Warm Bodies (2013) Review

A clever spin on the largely played out zombie craze, “Warm Bodies” delivers an enjoyable, surprisingly gentle comedy horror. Despite being stuck with the duties of the narrator, Nicholas Hoult is brilliant as recovering zombie ‘R’ and uses the inner monologue of our hero to turn the role into something special.

The engaging and intriguing premise, of a zombie slowly returning to life allows the film to keep its focus tightly on our undead Romeo and his initially unwilling Juliet.

Nicholas Hoult is terrific in the lead role, bringing a real sense of sympathy and pathos to the role of the brain-craving undead, as well as an incredibly nuanced physically to his condition and gradual recovery. He develops wonderfully authentic chemistry with Teresa Palmer’s Julie, the human girl who finds herself in trouble after defying her father and taking a trip outside the safety of their walled The supporting cast is good, especially the remarkably restrained turn from the usually frenetic Rob Corddry.

“Warmer Bodies” isn’t shy about leaning into the zombie apocalypse tropes and playing up the horror when it wants to. The makeup and special effects are solid, particularly the emaciated zombie Boneys, who provide much of the real threat of the movie.

At its core, though, this is a “love conquers all” romcom, only in this case, love helps to conquer the zombie apocalypse itself. It may not be the ‘original’ RomZomCom, but it finds some fresh ground between the overly pop-culture infused anarchy of “Zombieland” and the arch hipster romance of “Adventureland” to give us something with a little bit of newness and a whole lot of charm. Not afraid of spilling a little blood, but not gratuitously gory and with a satisfyingly upbeat and optimistic tone, “Warm Bodies” is certainly the most enjoyable Zombie movie I’ve seen in a long time.

7/10