Warm Bodies
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Nicholas Hoult (‘R’), Teresa Palmer (Julie),
Rob Corddry (‘M’), Analeigh Tipton (Nora), John Malkovich (Colonel Grigio)
Rating: PG-13 (for zombie violence and some language)
Running Time: 97 minutes
Overall Opinion. (3 1/2 stars)
I will admit, I have never been one for zombies. When I
first heard of the premise of Warm Bodies,
I thought like the rest of the world that is was just the next Twilight (which I shed no tears for
being finally over). But a friend of mine expressed interest, so I picked up
the source-material, written by new author Isaac Marion, and began to read.
Like Twilight, the story involves a
creepy, dead guy falling for a beautiful ‘unattainable’ girl. But that’s where
comparisons stop. The book (and the movie) are told through the narration of
the zombie R(he thinks that’s the letter his name started with). R is much more
articulate in his mind than he is physically, thinking about things, stating
questions, facts on life, brooding, and sometimes even complaining on his
lifestyle. Marion delivers a different concept to the zombie world. Zombies, in
his universe, are beings that while dead, still have a spark of life in them
(yeah, I know, “he is only MOSTLY dead” right?). This spark is what keeps them moving and from
turning into the completely dead creatures, known as bonies (shown through
digital effects as black bones with skin over them, and sound effects similar
to raptors from Jurassic Park).
Bonies are completely dead, and will “eat anything with a beating heart” cause
they despise the living. The way zombies keep themselves alive is through the
eating of human braind (treated like a drug in this story, letting the zombies
‘get-high’ on the memories of the lives of others). If they don’t keep up
‘charging’ the spark that keeps them moving, the zombies eventually die and
change. R’s spark is a tad stronger than other zombies, and during a zombie
attack, catches a glimpse of Julie, who he instantly falls in love with and
saves from the others. Fearful at first, Julie slowly becomes aware of the
difference in him. The two slowly bond, with the anger of the bonies and hatred
of zombies by Julie’s father Grigio threatening that bond. Forgive the detailed
explanation, but is necessary to understand the plot.
The film is a romantic-comedy-parody of the ‘Romeo and
Juliet’ storyline, having two people from opposite sides falling in love with
each other. Due to it being a apocalyptic world, majority of shots varying from
up close to long distance shots Creative use of 'film footage' for flashback scenes emphasises the theme of cherishing memories. Overall, scenes shots and makeup/costumes are done simply and truthfully, having the the movie put more dependence on the actors for the emotional aspect of
the plot. Thankfully, those actors were
well picked. R is played brilliantly by Hoult (X-men: First Class, and the upcoming Jack the Giant-Killer), playing the part of an awkward, learning to
talk zombie, while also playing the much-more-alive and talkative version of R
that exists in R’s head. Though I have only seen her in one other movie, Palmer
(Sorcerer’s Apprentice) is a favorite
of mine, being a natural performer who brings subtle realism to her roles. The
two share great film chemistry that is rarely seen these days, more timid and
cherishing in nature than most. And more importantly its much more relatable to fellow movie goers. Where as Edward and Bella presented a gothic brooding, fantasy love, R and Julie show the awkward, cautious, yet caring nature that many have experienced in dating scenarios. Tipton and Corddry steal many of the laughs
as Julies and R’s smart-mouth best
friends Nora and M. the one downside performance-wise comes surprisingly from Malkovich
(Man in Iron Mask, Red) who has much of his raw talent held back in playing the role of
the typical loving-but-arrogant father figure. The plot and theme of the story
are treated with respect, giving it the supernatural scare effect, while
maintaining the comedic yet romantic feel of the two main characters.
However, this film does not reach four stars due to it
deciding to ‘pull back in the final bits.’ Much like Jim Caviezel’s Count of Monty Cristo, Warm Bodies the movie takes liberties from
the story the further on it goes. While it remains very accurate to the
material at the beginning, it proceeds to change, leading to, like in Count, a disneyfied ending.
(disneyfied ending – the
term I use in reference to a movie based on a book, that while true to
characters and theme, changes things were it sees fit so to get different outcome(characters
who should die survive, quick solutions to big problems, etc). This gives
audiences the ‘happy ending’ they seek, but deflates the message of the story
in the process.) (examples: Troy, Count
of Monty Cristo,)
While granted, it kept the story from being too preaching
in its message, the movie seems to not take full advantage of the material. R
is kept true to the story, though a zombie, showing the awkward ‘trying to impress
girl’ behavior that lots of guys go through.But other characters are kept from
being the fully-realistic and relatable people they are in the book. The film
audience does not see the real barriers in Julie’s life that drives her. Grigio
is changed from the symbolic character in the book to your typical drill
sergeant. the actors manage to keep their characters real despite the 'restrictions' of the script, but one still finds fault in the layout. Towards the end, the
makers seemed to decide to rewrite the thing to give the movie a clear cut
ending. Though satisfactory and wrapping up loose ends, this change creates a
different feel to the movie, taking it from a supernatural, yet relatable love
story, and ending it in a fairy tale fantasy. Even without reading the book, I
would have felt this. Though supernatural and fictional, Warm Bodies presents a tale of two completely different people who
realize through their own pains, wants, and dreams the need for each other. While keeping the humor and caring nature of the story, the movie writers avoid the full picture, keeping it a simple
supernatural love story that while entertaining and heart pleasing, is less
thought provoking. It creates a hint of sadness on what is overall a great
story of finding reasons to laugh, live, and love in a world that suggests neither exist.
Good Message/Bad Message:
- Love is the cure
- People can change if they are willing to try, and find
a reason to live
- “You should always be taking pictures, if not with a
camera then with your mind. Memories you capture on purpose are always more
vivid than the ones you pick up by accident.”
-“There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The
world is always just what it is now, and it's up to you how you respond to it.”
Content:
Violence – mostly done to zombies/bonies (getting shot or
hit by heavy objects). During the few ‘people
getting eaten’ scenes, most what happens lies in the suggestion rather than
imagery (ex- R says he eating brains, when what he is holding looks like pieces
of bread). Couple of shots with zombies having leftover blood on chins, which
is quickly wiped off. Nothing graphic in the slightest.
Sex – one scene Julie removes her wet shirt and shows the
back of her bra, before getting under warm covers. The scene is not at all
sexual and treated rather humorously in R’s reaction.
Language – A bit of the typical swear words, with an
f-bomb being dropped in one scene for humor.
Drugs: Beer is had in one scene as a ‘delicacy’
Family Rating: Probably one of the more timid PG-13
movies out there. Even if zombies are not your thing (like me) it’s pretty
enjoyable. The main message is about finding the will to live in a world that
says differently and not so much on the horror aspect. A good first-timer
movie.
Christian undertones: (SPOILERS in this paragraph)
If I could pick one phrase that keeps popping in my head
through my head in this story, it would be “Faith, hope, and love, and the
greatest of these is love.” As mentioned, the movie greatly diminishes the
overall message of the book. Basically, the book stamps the word LIVE on the
readers forehead. R and Julie are the rocks that drop in dead pool of water.
The only thing that R has to look forward to is being a bonie. Julie is a girl
who wants to live her life, but lives a world that seems ready to accept death.
This is further discouraging in that her former-boyfriend Benny and her dad
each seem like they are waiting for death. (the book makes of Grigio as the
‘bonies’ of the human race. Like the bonies, he is dead inside, having nothing
left to fight for, not even for his daughter). R and Julie find hope and
missing love in each other. Julie realizes through R that the living dead is
not the end, that they to have a spark that wants to keep living. His main
phrase to her is “Keep. You. Safe.” She sees that they still have life, and
that is possible to find life after all. And R, who originally thought humans
as just food, now sees Julie as something to cherish and hold onto. Through
memories of Benny (yeah, he ate her boyfriend), he sees a life worth having: a
life of energy and spending it with the ones you love. Benny lost track of
that, becoming like Grigio, yet R and Julie find a chance to face the ‘status
quo’ of their world and fight for something better.
Bonies symbolize death, the end game. Like Satan, they
want people to believe that’s it. No afterlife, no reason to fight for a better
future because any way you look at it, death is the end solution. The bonies
mentality becomes contagious. Grigio, the typical living-in-the-world person,
finds the only thing to do is survive. Problem is, surviving is not living.
Benny, originally full of life like Julie, loses his spark when his dad dies,
and like the colonel, silently waits the ‘impending end.’ Like the passage in
the Bible on the seeds, he is the one that falls in the thorns, growing fully with life and
hope, but soon having that hope strangled out by the darkness on the road. R
and Julie are the seeds on the path, holding fast to their roots as others
(bonies, died-inside humans) try to pull them out. R and Julie make themselves targets
when they challenge the worldview. Warm
Bodies, the book makes a huge point on addressing the question, “what is
real death, and what does it mean to be truly alive?” Benny and Grigio, the reader
becomes aware, became less alive than R, because R was at least is fighting for
his spark., As mentioned above, the movie tears away from making more impactful
ending by changing it.
Film ending: R and Julie jump from a building to escape
the attacking bonies. R uses his body to protect Julie and gets knocked out, or ‘killed,’ in
the landing. Julie revives R and being happy they are both alive, share a kiss.
Grigio arrives and shoots R, ordering Julie out of the way. Julie tries
explaining what happened to the zombies, and notices R bleeding. Pointing this
out, Julie convinces Grigio and the soldiers R is human, and the other zombies
can change to. The humans and the zombies than team up and take out all the remaining
bonies. Grigio and Julie patch things up, and the final scene is of R and Julie
sharing a moment, watching the camp walls crumble. Zombies being human, and
Bonies all gone, there was nothing to fear anymore.
Book Ending: After the falling from the building bit, R
and Julie make it to the top of the Football stadium. Although zombies and
humans are both fighting the bonies, they can’t stop them from making it to the
stadium. Julie and R realize there is nowhere else to go. In dismay, Julie mentions how she believes
that the cause of the zombie outbreak was less complicated than people thought.
In her opinion, it was not missiles or chemicals, it was just mankind. Man had
stopped finding reasons to go on living, to keep fighting, and just slowly
began to die out. R and Julie, realizing this might be it, give each other a
kiss. During the kiss, R feels the ‘darkness’ in him coming out to infect
Julie, but then feels another force that keeps it from entering her. The two
break apart and realizing something is different. During the kiss, something
inside each of them exchanged between them, and both of their eye colors turn
gold. Grigio and his soldiers make it to the roof. Seeing her eyes, Grigio
believes that she has been turned, and orders the men to shoot her and R,
despite her attempts to persuade him. The 2nd in command refuses,
leading to a fight that knocks Grigio close the edge. A bonie than jumps up and
attacks Grigio. Julie pleads for her father to fight it, but Grigio lets it
attack him, both of them than plummeting of the ledge. R, despite the bonies
not talking, gets the message: “we will always be here.” Julie than realizes
that the knife wound she gave R at the beginning is bleeding. R feels the cuts
and bruises on his body. Julie touches his heart, theres a pulse, he’s alive!
They kiss
The bonies are beaten back, after noticing that R and
Julie have become a new life force. The humans than accept all the zombies
trying to be human into the camp, while finding means to try and change the
remaining few zombies. The bonies are still in existence, though weaker now in
strength, they still pose a threat. R and Julie share their moment on the wall,
thankful for the life they have now. They both know its going to be struggle,
creating a new world, but they are determined to fight for it.
Though more closed-case, the movie ending does not
deliver the same impact of the message as the book did. Both movie and book
give the statement: You must work to live. But the book drives that point home
more with pointing out that its our fault for not willing to live, and also
with the understanding that the bonies (or death) never completely go away.
It’s a continuous fight. So it is with believers in Christ.
I went to see this movie with a friend of mine, who made
this statement:
“You know in my eyes the zombie apocalypse has already
happened. Every time someone hardens there heart to God and life, well they
make it hard so it can’t beat death. They can’t live, so emotions are not as
real, but we are living the real thing and we can fix it!”
I happen to agree with her. Believers in Christ are
cleansed zombies. Like R, we discover the cure is two things, the WANT to live,
and more importantly, the love of another person. R and Julie went to the
trouble of reaching out to the other, and in so doing sparked something between
them. The book does not specify what, and there in line the beauty of it. It’s
not all our work. A miracle had to come from heaven and purify the darkness in
us, giving us purpose. Grigio and Benny hardened themselves to the world around
them, leading them to shun the love of people like Julie and await death. R
sought life outside what the world offered, and in turn affected Nora, M, and
all the other zombies and humans around them. So to is the affect believers can
have. We can choose to accept the world as it and just live with it, or see the
world as it is and choose to live in spite of it. What seed to we each want to
be in the seed metaphor? One that holds to its roots, or one that lets the
world choke the life from it? God is the spark inside each of us, believer and
non-believer alike. One can either choose to ignore it, let it puff out, and
become a bonie on the inside, or one can be like R and Julie and fight for that
spark to become a flame. It is a rough unending fight, for satan and his
minions, like the bonies, while defeated, are not going down without a fight.
But we can be rest assured that when we fight for God and His love, our spark,
that it is a fight worth living for.
Scripture References – I Corinthians 13:12-13; Matthew
13:1-9,18-23; Romans 8:10-12
Final Say:
A Fun movie, so why not see it on the big screen?
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