Warm Bodies

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!