Review of Warm Bodies (2013) by Dan L — 21 Jan 2018

Warm Bodies is a refreshing zombie/romance movie full of heart, humour, and pathos. It tells a story about the zombie apocalypse from the perspective of a zombie, and in this universe, zombies are more human than we'd imagine.

Nicholas Hoult was great in the lead role. Playing a zombie may not take that much talent, but playing a zombie with emotions is surely challenging. Luckily, Hoult lives up to the task, as he's both funny and charismatic when the script needs him to be, and has enough chemistry with Theresa Palmer to make this bizarre movie watchable. His occasional interactions with his zombie best friend (Rob Corddry) was pretty amusing, and I also liked John Malkovich, even though his role was very small.

However, my biggest issue with the film is the third act. There's a group of deadlier zombies called Boneys (zombies who have entirely lost their humanity) that were written to set up a battle sequence, which I didn't really enjoy, and the CGI didn't look entirely convincing.

In 50/50, director Jonathan Levine adds a lot of heart and humour into a very serious subject matter, and he takes a similar approach to directing in Warm Bodies. Its offbeat nature may not be for everyone, but Warm Bodies is unique, clever, and heartwarming. If you've been told that it's Twilight with zombies, don't be fooled. They're nothing alike! Don't let the comparisons put you off from watching this film.