio – Teresa Palmer
M – Rob Corddry
Perry – Dave Franco
Nora – Analeigh Tipton
Kevin – Cory Hardrict
Col. Grigio – John Malkovich
Director – Jonathan Levine
Writer – Jonathan Levine
Based on the novel Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Producer – Bruna Papandrea, David Hoberman & Todd Lieberman
Distributor – Summit Entertainment
Running Time – 98 minutes
Rated PG-13 for zombie violence and some language.
Years have past since the zombie apocalypse. Since then, one zombie simply named R (Nicholas Hoult) has been spending most of his days roaming the abandoned airport with his best friend and fellow zombie M (Rob Corddry). Despite his reluctance to do so, R is still a zombie and craves human flesh. Brains are the go-to delicacy, though, since consuming them allows him to experience his victims’ memories, giving him a much-needed taste of what it was once like to be alive.
Then one day, R’s world is turned upside down when he encounters Julie Grigio (Teresa Palmer) while out hunting for food with his zombie pack. Yet instead of attacking Julie, he finds himself immediately drawn to her, and makes the highly uncharacteristic move of rescuing her when an attack breaks out between her team and his pack. Over time, their bond grows, as you’d expect between a sweet gal and – uh – the undead. One man, however, stands in the way of it developing further, and that’s Julie’s extremely overprotective father Col. Grigio (John Malkovich), the leader of the human survivors who’s plotting his own personal vendetta against the zombie horde.
Warm Bodies is a perfect example of never judging a book by its cover, or in this case a film by its poster, title and (or) sugary sweet premise. At the time of its release, Warm Bodies was coming fresh off the Twilight franchise when YA (young adult) adaptations were all the rage and studios were pumping them out rapid fire like Octomom squatting out her little tax dependents. So one would be justified in rolling their eyes and uttering an annoyed groan upon hearing the synopsis here. On paper, this film would just blend in with the other YA films.
However, this is where key casting decisions, strong direction and a unique perspective twist that flips the script on the zombie genre elevates a movie up high enough to avoid deteriorating into Nicholas Sparks meets Greg Nicotero.
Although, not gonna lie… that idea kinda intrigues me.
Writer/director Jonathan Levine has recently been on a rough streak with his last handful of films. The Night Before and Long Shot were lackluster comedies at best, and Snatched was a dreadful career low-point. But when he’s on-point, we get wonderful efforts like this film and 50/50, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt / Seth Rogen led cancer bromance dramedy. In a genre filled entirely with aggressively downbeat toned offerings like The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later, Warm Bodies presents a refreshingly upbeat and optimistic spin on the zombie monster. This time around, it’s now the gurgling, sputtering zombie R who we’re seeing the world through, beginning with him providing the opening exposition of how the zombie apocalypse came to be in a hilarious opening sequence. It’s that alternate viewpoint and subversion of genre conventions that makes this film so enjoyable.
Yes, R’s still a zombie, but he at least has a semi-functional heart, and when he says he still feels conflicted about tearing into a live human, you know he means it.
At his best, Levine has a way of deftly balancing wildly disparate tones. In 50/50, he took a sobering subject such as cancer and masterfully wove it into an Apatow-esque bromance comedy, and here too his skillful touch works wonders. Peppering Warm Bodies with some nifty, stylistic flourishes and loving nods to both zombie and rom-com tropes (Analeigh Tipton scores a big laugh with a gag involving Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman”), Levine finds an effective balance between rom-com charm and monster mayhem, guiding the proceedings with a sure hand and self-aware wink.
Much of the film, though, rests on the shoulders of Nicholas Hoult’s earnest performance as R, one that requires great deal of expression (or at least as much expression as a zombie can provide) to compensate for his communicative limits that are mostly confined to just grunts and strained gasps. Hoult brings both heart and humor to R, and shares a natural chemistry with his potential love interest Teresa Palmer that is sometimes awkward, sometimes silly (their meet-cute moment is hysterically twisted), but overall sweet and full of warmth.
When changing out of your soaked clothes manages to get an excited “Holy shit!” out of someone who lacks any feeling, emotion, and possibly not even a pulse, you know you’re something special.
A highlight comic sequence between the two occurs when R, in an effort to protect Julie, wipes some zombie scent on her and quickly shows her how to walk and talk in zombie to avoid drawing attention from the horde. Immediately upon hearing her laying the impression on a little too thick, he stops, slowly turns back and gurgles out, “Toooooooo… much.”
While most of the supporting performances are serviceable – certainly not bad but not quite stand out either (though the aforementioned Tipton does earn some laughs as Julie’s best friend Nora) – we are treated to a scene-stealing turn from Rob Corddry as R’s best friend M, a fellow zombie who, like R, may or may not have traces of his former humanity buried deep within him trying to break free. Malkovich brings a welcome veteran presence to the bonkers premise, and surprisingly dials down his trademark “Malkovich-ian” eccentricities as Julie’s hard-nosed father Col. Grigio. He’s a man who’s acquired quite an itchy trigger finger with the zombies, but carries with him a tragedy from his past that provides some understanding for his unforgiving stance and stubborn mistrust of the undead.
The one minor drawback here are the Boneys, zombies who have given up hope to the point of tearing away their flesh, leaving behind a skeletal remain. As the primary antagonists, they’re really nothing more than generically rendered special effects that periodically pop up from time to time to scare off both zombies and humans. While it’s certainly a cool concept, one that poses a serious threat to even the already undead zombies of what they could potentially devolve into, the execution leaves little to be desired.
But that’s ultimately a minor gripe that hardly detracts from a film that is overall a briskly-paced, laugh-out-loud blast.
Closing Statement: Warm Bodies is shamelessly sentimental, but nevertheless provides an effectively sweet and different spin on the oversaturated zombie genre thanks to Jonathan Levine’s sure-handed direction and a winning performance from Nicholas Hoult.
Silver Screen Fanatic’s Verdict: I give Warm Bodies a B+ (★★★).
Benjamin’s Stash Tier: Silver Stash
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