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Don’t go to Warm Bodies expecting a nice, good film about the undead. Expect a cheesy mess that fails to live up to its otherwise cutesy trailer. Yes, this is another movie where the trailer gives away the “funny” one-liners and leaves out the horrifyingly stupid lovey-dovey bits.
The hero of the story- an awkward zombie named “R”- is played by the dashing Nicholas Hoult. He’s your typical grunting zombie (except better looking to the point where a living girl actually wants to date him), only the grunting goes on for way longer than you’d expect. At one point I sat there thinking, CAN WE GET SOME REAL DIALOGUE NOW?? The story doesn’t pick up as quickly as it should. Okay, we get it. From the other million of zombie flicks we’ve seen in our lifetimes, we know how zombies work.
The appeal of Warm Bodies is that it isn’t supposed to be just another zombie movie. Judging from the buzz and hype surrounding the movie, I expected much more of a focus on relationship and character development with maybe just a touch of action to keep things moving.
In actuality, there was an off balance of action and romance that can in the end only be described as awkward and unfulfilling. As well, the action bits couldn’t be taken seriously with almost intentionally bad CGI and special effects, and the romance was stilted with awkward and unrealistic relationship development.
Half the audience this movie targets is the multitudes of preteen girls going to see their current teen heartthrob. The other half of the audience is the fans of the original novel, whose dark humor and contemplation of human nature appealed to many. In trying to please all target audiences, the movie failed both miserably.
Yet somehow, Warm Bodies topped the box office with a $20 million opening and received generally positive reviews. With the incredible cheesiness and general ridiculousness of the movie, this goes to show that movies are no longer valued for actual well-developed storylines and cinematography but rather cheap laughs and maybe a good-looking cast. I want to give director Jonathan Levine a nice pat on the back for taking advantage of the consumer-driven teenage idiots of our times.
