Review of Warm Bodies (2013) by Russell G — 31 Oct 2014

Here is something guys who crave zombies and girls who yearn for a sweet love story can agree on. It is, quite possibly, the only movie able to bridge that gap. It takes fun influences from zombie-lure and adds in Romeo and Juliet to make an atypical love story.

There are zombies and humans in place of Montagues and Capulets, and yes, their parents do not approve. It sounds off-putting, but it is extremely creative, somewhat endearing, and if nothing else, it is a very original concept.

The main character is a zombie that cannot speak, but continues to have internal thoughts. These narrated thoughts let us inside the thought process of zombie and advance the story. Zombies have always enjoyed eating brains, but this comes up with a great reason they do it.

They absorb all the information and memories of the person as they eat their brains. This zombie takes a liking to a particular human girl and wants to keep and protect her as friend or pet. The nonverbal communication between the two is a lot of fun.

As the story advances, the Zombies learn to speak, perhaps too well for the good of the story. Things break down and get a little silly and melodramatic from zombie to human dialogue. Regretfully, the clever writing and concept get lost in the second half of the movie.

It warps and twists into a political zombie rights movement to live with humans. The simple love story works nicely; the rest of it feels like a noisy distraction.