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Warm Bodies Photos
(L-R) Analeigh Tipton as Nora, Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."(L-R) Rob Corddry as M and Nicholas Hoult as R in "Warm Bodies."Rob Corddry as M in "Warm Bodies."(L-R) Nicholas Hoult as R, Rob Corddry as M and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Teresa Palmer as Julie and John Malkovich as General Grigio in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Teresa Palmer as Julie and Nicholas Hoult as R in "Warm Bodies."A scene from "Warm Bodies."(L-R) Nicholas Hoult as R and Rob Corddry as M in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R in "Warm Bodies."John Malkovich as General Grigio in "Warm Bodies."(L-R) Analeigh Tipton as Nora, Teresa Palmer as Julie and Dave Franco as Perry Kelvin in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R in "Warm Bodies."Analeigh Tipton as Nora in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."Nicholas Hoult as R and Teresa Palmer as Julie in "Warm Bodies."
A terrible plague has left the planet's population divided between zombies and humans. An unusual zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult) sees his walking-dead brethren attacking a living woman named Julie (Teresa Palmer) and rescues her. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and the pair embark on an unusual relationship. As their bond grows and R becomes more and more human, a chain of events unfolds that could transform the entire lifeless world.
Quite adorable! I used to not care for Nicholas Hoult - mostly because of his uncomfortably attractive elfin features - but he's all hunched over and oatmeal-tinged as a half-sentient zombie who lives in an abandoned airport in a post-apocalyptic future, so I can dig it.
In this gritty yet comedic send-up of "Romeo & Juliet," R catches feelings for Julie, the headstrong daughter of the general in charge of eradicating the undead. He kidnaps her to keep her safe from other less evolved zombies, and they eventually strike up a bond. The R&J parallels are pretty cute, and though it pains me to say this, Teresa Palmer is the blond, Australian, more emotive doppelganger of KStew.
Super Reviewer
Apr 18, 2016
need to finish watching
Super Reviewer
Dec 29, 2013
This genre bending film offers a brilliant new take on the zombie flick. Part horror comedy, more so a love story, Warm Bodies is a smart, supremely original film full of heart, and one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. ~ B+
Super Reviewer
Aug 04, 2013
There's probably some heavy metal song out there with lyrics that I could twist into a reference to this film's title, but if there is, I don't want to have to suffer through it, and plus, it wouldn't fit anyways, because this film about flesh-eating monsters is so watered down that the song that it ends up using by heavy metal legends Guns N' Roses is "Patience". Hey, the song's awesome and all, but the fact of the matter is that we finally have a unique zombie flick that touches upon the psychological depths of these supposedly mindless monsters... and they ended up turning into a chick flick... that guys can enjoy! Don't worry, folks, this is far from "Twilight", even though Teresa Palmer has some features that are reminiscent of a Kristen Stewart who is ironically not a zombie, and Nicholas Hoult's icy stare makes him look like a pretty vampire. Actually, come to think of it, zombie vampires sounds awesome, but let's wait until this paranormal romance fad cools down a bit, as we wouldn't want to have the opportunity to combine vampires and zombies into one squandered on a "Romeo & Juliet" type of story, or, Lord forbid, "Vampires vs. Zombies II". We got lucky when "Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!" ended up being so unrecognized that it doesn't even count as the first zombie vampire film, because I'd imagine what few people who actually watched it found it to be unwatchable. I'm personally paying very close attention to all of these zombie films because I'm waiting to see if the undead version of C. Thomas Howell's career will walk by, and as you can probably imagine, this isn't that fabled zombie flick. Oh well, it's still about as good as I was hoping it would be, and yet, my problems with this film extend beyond its being something of a zombie chick flick without zombie vampires (... What am I talking about?).
The film has no pretense of taking itself seriously, and its script is still sharp enough to often sell you on what handful of things the film wants you to buy in on about as well as it can, yet you can fully run with this film for only so long before you feel that it gets carried away with its mythology, or at least keeping things heartfelt. The age-old "love conquers all" message feels a bit heavy-handed, much like some of the plotting, and while the film is hardly all that cheesy, let alone as cheesy as many are saying, it has questionable beats that would be easier to forgive if this film wasn't so sharp in so many areas that you'd think it would know better than to get carried away, particularly with its overly happy resolution. On top of that, some of the film's cheesier moments feel a touch too familiar for their own good, or rather, stand among the fair deal of aspects that feel a touch too familiar for their own good, because even though this film, as an unconventional interpretation of zombie mythology, is highly unique, the story itself hits tropes, and sometimes hard, being a rather formulaic love story whose predictability wears on compellingness perhaps more than the aforementioned cheesy or heavy-handed areas of the film. The moderate cheesiness and conventional storytelling are a bit more glaring than I make them sound, but really, not by much, because even though the fact of the matter is that this film has problems, shortcomings are limited in both quantity and severity, at least in comparison with the strengths, so if nothing else is detrimental to this film, it is its natural shortcomings. While I certainly wasn't going expecting, I don't know, "The Walking Dead" or something, the film is a bit weightier than I expected, but by no means is it too heavy, boasting subject matter that is sweet and can clearly be made into a compelling picture, seeing as how this interpretation is compelling, but limited in impact even in concept. This, of course, makes what few aforementioned consequential shortcomings all the harder to deny, and while this film is well-done enough for your investment to never be lost, the final product offers only so much to truly engross you. Of course, if there is something that has the potential to reward about this film, it is delivered on more often than not, and while there's no way around the flick's problems, the strengths are just as difficult to ignore, even some of the lighter ones.
Action sequences are few and far between in this zombie survival thriller, and what action there is is certainly not all that impressive, but it is stronger than expected, with a certain tight intensity that reminds you of what consequential weight there is to this "thriller", and therefore colors up the film's tone, much like a soundtrack that some fall-flat contemporary tunes, but boasts a decent original score by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, and plenty of fairly enjoyable older, if a bit sometimes overly '80s tunes. At the very least, the film plays with its musical aspects well enough for even the relatively lamer newer tunes to help in coloring up the atmosphere with a certain tasteful style that is matched only by the film's visual style, because even though Javier Aguirresarobe's cinematography isn't all that impressive, its color has a certain ruggedness which nails this film's tone's cross between gritty and tender, and offers some mighty pretty moments when really played up. While I was certainly not expecting the film to be all that stylistically outstanding, it is about as colorfully stylish as I was hoping it would be, offering both a handsome visual style and entertaining musical style, which prove to be enjoyable by their own right, as well as complimentary to the effectiveness of the telling of a story that kind of deserves to be told well. The weight of this film's subject matter is limited, and the plot itself hits its share of tropes, but on top of being highly unique, this interpretation of zombie mythology has a strong deal of potential for engagement value that is brought to life, even within Jonathan Levine's very sharp script, which offers amusing humor, often anchored by sharp dialogue and a witty satire and celebration of classic notes to the zombie mythology, as well as very tightly well-drawn characterization, consistently anchored by inspired portrayals of the well-rounded characters. The heart of this fairly human zombie flick can, in many ways, be made or broken by compelling performers, and the performers deliver, not just on razor-sharp chemistry, but by their own right, with the gorgeous Teresa Palmer being convincing as an initially fearful young woman struggling to survive who comes be enlightened about the depths of the enemy, while Nicholas Hoult charms and convinces thoroughly in his committed portrayal of an undead man working to reclaim his humanity. The acting is inspired, and that carries the film quite a ways, but the inspired performance that most brings the final product alive is that of Jonathan Levine, as director, who keeps atmosphere lively enough to consistently sustain entertainment value, while tenderly soaking up enough of the film's layered heart for you to be genuinely compelled by this story, regardless of its slightly thin areas. If the film is nothing else, it is incredibly charming, but it is more than just that, because while this film is limited in its impact, it has an inspiration that is needed to bring something like this to life as entertaining, heartwarming and ultimately rewarding.
In closing, the film is what is it is, and what it is is something a bit thin in weight, with natural shortcomings that, when emphasized by some often cheesy heavy-handedness and formulaic plotting, threaten the final product with underwhelmingness, only to be challenged enough by the occasional decent action sequence, plenty of enjoyable soundtrack pieces, handsome cinematography and a relatively unique story - brought to life by sharply inspired writing, acting and direction - that make "Warm Bodies" a charmingly entertaining and rewardingly heartfelt, refreshing zombie flick.
3/5 - Good
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