| Major Cast | |
|---|---|
| Nicholas Hoult | as R |
| Teresa Palmer | as Julie |
| Analeigh Tipton | as Nora |
| Rob Corddry | as M |
| Dave Franco | as Perry |
| John Malkovich | as Grigio |
| Cory Hardrict | as Kevin |
| Daniel Rindress-Kay | as Soldier #1 |
| Vincent LeClerc | as Perry's Dad |
| Clifford LeDuc-Vaillancourt | as Boy at Airport |
| Billie Calmeau | as Girl at Airport |
| Adam Driscoll | as Young Man at ATM |
| Chris Cavener | as Soldier #2 |
| Jonathan Dubsky | as Berg |
| Alec Bourgeois | as Perry (11 years old) |
| MPAA Rating: | PG-13 |
| Production Companies: |
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| Distributors (USA): |
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| Release Date (US): | 2/01/2013 |
| Run Time: | 98 minutes |
| Domestic Box Office: | $66,380,662 |
| Worldwide Box Office: | $116,980,662 |
| Production Budget: | $35,000,000 (Est.) |
It is eight years since the plague began. Most of the people in world, as far as is known, have succumbed. They have become shambling, flesh-eating zombies — or, in the end stage, skeletal "bonies" who even feed on early-stage zombies. The cause of the plague has never been determined. It matters little now; the scattered enclaves of normal humans fight to survive, raiding into zombie territory as required for supplies.
Julie and her boyfriend Perry are part of one such raiding party, seeking out medicines. They stay too long and are overrun. Perry dies and a zombie eats his brain, thus acquiring his memories. A change begins in the zombie: a growing awareness of what humanity had been like. He saves Julie, and as his body warms he begins to regain the ability to speak. He keeps Julie in the airplane cabin where he stays for several days, knowing it is the only safe place for her. But she needs food, and on one trip to get it they are confronted by bonies.
The change begins to affect others of R's group. His closest companion, "M", helps them escape. They hole up in an abandoned house, where after a time R learns that the bonies are out to get him, even at the cost of invading the human citadel. Julie returns there and is reunited with her father, the commander of the place, once she checks out as uninfected.
R is left outside, out of sight and on his own. But he sneaks in because he misses Julie. He finds her house and she and her friend Nora hear him out about the change taking place in all of his group. They go to Julie's father, but he is convinced of one thing: he needs to put a bullet in R's head. Nora prevents this, allowing Julie and R to escape. They meet up with M leading a group who vow to fight the bonies, who are massing an attack. Will they convince the humans to join forces and fight off the invasion?
Warm Bodies is an expensively mounted production and shows it. The sets are expansive and varied. The special effects are terrific. The fight scenes are well done and convincing. The acting and direction are excellent. The sound track uses a number of big hits, including "I ain't missing you at all," Shelter from the storm," and "Pretty Woman" that must have cost a pretty penny in royalties. In sum, everything about the film exemplifies a quality production.
It is, of course, primarily a love story — despite its fantastic premise. The two main actors, Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, carry off their parts to perfection, with Hoult appealingly awkward as the shambling, barely articulate R (while at the same time he does a voice-over thought track that provides essential exposition without being intrusive. Teresa Palmer is lovely,1 and Hoult is a good-looking dude once out of the zombie makeup. I like the film and consider it worth watching multiple times. But its premise, while original, is too offbeat for me to place it among the best fantasies I've seen.
My Rating:
7 out of 10
Capsule review: The wildly original premise that zombies can recover and rejoin the human race forms the heart of this expensively mounted and thoroughly excellent fantasy love story.
| IMDB Rating: 6.9 | Raters: 200,004 |
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