Warm Bodies Film Review (...and Me Kicking Myself)

I got to see Warm Bodies last night! By the time I got back home, I was incredibly exhausted from my long week at work and too tired to keep my eyes open to stare at any other screen for the rest of the evening. I was committed to writing my review in the morning. Of course I get up too late and the rest of the day I'm left in charge of cleaning the house by myself, making dinner, and having guests all night long while my father talks until 11pm even though I have work tomorrow at 7am. Alas, it is Saturday evening, but I suppose now is better than later.

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I should have expected the results of my experience watching a film based on a book of which I have purposefully read ahead of time. There's nothing essentially wrong with doing so; it's not like nobody is supposed to read books before watching their movies. I am sure directors and screenwriters including Jonathan Levine keep that in mind when making a film while attempting to make it at least partially authentic in its own right. And I guess that's what gets me; the attempted authenticity. No matter what I tell myself, I end up walking into the theater with the mindset of watching the book on a screen. And then I leave the theater somewhat disappointed that I heard someone else's voice (in this case Levine's) besides the author's (Isaac Marion's). Damn it.

But isn't that part of the purpose of this blog, to compare movie adaptations with their books? Yeah, yeah. I don't, however, want to be a book snob, where I grunt curmudgeonly against every adaptation simply because it essentially isn't the book and doesn't share every single aspect and nuance of the original. In the end, I find myself a book snob. Again, I am disappointed in myself.

Not to say the film isn't any good. It's great! It was very funny and cute, but had its darker, sadder moments. Nothing to ever make you cry, but with a tinge of sobriety from the silly. In this sense, the movie does the book justice. Plot-wise, it is quite different. Much of the existential self-reflection had been eliminated, which makes sense for a film to keep it down in length. This meant a ton of the metaphors and parallels to modern-day society and the human condition had to be eliminated as well as the symbolism of the growth of humanity into something more. The film's ending is still nonetheless a bit enlightening and sweet. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you. Not until I write a post analyzing Warm Bodies, which I plan to do sometime in the near future.

Nicholas Hoult makes a GREAT zombie! Even though he was as stiff as a corpse (pun intended) and lumbered around, he still delivered R's colorful personality like a master--every bit of it was surprisingly yet believably expressive. And Teresa Palmer made a perfect Julie with just enough spunk to make her passionate and not annoying. What I liked least was Rob Corddry's M. Not that his lines weren't hilarious enough--because they were--but he was way too visually expressive as a zombie and spoke more fluidly and human than R, which is very contrary to the book. Maybe that effect was done just to rush his jocular lines and allow for more focus on R, but it did raise the bar on zombie agility and makes R look more incompetent in comparison.

The romance was definitely there but, quite unorthodox for Hollywood, there was no sex. I was really happy with that, as any sex would have been either incredibly gross (if a zombie was involved) or inappropriate and too tangential from the plot. I know the book had references to the sexual attempts of zombies including M, but it was for a grimmer point undelivered in the movie due to its brevity. Not all things should be carried onto film adaptations, and I am so incredibly glad Levine was aware of that, so as it seems.

Oh, and there's enough gore to make you squirm a bit if you're squeamish, but not much else. The brain munching was great. This film isn't Care Bears, but it's no where near as over-the-top as Dawn of the Dead. If you're going for gore, well, there isn't a whole lot for the bloodthirsty. If you simply like believable zombies who happen to be self-aware, then Levine nailed it and you're in for a treat.

This is definitely a film that can be seen by oneself, with a date, or a group of friends. It has its deeper moments, though the overall campiness isn't at all murderous and truly makes for a great evening while still offering something to take away from it. Movies like this one are rare. It's worth every bit of your $11, or however much you'd spend on a movie ticket. Was my review helpful? Also, if you've seen the film (or once you do), please let me know what you think by commenting bellow!

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.