WARM BODIES (2013)
Blogtober Qualifications: Zombies, skeletons, the post-apocalypse, fearing that things are going to take a dark turn
We begin with a narration by our leading dead man, the zombie who calls himself R (Nicholas Hoult). After a few minutes of exposition regarding the state of the world and what it's like to be undead, R and his friend M (Rob Corddry) set off to find some food (the food being people.)
At the same time, our leading lady, human survivor Julie (Teresa Palmer) is on an expedition outside the walls of the protected human city. Also coming along is her boyfriend Perry (Dave Franco) and best friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton).
Before too long these two groups cross paths, and it goes about as well as you'd expect. But R takes an unusual interest in Julie, and he starts to experience some changes...
So, as I mentioned yesterday, this movie was actually chosen for the Blogtober list by my lovely wife, Jessie. She saw it in when it came out in theaters, but I wasn't along for the ride at the time, since I didn't really have any interest. I've never been huge into the whole zombie genre (I guess that's what you'd call it), and I really didn't know what to make of this one. But she really enjoyed it, and has wanted me to see it ever since. So, was she right?
Honestly? Yeah. She gets to claim this one.
For starters, it was pretty different from what I expected. I've never read the book, but, taking the movie on its own, I expected it to be a lot darker and more cynical than it wound up being. I kept expecting for it to suddenly swerve into tragedy or a shocking twist, but it never happened, even when it seemed like it was.
There are jokes and bits of minor parody here and there, usually from R's narration, but the center of the movie itself is heartfelt and genuine. It plays its premise completely straight, and turns out to be a pretty hopeful story of learning to understand each other.
Some people might find this a little silly, and I can understand that point of view. But for me? I like hope. Hope is a major theme in a lot of my own stories, unless I'm in a particularly foul mood. I try to believe that we, people, can get through just about anything as long as we don't lose hope. Maybe it's naive, but I find it much better than the alternative.
But yeah, Warm Bodies made me feel pretty good. But what about the ingredients of the recipe?
Well, the acting is solid all-around. R is the main character; we see most of the events from his point of view, and Nicholas Coult does a great job in the role. He plays a zombie well, but not too over-the-top, and he adds in a lot of little physical quirks and subtle elements to his performance. One I particularly enjoyed is one scene where the principal cast are walking among the band of humans, and R steps by an open fire pit. Without the camera focusing on it at all, he visibly takes note of the flame and gives it a wide berth. It's small elements like this that I really appreciated.
Rob Corddry, as R's best friend (meaning they occasionally grunt and stare awkwardly at each other) M, does a much better job than I expected from him. Nothing against him, it's just that I've always seen him in more obviously comedic roles, but he did a good job with the more subtly funny stuff.
Teresa Palmer, as Julie, is one of the weaker links in the cast, but that's not really her fault. She's surrounded by so much other stuff going on with the other characters, and her role is less demanding, relatively speaking. She's convincing in the role, it's just not an amazing role.
I have a sneaking suspicion that John Malkovich, as the leader of the humans and Julie's father, is phoning it in here, but he's John Malkovich so he's still captivating to watch.
My one complaint is the existence of the Boneys. These are zombies that are so removed from life that they've become skeletons, and it's explained that they're too far-gone to change. I understand that they needed a common enemy for the zombies and the humans to fight together. It just seems so counter-intuitive in a movie, the theme of which is learning and trying to understand each other, to then turn around and have this other group of "people" that it's impossible to understand. Maybe this was intentional commentary on the part of the filmmakers, but it's a little niggle I couldn't help but think about. Still, at least an attempt is made to justify it, and it doesn't drag things down too much.
And that was Warm Bodies. I have to admit, I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. It was sweet, funny, and just left me hopeful.
Way to go, Jess.
Tomorrow we'll be looking at a fantasy tale from the mind of one of my favorite comic book writers. I've wanted to see it for a long time, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Until next time!
Current interests:
Listening - R.E.M.: Automatic for the People (1992)
Playing - Grim Dawn (2016)
Reading - Abe Sapien: A Darkness So Great (2015)
Watching - Thunderbirds Are Go! (2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment