Every so often, someone comes up with a genius new spin on an old idea that you just have to applaud. Such is the case with Jonathan Levine's comedy romance between a girl and a zombie - yes, you read that right - a zombie. This is much more than mere zomcom however, with the relationship between zombie and human becoming quite affecting. The film also has some genuine chills with the skeletal 'Boneys' that make this a 12A movie you'd be advised not to take an under 12 to.
Zombie R (Nicholas Hoult) lumbers around all day, tries to avoid barging into other zombies and having the occasional grunt with his friend M (Rob Corddry). Though an undead monster, Hoult, in voiceover, shows that much of R's human character remains submerged, commenting on what is happening at certain moments. While this can be a little annoying it reaps benefits at poking fun at the life of the zombie with R complaining to us how slow they walk, and apologising for eating brains. On an expedition to get some food (humans), the zombies come upon a group of people sent from the last human stronghold to find medicines. R is immediately drawn to Julie (Teresa Palmer) and, after killing and eating the brains of her boyfriend Perry (Dave Franco) saves her from the zombie pack, bringing her back to his airplane home at the zombie filled airport.
It's this mix of horror, comedy and poignancy that Levine juggles so successfully. By eating the brain of Perry, R has absorbed all of his memories (which are shown from Perry's point of view in a beautiful yet chilling montage as they pass from Perry's brain to R's consciousness, including sitting on his dad's shoulders, riding his bike and falling in love with Julie). R keeps a helping of Perry's brain in his pocket which he munches on from time to time, absorbing more of the dead man. This horror is finely balanced with comedy as R becomes more self aware and tries to romance Julie even though he is a lumbering corpse who has just eaten her fella. R's voiceover of 'don't be weird, don't be weird' as he attempts to communicate are funny and strangely touching. The two develop an odd bond leading eventually to R agreeing to help Julie get back to the human stronghold. However, R's change (a change that also starts to affect other zombies, such as M) has not gone unnoticed by the Boneys, the undead past saving, who do not want the undead to remember their humanity.
What I also liked about the film was the implication that the cause of the zombie apocalypse was as much modern life as some sci-fi disaster. Aty one stage, wandering around the old airport, R wishes he could have seen it before the disaster with all the people communicating with each other. In a clever shot it dissolves into the past showing all the passengers either looking at their phones or ipads or listening to music, all totally ignoring each other. The message is, are we much better than zombies in our technologically isolated world (a theme very similarly explored in Stephen King's zombie novel Cell) What starts to change R is not so much Perry's brains (all the zombies eat those), but that he has started to care for another. The lovely shot of M and other zombies looking at R and Julie holding hands, their hearts starting to beat again as it sparks their memories and compassion, sounds cheesy but is actually rather glorious.
Things get a little more formula torwards the end as R goes to the stronghold and falls foul of Julie's dad, the leader of the humans (John Malkovitch). The pair find themselves chased not just by her dad's army but by the legion of Boneys as well. Though obviously CGI, the Boneys, skeletons covered in a thin layer of brown flesh, are pretty gruesome and while hardly original, the chase through deserted streets is handled effectively. The resolution is clever and (I particularly love this) life affirming, with this being the first zombie movie that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy by the closing credits. With a tremendous lead performance by Hoult, that is true to the zombie genre while being likeable, to able support from Palmer, Corddry, Malkovitch and Analeigh Tipton as Julie's friend Nora, Warm Bodies is a great little film and one that I'd wholeheartedly recommend.
GK Rating: **** The Blog of Delights
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