Warm Bodies

I like Zombie movies. Done. Yeah, yeah, yeah, l’ve heard all the criticism before so don’t bother arguing with me. A good Zombie flick is a little (or a lot) on the edge, not quite a Horror film. For some reason, Horror freaks me out but a Zombie film is the right balance of Suspense, Drama, Fantasy and in the case of Warm Bodies, Romance. Oooohhh, the Holy Grain; Romance and Zombies.

Warm Bodies, lead actors Teresa Palmer and Nicholas Hoult.

With actor Nicholas Hoult cast as R (the lead Zombie) and Teresa Palmer playing the down to earth but beautiful co-lead (non-Zombie or healthy human), Warm Bodies is almost all film genres wrapped in one. It is not Period Drama. Celebrating, without mocking the Zombie genre, Nicholas Hoult plays a stiff but warm, near dead. Supporting Hoult and Palmer is Lio Tipton (from Crazy Stupid Love 2011), playing the daggy best friend, whilst John Malkovich gives the film a little more intensity, playing the role of Teresa Palmers character’ father and also the leader of the civilian uprising. How John Malkovich got involved in is film l don’t know but l’m sure that’s a fun story in itself. Great casting.

Warm Bodies, released 2013.

At its ‘heart’ (joke), this is a simple film. The power of love to give hope, and soften the ‘heart’ of even the hardest being. What makes this film extra fun is the surrounding moments, the extra pieces that round out the story, giving it something extra. Like Lio Tipton and Teresa Palmers’ characters applying make up to ‘R’ whilst playing Pretty Woman (by Roy Orbison), echoing the transformation of Julia Roberts in that 1990 film (of the same name). Music is a big part of this film. It (the music) shapes the character of the scenes giving them an authentic, playful and at times, a frozen-in-time sense. Other music moments like the scene in the disused plane where the vinyl album is flicked on and ironically, Bruce Springsteen Hungry Heart plays, is pure nostalgia, like two teenagers playing their favourite music in the bedroom. Who cares if there’s an apocalypse, when there’s good music to listen to. Overarching the soundtrack is M83’, Midnight City; this gives an edge and reinforces the dystopian context the live in. Like the music, this world is jarring but with its own rhythm. Zombies, the half dead, walk their own path as if nothing happened and ‘life’ goes on.

To be honest, Warm Bodies is perhaps more Romance than a Zombie film. Maybe it’s like the Pulp Fiction is more comedy than drama. Pulp Fiction is really funny. And l know Zombie films are silly and make no sense but if you just don’t think about it too much and go for the ride, it’s nice to know that, after these years, love still conquers all.

S.W

P.S. I will write more on Zombies in future stories.