Getting Warmer

 

Girl meets pale, dead boy; A Love Story. Sound familiar? Well that’s because the bones (and rotting flesh) of Warm Bodies is all too similar to that of the Twilight franchise but thankfully all other likenesses , apart from the female lead bearing an uncanny resemblance to a certain Ms. Stewart, end there. Warm Bodies is a surprisingly witty, quirky, original take on the zombie AND rom-com franchises. Of course there will be die hard zombie fans clutching their copies of Day of the Dead, breaking out into a disgust driven rant over this film but Warm Bodies knows what it is and doesn’t take itself as seriously as some movie buffs might.

Set in a world where an apocalyptic illness has spread, causing people to turn into the walking dead, Warm Bodies tells through the clever and well executed tool of voiceover, a young zombie’s perspective on the whole matter. When he meets the (living) girl of his dreams, he soon realises that maybe he might have a chance at being human again through the process of learning to love. It all sounds quite sappy and cliché, not to mention our leads are called R and Julie, but the film’s charm and self-awareness means that it can just about get away with it. This is also in part to great casting, intelligent dialogue and a well-paced plot line. With a great parallel and commentary on how teenage love is about mumblings and awkwardness, Warm Bodies is a great piece of light entertainment. Maybe even in a few years a cult favourite.

This movie won’t be for everyone though. The sheer ridiculousness of Warm Bodies makes it humorous to this Film Fryer Upper, watching a zombie comfort a girl in hysterics with a Bob Dylan record was an original and oddly funny idea to me. But many people will hate everything this film is about, the clash of genres, the muddled up ideas. If you are going to watch it, I’ll give you one piece of advice, don’t take it too seriously. I don’t think anyone else is.

XXX