Warm Bodies

Jmac:

I both enjoyed and did not enjoy this movie as much as I thought I would, if that makes any sense. I enjoyed the “power of love or hope” section much more than the everyday actions of a zombie section, which I had agreed to watch the movie for in the first place.

I assumed that because it was a post-apocalyptic world full of strife and anguish that there would be some hard realities for the actual humans still left alive.... there was not. They live in swanky house, have modern day military equipment that still functions, and seem to be able to eat most any food they want. This movie is not a survival run in Resident Evil.

It is however a very interesting take on the whole zombie franchise, in terms of how the zombie feels, and what it goes through in its daily interactions. Since the whole movie is based on the power of love, or at least the memory of it, the zombies in this film have much more human qualities, and “think” more than any other zombie franchise. The addition of this thinking breathes a fresh breath into the whole notion of zombies.... not that I am not greatly looking forward to seeing World War Z.

Maybe its just us, and I'm sure Kmac will mention this as well, but the main actress is too Kristen Stewart esque. While hot, there is something about her that is just a turn off. Anyway like almost all movies, everything works out in the end and we as a zombie/human race are brought closer together.... all because love triumphs over all, or something along those lines.

I give it 3.4 screaming skeletons out of 5.

PS: The idea of how memories and dreams work is quite interesting.

Kmac Review: 

I was really looking forward to a romantic comedy about zombies after seeing this trailer earlier in the year. It was one of those movies I knew I didn’t want to see in theaters but that I would count down until the Redbox release. For the most part it lived up to my expectations.

The strongest sections of the movie involved the inner monologue of our main zombie who just goes by R, as he can’t remember what his name was as a human. The movie introduces a neat concept that there is a transition period for zombies between being human and being total zombies in which they slowly lose their humanity. R points out early on that his compulsion is to eat brains, and that he will do it, but he will feel conflicted about it. The zombies who have lost all humanity add a sad layer when you think that they made the same transition. So even though I know they can’t be saved and need to be eliminated...I feel a little conflicted about it.

I greatly enjoyed the friendship between R and his best friend played by Rob Corddry. They have a funny report that suggests that even before the “redeeming power of love” friendship was still powerful enough to cause them to try and seek each other out the best way they can. The movie takes place in an airport with the two friends often meeting at the airport bar. That the airport is the settling where mindless shufflers choose to settle is also pretty appropriate. I’m not sure how many people have taken a 5 am flight but it is not humanity at its finest. I mention R’s friendship first  because it worked, and because the love story didn’t work for me and I think it could have. For me it was the actress. Besides a distractingly similar appearance to Kristen Stewart, the actress playing the love interest didn’t have anything that really made her stand out. Her facial expressions were always similar and maybe R was drawn to her as the missing link between zombies and humans as she seemed emotionless as well.

Despite that, this hipster zombie movie had enough elements that I greatly enjoyed it. Nicholas Holt, most frequently seen in X-Men First Class as Beast and if you like rom coms he was the little kid from About A Boy, continues to deliver great performances. I’ll probably want this in my DVD collection and he will be the main reason why. Also it is always great to see Dave Franco’s majestic eyebrows.

I give this 4 out of 5 airport pretzel bites with cheese sauce.