Probably the first hipster zombie flick. It's moderately clever and amusing for a bit, but then quickly devolves into a generic teen romance, where the power of love conquers all. Meh.

It also doesn't even bother trying to hide the fact that it's filmed in Montréal, despite (ostensibly) being set in the States. Lazy much?

The first 20 minutes set it up REALLY well. Good atmosphere, interesting set-up, good ideas....it's all downhill from then on. I appreciate that it actually has *some* horror in it as opposed to Twilight, but overall, yes, someone calling it Twilight with Zombies isn't ENTIRELY off.

It never achieves the absolute perfect blend of the comic, the ghoulish, and the romantic it desires, and is therefore not in the same league as Shaun of the Dead, but Warm Bodies is still by and large a clever, engaging, and even sweet experiment in stylish genre hybridization, one worthy of a modest footnote in the grand history of brain devouring popular zombie culture. If the film has a trio of distinct gears and modes (neurotic a-day-in-the-undead-life humor, straightforward chase and monster action, and Twilight style supernatural romance), it is the action which proves the least engaging, undercut by a PG-13 rating and the decision to render the antagonists anonymous, identical, computer generated monsters rather than utilize practical methods to create more distinct nightmares. The film is never uproarious, but most of the humorous visual set pieces and one-liners hit the right note, including zombie protagonist R's reflective, self-doubting thoughts. Perhaps more surprising, the human drama and unconventional romance is convincing, with the charming and spirited Teresa Palmer deserving the lion's share of the credit.

B

Seeing a person's memories by eating their brain has to be one of the strangest plot devices in recent memory.

I more or less agree with David. The spins on zombie cliches were inspired and the performances were strong, but it felt slight, as if it never blended horror and comedy and romance that well.

Still, you could do far worse for February.

It's slight. With a better script this could've been a great movie but it settles for being unsatisfactory but enjoyable in spots. Leads are very good though, really liked Palmer.

WARM BODIES

I thought it was okay. Nothing special here. I did like the idea of him breaking out of his zombie state and becoming human again. The whole deal with the boneys and regular zombies and the humans fighting. That didn't do anything for me. This probably should have been an animated film instead. I thought Hoult did a good job and the girl. Malkovich was Paid.

Grade - C

So it's like a tamer daybreakers? Awesome Idea, some great ideas and performances, kind of bleh execution

I thoroughly enjoyed Warm Bodies - - it's story is far more refined and consistent than this sort of genre pic has any right to be. The humor is smart and mostly subtle and remains in the service of the story.

The two leads were perfect, I fell in love with both of them as they did with each other.

I was a bit sad to see Analeigh Tipton relegated to a supporting role after her breakout role in Crazy, Stupid, Love, but nonetheless she aced all the small sarcastic reaction shots she was given here. Rob Riggle also continues to impress me with the quality of his acting, considering his roots in TV.


12 out of 5.



(Warm Bodies is an impressive improvement over director Jonathon Levine's previous movie 50/50!)

Warm Bodies is a clever and cute mashup of genres, even if it doesn't do as much as it could with the concept at hand. It's not as fresh or funny as other zombie comedies (namely, Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland), but it works a sort of quirky charm that keeps it afloat throughout its 98 minutes. Nicholas Hoult turns in another solid performance as the zombified protagonist, as he does a good job communicating his character's emotions primarily through his body language; his wry voiceover commentary is also fun to listen to. Teresa Palmer doesn't fare quite as well as the still-alive love interest, due mostly to the fact that her accent slips so frequently that it becomes distracting. However, the two do have reasonable chemistry with one another, and their love story works because of how cutely it comes across despite being so unconventional. Fortunately, it also doesn't neuter the mythology of its traditionally violent creatures the way Twilight did, although it's still a little awkward to see PG-13 level violence in a genre as inherently R-rated as the zombie film. Warm Bodies doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a good diversion while it lasts.

B

This is one of the most dumbest and funniest movies I've ever seen.

Clever, funny, well-shot. Really enjoyed this a lot. Great soundtrack too.

B+