Finally, a zombie movie that wants to be different and try something new, instead of churning out the same old, bloody, gory, non-scary, and uninspired zombie movies of late . I won't say this movie succeeds at this all the way, or all the time, but if you're willing to buy into the whole "zombie can be changed" mentality that this movie puts forth, then this is the movie for you. This movie is different and a fresh take on the zombie genre. I can't say I was completely sold on the idea, but I was willing to let the movie run with the premise and see where it took me. It genuinely was an interesting movie and a very odd love story. I've always liked odd things and this movie does pay tribute to odd in all kinds of ways.
First things, first, I'm used to my zombie movies having tons of gore, blood, and painted red in about every scene. Sadly enough this movie doesn't have much of either of those three things, with the lone exception of the red jumper the main character wears throughout the movie being the only red color painted in about every frame. If you hadn't noticed that's not the same kind of red color I was missing. No, this is a zombie with heart, and I mean the beating heart of wide-eyed, star crossed lovers of a romantic movie, not the pulsing, blood spurting heart ripped from a live chest, held in a hand with blood spraying everywhere or forcefully chewed apart in some kind of savage way, as the blood slides down the face and chin in a waterfall of thick red kind of movie. So, being a love story first, this movie does adhere to those genres cliches. Why does the main girl so quickly seem to forget that the zombie she is with is a savage killer? Why does she get over the death of her boyfriend (and the fact the zombie she's with killed him) with just a shrug and the thought, "We were going to break-up anyway"? Because this is a love story first, so there must be some things that fit into the puzzle frame romanticism. Then other things are built around that framework of a love story.
This is a movie that mixes a little bit of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with a little splash of Robert Matheson's I Am Legend and comes up with an interesting and entertaining watch. The best thing I liked about this movie was the dead pan, dry humor narrated by the main zombie character, named, R. His observations about life as a zombie brought a different perspective to the genre and really helped to make this movie refreshing without seeming gimmicky. And had me laughing out loud a lot of times at his comments from a zombie perspective. These, and not the love story in my opinion, made the movie good and lifted it beyond the confines that have restricted zombie movies since they've bombarded audiences like the plagues in their films. R's thought process, and basically journalistic approach to things, were humorous and enlightening. I just wish they had been populated and used more throughout the film. There are times when they just disappear through long stretches of the movie, which doesn't make a lot of sense as it was his narrative that started the movie and drove it forward. I just think his inner monologue needed to be there more as it was a main focus of the movie. When it's there is some insightful and funny thoughts by a zombie and almost had a little A Clockwork Orange vibe to them.
I like the idea that zombies can change. No one has really toyed around with that idea before, as everyone seems to want to keep them a walking corpse with an appetite for brains, blood, flesh, and virtually anything living. I do believe Day of the Dead, directed George Romero, did toy around with this idea, but I haven't seen that movie, only read about it, so I can't fully comment on to the extent he explored this idea. I do like how this movie at least wants to be different with this exploration of change in zombies. I felt it was a little to happy of an ending though. But the idea of them changing was fascinating, as it brought up memories of reading Matheson's I Am Legend, which had the premise of a virus turning people into vampires/zombies. But like any virus it mutates, thus it starts by changing the human race into mindless vampires/zombie then it mutates and creates a new form of vampire/zombies different from the mindless ones wondering about before. Warm Bodies plays around with idea but not in the virus mutating kind of way, instead its thesis is that love can change a zombie. I really wish it had played around with the virus idea because it would have made more sense for a changed zombie than just love. But this is a love story first, so I guess there has to be some credibility stretched for some things that take place.
The other thing I liked about this movie was how music was used throughout to conveying things happening in scenes or to show emotion. This is one soundtrack I wouldn't mind owning. They used some memorable and toe tapping songs that really helped to make a connection, not just with the love story, but the story in general.
Overall this was a fun and entertaining movie, well worth the time to see. And Malkovich was his normal manic self as I don't think he does a lot of acting anymore but just seems to play variations on himself, no matter what film he's in. Here he does a variation on himself if he'd been in a plague where zombies had arisen, killed most of mankind, including his wife, and left him a bitter, untrusting sort of man, whose sole purpose is to protect what is left of mankind.
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