Warm Bodies

So how do I recover after last week's near brain-dead experience at the movies? 

How do I recapture the magic of movies that I have grown to know and love that was almost completely lost last week?

*Side note: Yes I know I am being overly dramatic but seriously, Movie 43 was so damn bad. Also part of this side note: VOTE in the new user poll on the side! What movies are you most excited for this year? Let me know! Now back to the lingering, rhetorical questions...*

How do I restore my faith in the cinema? 

Well Warm Bodies was certainly a great way to start. Yes, you read that right and I will outright admit it: I loved Warm Bodies. It's one of those movies that makes me glad that I go every week. I would have passed this movie if I was a normal movie-going person. But I'm not, and I'm so glad because if I was, I would have lost out on this charming, fun, funny, and surprisingly romantic film. 

I like to be honest with my readers, even when that makes me look bad. If there is one thing I have learned from seeing so many movies the past few years it's that you really should never judge a book by its cover. I know it's one of the most cliched pieces of advice ever, but it's the God-honest truth. Cases in point: Piranha 3D, The Grey, Pitch Perfect (and there are many, many more). When I first saw trailers for Warm Bodies, I thought it looked stupid. I thought it looked super hipster, full of dumb, unfunny, dark humor, and generally average. And coming out of the theater I was somewhat ashamed at myself for just how wrong I was. 

How I felt coming out of Movie 43 (I know, I know...
I need to just let it go).

Is it possible for a human and a zombie to have
chemistry? I honestly think at this point Teresa
Palmer could have chemistry with a doorknob...

On paper (or on screen since you are reading this from your computer) Warm Bodies sounds incredibly stupid. The world has been infected by the zombie plague and there are two forms: the Corpses and the Bonies. Corpses still resemble humans, similar to the above picture, but also still eat human brains. Bonies are the main villains in the movie and they are essentially Corpses that have lost all human reasoning and peeled their own skin off leaving them looking like bare skeletons essentially. R (played by Nicholas Hoult) finds Julie (played perfectly by Teresa Palmer who I will get to in a minute) and she seems to be the cure for him and his heart starts beating again. It's rather corny by just reading that description alone. And even more stupid-seeming is the fact that Corpses can't communicate very well so a lot of the movie's dialogue is presented by sporadic words here and there separated by groans and grunts. Once again, sounds stupid right? Well, at times it is, but most of the time it is surprising that it works so well. 

Teresa Palmer doing her best Kristen Stewart
impression. I'd say she even does that
better!

And it works so well because of its leads, with one in particular. John Malkovich plays Julie's father who basically runs the military and is perfect for the role, Dave Franco is sufficient as Julie's ex boyfriend...I dont know, I have never really liked the guy (by guy I mean the actor)...but anyways, and Nicholas Hoult does fabulous as the main character, R. It's impressive what he is able to do with just his eyes, smile, facial expressions, and body language. For the first half of the movie he hardly says anything yet he has the whole theater pulling for him. Pretty impressive stuff actually. But the true star here, and I know I say this all the time, but I think I am in love, is Teresa Palmer. She seems to just make movies better. You may remember her as Topher Grace's love interest in Take Me Home Tonight and she helped to make that average movie significantly better. I honestly cannot put my finger on it, but she just oozes chemistry and she has a spark that many actresses lack. Maybe it's just the fact that I am in love with her, but I sincerely believe she is going to be big someday. 

Not your typical zombie movie...

Warm Bodies is a hard movie to recommend to a specific group. If you are looking for a zombie movie, you may be disappointed. There is a surprising amount of action, but little to no gore. And as a comedy, it certainly has its moments, but it's not going to win any "Funniest Movie of the Year" awards. As weird as it sounds to say this about a movie centered around the undead, I have to say that what this movie has most is heart. I genuinely cared about what happened, I wanted to see their relationship progress, and I was happy with the ending despite it being somewhat predictable. I guess I would say that it is a perfect date movie; one that I feel like both parties would come out of it happy. 

But I do know one thing for certain about Warm Bodies:

It's still a better love story than Twilight! 

Pros:

• Everything just works. It shouldn't have...it should have failed miserably...but it really all works
• Good movie making. Solid script, good FX, camera shots, etc.
• Standout soundtrack and original score (when there is some). An example of a movie that I liked it significantly more because of the music and score
• Funny-funny at times and cute-funny at most others
• Some tense moments which were not only welcome, but well done
• The zombie-twist on Romeo and Juliet provides a solid plot that keeps moving and keeps you interested
• Nicholas Hoult is phenomenal as a love-stricken zombie which was probably a lot harder of a role than most people will give him credit for
• Teresa Palmer made the movie for me. She seems to create chemistry out of thin air and I cannot take my eyes off of her. I can't wait to see where she goes next in her career

Cons:

• R's zombie friend M is played by Rob Corddry who just isn't a very good zombie. His zombie speech is unconvincing and it kind of takes you out of the film
• There are times where the movie doesn't play by its own rules with regards to zombies' behaviors and such. For those paying attention, it is kind of confusing
• Like most romantic movies, this one is cliched, despite the zombie twist. But it's that zombie twist that makes the cliches really easy to forgive

Rath's Review Score: 8.5/10