Warm Bodies in the Theater

While watching a particular scene in the movie Warm Bodies, my friend leaned over to me, “Aw, and her name is even ‘Julie,’ how sweet.”

Hm? I grunted back. And then my brain cells slowly pieced together: balcony scene … Julie … his name is ‘R’ … oooOH!

Maybe that’s why I liked the book, and happily, the movie too. Like R, I try my best, but making connections, even freakin’ obvious Shakespearean ones (how could I miss that in the book?!) can be really hard. Connecting to people? Even harder. I love one of the opening shots of the film where R is reminiscing about what the world was like before he was a zombie, picturing the airport filled with people “spending time together.” But all the people he’s imagining are looking at their cell phones.

In my previous post, I said I wasn’t going to read the book until after the movie, since the trailer caught my eye. But I’ve never been known as a patient person. A week was too long for the story, so I bought a copy and read it. Very sweet, with a straightforward storyline; perfect for a movie. Not too many side-plots, though I knew the relationship between Perry and R was not going to make it on the big screen.

I wondered how the voice of R would come through. There was some voice over, not too much, but I found those parts my favorite. Maybe because I could relate. It’s one thing to read R’s voice in the novel, but seeing that blank stare on the screen, with an intelligent and very frustrated voice behind it, was perfect. How often do I have a similar look and frustration level with my inability to say what I mean? I won’t answer that question.

I did miss R’s voice, however. The gradual waking up of this dead man was the point of the novel, the love story was the point of the movie. Overall, the movie was entertaining, although certainly no prize winner. The makeup bothered me. It was inconsistent and obvious. The zombies did not look dead enough. If the producers were worried about making Nicholas Carodoc Houl look bad, they shouldn’t have.

On the way out my friend said awkwardly, “Well, that actor certainly has grown up since About A Boy. I mean, he looked … he was….”

“He’s hot. Yes. You can say that. We may be the age of his mother, but you can call him ‘hot’.”

The bonies were creepy, but not the most realistic special effects. The human settlement was way too settled that soon after an apocalypse (not that I know from experience, but…) I liked the casting of M, but I was disappointed that Nora was not ethnic with curly hair. (I’m always looking for diversity in main characters.) The father (played by John Malkovich) was lame in the movie, and we had a Hollywood ending on that storyline.

Speaking of lame however, I had one wish going into the theater. “Please don’t make Julie lame. Please don’t make Julie lame.” The slow motion kick-ass with a gun scene where R first falls in love is funny, sweet, and she’s not lame! Yay!

The movie makers really missed it on one scene, though. While reading the book, there is a part where R takes a shower, his first since becoming a zombie, and the years of dirt, grime, dried blood, and everything else you can imagine is cleaned revealing the scars and bullet wounds that can never be scrubbed away. I thought, “that will be the most beautiful scene in the movie.” Yeah, no. They skipped right to clean skin with scars and bullet wounds. It was enough to make my friend make sounds of sympathy, but there are few times when a movie can outshine a book, and this very visual metaphor was a missed opportunity.

Warm Bodies was a romantic comedy unlike any other I’ve seen. For those who have read the book, Hoult embodied the lovable monster with empathy and humor. For those who didn’t, you can be introduced to a sweet story of what it means to be human. My friend and I both enjoyed it. So, if you’re in the mood for some zombie apocalyptic love, check it out.

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Posted by: Tukiyooo Warm Bodies in the Theater Updated at : 11:21 AM

Saturday, February 2, 2013