After years of repetitive and unoriginal content, the zombie fad is starting to fade out. The most successful stab at the zombie movie came a few years ago when "Zombie Land" injected the grim genre with some comedic touches, a trend which Jonathan Levine's "Warm Bodies" revives.
The film tells the story "R (a terrific and charismatic Nicolas Hoult)" a zombie who falls in love with a human named Julie. The film is set in an apocalyptic world in which a plague has turned half of the human population into zombies. In order to protect themselves from the undead, people have built a wall to separate themselves from the flesh-eaters. The main antagonists in this story are not only the undead, but "bonies," a breed of zombies which feasts on all species.
The film subverts the horror genre with its comic timing and its decision to create a love story bridging the rival species. As a framework for his love story, Levine turns to Shakespeare and borrows heavily from "Romeo and Juliet." The main characters' names clearly set this idea off but the film has a number of other references to the bard's famous work. There is a classic balcony scene in which R seeks out Julie's help. Julie's father Grigio (John Malkovich) is akin to Capulet as he loathes the zombies for killing his wife. The character of Perry is similar to Tybault and fights alongside Grigio against the undead. There is even a Mercutio figure in R's friend "M" (Rob Corrdry).
Some of the memorable comic touches come from R's internal monologue during which he constantly criticizes himself for doing or saying the wrong thing. When he first meets Julie he fumbles his lines. Instead of giving her confidence, he scares her. The chemistry that Hoult portrays alongside co-star Teresa Palmer is electric and they make the romance between the zombie and human believable. Palmer's character is no damsel in distress and, like the protagonist from Shakespeare's play, she is a strong figure with a big and accepting heart. Rob Corrdry adds great comic touches as M while John Malkovich adds gravitas to the film as Julie's father.
The soundtrack consists of many old classics from Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Guns and Roses. "Hungry Heart" by Springsteen is one of the memorable inclusions in the film as it is showcased during a montage that portrays Julie and R doing different activities. The song's lyrics are perfect for the scene because it shows R's desire to express his feelings but his inability to communicate to Julie who is still scared of him. Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders' original score infuses the action sequences with propulsive energy.
Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe mixes dark blues for the apocalyptic setting and slowly oversaturates the frames once the Zombies start to change. Nancy Richardson's editing is balanced; it speeds up for the action sequences, but always holds the tempo down in the tender love scenes. The makeup work gives each Zombie its own personality without ever indulging in the blood and gore.
Ultimately this is a film about two different people coming together and changing people's perspectives and a making a difference. The outcome is predictable and Levine knows it. Instead of investing so much into the action sequences, he focuses on the human drama of acceptance and love story between Julie and R. People will compare this to "Twilight" but unlike Stephanie Meyer's work, this film exercises an incredible balance as a humorous, subversive comedy with a strong human story at its core.