Movie Review: Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies
Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence and brief language
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: 1 February 2013
Based on the novel Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
My Rating: 4/5

A funny new twist on a classic love story, Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.

This movie was a complete surprise for me. Warm Bodies is so much fun! Never in a million years would I think I could like anything dealing with zombies. I am absolutely terrified of them. I mean it. They sincerely scare me. Talk about giving me nightmares! Needless to say, I had reservations about watching this movie, but with free screening passes, I couldn't really pass it up. I basically hoped it wouldn't terrify me. Warm Bodies, surprisingly enough, is a completely entertaining, non-nightmare-inducing comedic ride. I loved every bit of it. I was fully prepared to close my eyes and/or scream through a lot of the movie. I think I squeaked once, but that was because of the bonies, not the zombies. I never thought I would laugh through a zombie movie, though. I laughed. At zombies. A lot. Insanity!

While the movie is funny, the story itself is strangely touching. Our leading zombie, R, is everything you never thought you wanted in a corpse. He's thoughtful, curious, is a collector of interesting objects, has a fine taste in music and just an all around nice guy. Albeit dead, but nice nonetheless. His inner monologue was probably my favorite part of the whole movie. "Don't be creepy. Don't be creepy." ... "Nailed it." Hilarity! I simply couldn't get enough of it. R's afterlife is pretty dull, but then he meets Julie. Julie is most definitely not a corpse, but for R, it's love at first sight. She's blonde, beautiful and knows how to use a gun. I really liked Julie, for the most part. Sometimes I wanted to smack her upside the head, but then I realize that if I were in her shoes, I might do the same things. I mean, she's being protected by a zombie. Corpses eat humans. It's the natural law or whatever. Surely anybody in her position would have some apprehension. But still, one would think she'd learn pretty early on that she has nothing to worry about when it comes to R and whether or not he's going to eat her.

Along with R and Julie, we have a couple other standout characters. I thought R's friend M was really quite funny. Sure, those two corpses aren't necessarily the best conversationalists, but they are obviously friends. It's an interesting idea for zombies to be able to be friends with one another. Speaking of friends, I also liked Julie's friend, Nora. She was kind of fearless when it came to meeting R. You would think, after being locked away in a city to be safe from corpses, she would totally freak out when one shows up late at night. Nope. Not Nora. She was awesome. Now on the opposite spectrum, the bonies were seriously gross. These guys are what happen to corpses after they've given up. They're flesh starts to fall off and they become mindless eating machines. Speaking of mindless eating machines, I liked that the zombies weren't like that. They actually think and, as R says, are conflicted about eating humans. Bonies, on the other hand, are not. Ick. Those guys creep me the heck out.

Have I mentioned the soundtrack being amazing yet? No? Well, the soundtrack is amazing. It's so amazing in fact, that should I ever find it for purchase, I will buy it before thinking twice. This needs to be available for purchase. (I'm talking to you, film/soundtrack/whoever-is-in-control-of-such-things people.) Just like in the trailer, the music in the film was absolutely excellent. I belong to the school of thinking that music can make or break a film. This is definitely not a soundtrack we have to worry about. Each bit of score, each song, fit the mood of the movie perfectly. Definitely a win.

Though I am most definitely not a fan of zombies, Warm Bodies is a movie that I can't wait to see again. I seriously wasn't expecting to love this movie quite so much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I might have to change my 4 stars to 5... I'll think on this. I wholeheartedly recommend watching this fun, touching, smart and fantastic film!

Note: All images and film information used in this review can be found on Gofobo.com