Movie Review: Warm Bodies

Movie: Warm Bodies


Review by Lauren


IMDB Summary: After R (a highly unusual zombie) saves Julie from an attack, the two
form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might
transform the entire lifeless world.


Review: Warm Bodies is a book by Isaac Marion and it’s one that I’ve been wanting to read for awhile now. Alas, I still have not. However, I have no qualms seeing the movie first…so I went ahead and saw this one with my sister and a group of friends. As far as I can tell, everyone enjoyed the film, and that includes girls and guys.

Despite wanting to read this book, another key reason I wished to see this movie so much is that R is played by Nicholas Hoult. One of my favorite films is About a Boy (starring a young Hoult) and a favorite TV series of mine is generation one of the UK show Skins (starring a teen Hoult). As the loveable zombie R, I think Hoult did a great job. I kept thinking how difficult it must have been for some of these scenes. When you’re a zombie, you have an awkward walk and form of speaking (most of Hoult’s lines were a voice-over narration, giving a lot of enjoyable humor to the film), so I can only imagine the difficulty the actors faced getting used to that form of acting.

Along with R, the other main character is a girl named Julie (played by Teresa Palmer), who R ends up saving from the other zombies by masking her human scent and having her play along as if she’s now a zombie. The two of them embark on an nontraditional relationship, first as friends and then as something more as R slowly starts to get warmer and more human.

One thing that I can say about this movie is that it’s kind of a Romeo and Juliet meets Zombie flick. While the romance isn’t as deep or tragic as Romeo and Juliet (even though you might think it would be), I’m pretty sure the author meant for this comparison to be made. After all, R could be Romeo and Julie could be Juliet.  And while I cannot attest to the novel, the movie has a balcony scene!

I really enjoyed the secondary cast as well. R’s best friend M (Rob Corddry) adds some of the humor as well, and while he doesn’t have a major role, he’s always popping up when he’s needed. His first introduction is also amusing, since the two “best friends” can do little more than grunt when hanging out.

I enjoyed this one! It’s a movie I would definitely go see again. Also, while I thought it was probably a bit longer than it needed to be, it had enough to keep me interested throughout. I certainly hope to read the actual book someday soon!