Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Director: Jonathan Levine
Rating: 1/5
Warm Bodies sees a new, romantic take on the current trend of zombie-filled dramas and films.
It follows the life of R (Hoult), a zombie wondering what the point of his existence is, roaming around an abandoned airport.
Whilst attacking a group of humans trying to source medication for the remaining population, R decides to save Julie (Palmer) and take her back to his aeroplane where he lives.
The two strike up an unusual relationship and Julie quickly questions whether R is that much of a zombie after all.
Right from the start I knew that this was going to be the antithesis to the sort of film that I enjoy. Once you get over the initial interest in zombies, there’s only so much groaning and zombie-walking that a film can take, and Warm Bodies is saturated with it to bursting point.
The first twenty minutes or so focus entirely on R’s dull life as a zombie, with Hoult’s voice-over breaking the monotony intermittently.
Hoult is a good actor, but surely anyone can walk around slack-jawed and slouched without too much effort. Then, when Julie’s character was introduced, I had to pick holes in the rather unbelievable plot, even for a zombie film.
Predictably Julie starts absolutely terrified and trying to escape R’s plane, but then the romantic theme kicks in, with love typically saving humanity.
What absolutely baffles me, though, is how Julie can go from gun-wielding and zombie-killing to falling in love with the zombie who murders her boyfriend in the opening half hour of the film.
Maybe I just have a marginal sense of humour, but I also seemed to completely miss the comedy element of the film too.
Whilst my friends were laughing at R’s voice-over, I found myself remaining stony-faced and sincerely bored throughout.
Warm Bodies is perfect for those who enjoy straightforward romances or zombie fests. If not, my advice is to stay well away, and don’t pay nearly £7 for a cinema ticket to see it like I did.
FemaleFirst Julia Molloy
Tagged in Nicholas Hoult Warm Bodies julia molloy