Zombies always get a bad rap. With their snapping jaws, blank-eyed stares and trademark taste for human flesh, they’re barely able to lurch on screen before their heads get blown off. Based on Isaac Marion’s book of the same name, “Warm Bodies” is a fresh, comedic twist on the zombie genre; for once, it lets the staggering cadavers tell the story.
Nicholas Hoult (“X-Men: First Class) stars as R (he can’t remember the rest of his name), a shuffling member of the undead who spends his days wandering around an abandoned airport with other zombies. Sometimes R attempts to have a conversation with his best friend M (an excellent Rob Corrdry, “Hot Tub Time Machine”), or simply listens to old records. On occasion, he’ll venture outside the airport with some buddies to find a human to eat. This is no easy task: Humans are holed up in a walled-off portion of the city, and whenever they decide to go out on recon, they’re armed to the teeth.
Despite the fact that they’re slow-moving corpses, R and his friends manage to get the jump on a group of young fighters. As he’s chomping down on a human, his undead heart skips a beat when he sees Julie (Teresa Palmer, “I Am Number Four”). Little does he know that she’s the daughter of General Grigio (John Malkovich), who has a strict “shoot zombies on sight” policy. And, to make matters worse, he just ate the brains of her boyfriend Perry (a totally underused Dave Franco).
Unsurprisingly, R doesn’t eat her, partly because he’s eaten Perry’s brains and can relive his memories, including all the time he spent with Julie. Still, we get the sense that this zombie had some feeling left in him before, as evidenced by Hoult’s wry narration and his self-described desire not to be creepy in front of Julie. He may be a zombie, but underneath all that grime and gore, he’s just a regular, relateable 20-something.
However, this zombie romcom moves a little unsteadily. For one thing, “Warm Bodies” relies heavily on Shakespearean tropes (R and Julie, anyone?). For a movie that has such an original premise, it’s a shame to see that it adheres to a typical romantic plotline. Furthermore, the CGI “Bonies” (skeleton-like zombies with no trace of humanity left) underwhelm as villains; for some reason they’re able to run really fast, and the cheap effects don’t lend any more legitimacy to that.
Hoult’s performance as R is really what makes “Warm Bodies” work: His groans, moans and lurches are dead on. Even though he’s hidden under terrific zombie makeup, Hoult’s male model looks still manage to shine through. Palmer plays Julie’s initial apprehension to R well, but how quickly her character gets over Perry is more than a little unpalatable.
Director Jonathan Levine (“50/50”) wisely chooses to let R narrate the story, giving the movie a healthy dose of humor through with his cynical observations, whether it’s remarking on the state of the other zombies (“these guys look awful”) or beating himself up for not being able to talk to Julie.
Warm Bodies could be seen as a mash-up of Twilight and The Walking Dead, but it does what neither of those has: It gives the undead a little bit of life back.
