Seriously, this film BLEW ME AWAY!!! I knew nothing going into this film. My
boyfriend asked if I wanted to see it with him, telling me it’s a Zombie
Romantic Comedy (or ZomRomCom), and I thought, “Yeah, sure.” Warm Bodies is
currently third on my film list of 92 for so many reasons.
This film will make you smile, it will make you tear up
(especially if you’re like me.. I’m a blubberer), and oh my goodness, you will
not stop laughing! I was completely sold on this film after the opening five
minute sequence. It quickly gives you all the background information you need
for the world (with a slight nod to the Danny Boyle classic 28 Days Later)
and makes a beautiful allegory comparing a world overrun by technology with a
world overrun by a zombie apocalypse.
SPOILER ZONE:
Now, for those of you who have seen the movie and want to
make the most common complaint associated with modern-day love stories, go
ahead.
IT’S JUST ROMEO AND JULIET! ROMEO AND JULIET ISN’T EVEN THAT
GOOD! GIVE IT A BREAK!
My turn.. But first, a tangent.
So many people have issues with anything slightly related to
Romeo and Juliet. Some people have issues with Romeo and Juliet itself. Yes,
it’s a classic story. Yes, Shakespeare probably wasn’t the first person to come
up with the concept. Yes, there is a reason why Shakespeare’s play is the most
popular, most commonly read, and most widely studied version of the tale of the
“star-crossed lovers.” Shakespeare gave us a story that everyone knows and put
real three-dimensional characters into it! Juliet is more than a girl who has a
crush on a cute boy. Mercutio is more than a friend trying to get his buddy
laid. The nurse is more than a silent servant.
That being said, Warm Bodies continues this trend. The
characters in warm bodies are real people. We get a real past and real
memories. We get a Romeo (R) who can barely talk for half of the film, and yet
he has depth and a love of beautiful things (and a charmingly funny
inner-monologue). We get a Juliet (Julie) who isn’t immediately turned on by
our leading male character and so we get to watch her develop from being cold
and single-minded to being full of love and compassion. (More on this later.)
Warm Bodies even takes it a step further. M/Marcus is our
beloved Mercutio, friend to Romeo. Nora is the trusty Nurse, confidant to
Juliet (this one is spelled out for you if you didn’t get it by the end). Perry
is the nasty Paris, the man hoping to steal Juliet’s heart.
Despite having a lot of characters
and the whole lovers-who-can’t-be-together thing pulled from Romeo and Juliet,
Warm Bodies is quite distinct from its predecessor. For instance, Warm Bodies
has much less heart-wrenching death than Romeo and Juliet (which you wouldn’t
really expect considering that it is, after all, a ZOMBIE film). Romeo and
Juliet is primarily about tragedy and death. Warm Bodies is primarily about life and love.
One of my absolute favourite
things about this film is the fact that all of the characters, regardless of if
they are dead or alive, need to take the same journey.
R is a corpse. As an undead creature
with no heartbeat, he has a cold body. As he transforms, his heart begins to
beat, he is able to dream, and eventually he regains the warmth and color of
life. His love for beautiful things and his desire for something more allow him
to make the journey to becoming a warm body.
Julie is alive. As a human who has
lost friends and family to the apocalypse (and even her own father due to his
obsession with the whole situation), she has a cold heart. All of the humans
have cold hearts. They see the corpses as creatures in a state of being that
they don’t understand and they write them off and cast them away. (For good
reason, seeing as none of the corpses have shown any interest in anything other
than brains for a while.) Julie’s time spent with R and realizing that he isn’t
just a thoughtless brain-munching corpse allows her to make the journey to
having a warm heart.
The film isn’t just about R and
his fellow corpses recognizing hope and love to get better. It’s also about the
humans finding the compassion and trust necessary to help them.
Another lovely thing that Warm
Bodies does is it suggests an explanation as to why zombies are always fixated
on eating brains. First of all, according to the science in the film, eating a
victim’s brains is the only way to ensure that they will not become a
corpse. It’s also worth noting (though I have mentioned this already) that
corpses do not dream. It’s implied that eating the brain is not necessary for
corpses to thrive. Some thigh or arm
muscle should do the trick. According to R, however, the brain is the best part
because when you eat the brain of your victim, you get their memories. R
mentions how the memories are like dreams and can make him feel a little more
human.
Now this is beautifully poetic.
This paints the corpses in a tortured and caring light. Yes, they need to kill
to thrive, which they do. It’s instinct. We can’t blame them for that. They eat
the brains of their victims to remember what it was like to live, to dream. Now
I’m going to make an assumption here; Corpses don’t like being corpses. They
don’t feel good, they’re not happy, and they probably don’t want their fate to
fall on anyone else, especially by their hands. So they save their victims from
a miserable after-life. They eat their brains and allow them to rest in peace.
Seriously beautiful.
Now I had no idea that this film
was an adaptation from a book until I mentioned it on my facebook and someone
said that they preferred the book. As in all cases, I’m sure fans of the book
are the first to find problems with a movie adaptation. That’s fine. I have way
too many issues with some of the Harry Potter films for that exact reason. Warm
Bodies, regardless of how fans of the book feel, is a perfectly suitable
stand-alone film. You don’t need to have read the book to understand what’s
happening. The film is so outstandingly well done and each big change in the
characters is made very clear without treating the audience like a room full of
stoners who haven’t been paying attention thus far. Plus, if you saw and
enjoyed the movie before reading the book, now you have a book to look forward
to reading! I know I’m looking forward to it!
Having said that, there is one
tiny little draw-back. The book describes Nora as being a woman of color having
Ethiopian heritage. I honestly think that when I do read Warm Bodies, I’ll have
a bit of a hard time not picturing Analeigh Tipton. I haven’t read the book yet
(I just saw this fact online) so I can’t tell you if this will hinder enjoyment of the book in any way. I guess it depends on the person. I hope that
it doesn’t become an issue, for myself or anyone else. (Also, I’m sure for
lovers of the book that this was a big issue with the casting.)
I also want to talk about the
“sides” in Warm Bodies. In the beginning of the film, there is a clear divide
drawn between beings with and without a heartbeat: humans vs. corpses and
skeletons. Up until now, I’ve only mentioned the non-infected humans and the
corpses. I haven’t mentioned what the corpses call bonies (the humans call them
skeletons). It’s established that corpses eventually become bonies and that
they both need to eat humans to thrive. Now unlike the slow corpses battling
rigor mortis, bonies are fast and are much harder to get away from once they’re
onto you. R mentions in the exposition of the film that the bonies will eat
anything with a heartbeat without remorse. One of the great things about this film is not only
that the sides change, but how the sides change. As R spends time with Julie,
we see something pretty spectacular happen to him. We see his heart begin to
beat, and so begins a beautiful transition period. The bonies and other corpses
don’t immediately put R on the menu. He still smells dead. (I should probably
also mention how R protected Julie from being eaten by other corpses thus far.
He rubbed a bit of gross looking rotten blood on her. I think it’s fair enough
that the putrid smell of rotting guts would be enough to cover up the smell of
fresh meat resulting in other corpses and bonies leaving her alone. Which is
why once R’s heart beats, he doesn’t become a target just yet.) It’s when he
stands up for Julie against his fellow corpses and the bonies that the change
begins to spread. He gave the other corpses hope that they could experience love
and have a real life. He showed them that there is more to what they're currently experiencing (call it life, or after-life?). Slowly but surely more corpses begin to have beating
hearts again, and this is what draws the attention of the bonies to R. The
bonies like the world the way it is. They are pretty much in control, and one
corpse and one human are challenging their reign. Slowly the corpses are
standing up together against the bonies, and even more slowly the humans are
accepting that the corpses can change and are on their side.
Now just a quick note on the
cast.. They are marvellous! Nicholas Hoult is brilliant! He plays a character
with so many layers and meaningful thoughts, yet is very limited in how he can
express himself. He is endearing and believable. His Canadian accent is
flawless (for those of who you don’t know that he is from the United Kingdom). And yes, this is the same guy who acted alongside Hugh Grant in
About a Boy. (It’s a seriously adorable and profound film. Maybe I’ll review it
on here someday.) Teresa Palmer also pulls off a fantastic Canadian accent
(born and raised in Australia). She has this wonderful way of delivering more
than her lines. Lines are so black and white and she adds some serious color
every time. You see each bit of her transformation in her facial expressions and her
body-language. There’s no moment when you think, “Wow, that escalated quickly.”
She shows you all of her internal struggles and thoughts every step of the way,
and she makes you believe her. Next, I want to mention Analeigh Tipton.
America’s Next Top Model fans (don’t judge) will recognize her as the figure
skater who should have won Cycle 11 and was cheated with third place. ANTM fans
will also remember that Analeigh absolutely killed her Cover Girl commercial in
episode 8 of the cycle. It’s no surprise that she has made it to the big screen
as a fun, likeable, and all-around caring character. (In my opinion, seeing her
progress in her career is wonderful, especially since I haven’t seen anything
that the two girls who topped her have done since.) Lastly, I can’t forget to
mention Dave Franco. I had no clue that James Franco had little brother. He is
properly fabulous as Perry. For being such a small part, Perry changes quite a
lot and takes a very interesting (though likely normal in the scope of the
film’s universe) journey. The interesting thing about Perry’s journey is that
it takes place entirely before the film starts. You see an interesting
character at the start and he starts to make sense throughout the film as you
get his memories and his past. It’s a lot to show that a character has an
extensive past before the audience is aware of the specifics. I’ve always
admired Alex Kingston’s performance in Silence in the Library and Forest of the
Dead. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing Perry’s backstory with the
beautifully tangled web of River Song and The Doctor, but he does possess the
same skills and poise.
All things considered, this film
is fantastic. The romance is romantic, the comedy is funny, and the bonies are
properly terrifying. I absolutely loved it and would suggest it to anyone. My
boyfriend has said in many of our post-viewing discussions that if you can
accept the premise of the film, then you will be rewarded and will find it
quite enjoyable. If the idea of a zombie falling in love with someone who is
alive, and vice-versa, and this allowing for a cure to a zombie apocalypse is
something that you just can’t cope with, then maybe you should just pass. You’d
spend too much time studying the mechanics and scoffing at the characters to
see the true beauty that this, Warm Bodies, portrays.
Until the next credits!