Warm Bodies: The undead finally give 2013 some life

Ever since “Twilight” started making big bucks the movie industry has been trying to copy their success with a love story between a human and (insert classic horror monster here). “Warm Bodies” throws a zombie into the equation and is able to finally find a workable blend of action, romance, and poking fun at its horror background to provide for an entertaining and relatively deeper film thanks primarily to star Nicholas Hoult and director Jonathan Levine.

The story for “Warm Bodies” isn’t really anything new, in fact it is a very lose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. On top of that, the on the nose idea that love is vital to being alive that is the catalyst of the movie’s premise is overly simple and lacking some depth. But, the generally well-worn arc of the story and on the surface message can be forgiven as we see the romance blossoming between stars Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer.

Warm Bodies trailerWarm Bodies trailer

Palmer and Hoult have a convincing chemistry, but it is Hoult who steals the show with his zombie’s awkward teenager inner monologue and his humorous non-verbal communication. Add Rob Corddry and Analeigh Tipton to provide some great one-liners here and there and the film offers enough laughs to move along at a brisk pace.

That touch of humor that the actor’s were able to tap into has to give some credit to the man behind the camera, Jonathan Levine. Levine’s last outing was “50/50”, another film where he was able to bring the humor out of a subject matter that doesn’t often go for laughs. His choice of music was key and often a major contribution to the humor of the film (even giving a little wink to the audience at that same purpose at one point).

“Warm Bodies” is a genre mash-up that is actually able to pull off both sides of the coin, a rare feat and one that it should be commended for. However, while enjoyable, it really is an agreeable film that proves to better than probably most people would have expected it to be, but will easily slide to the back of people’s mind till you rediscover it someday on cable.