Zombies and vampires seem to have taken over Hollywood. From The Walking Dead to The Vampire Diaries to the Twilight films and so on, they've been everywhere. The trend has gotten pretty tiresome. So if they're going to keep doing this, they should at least put a fresh twist on it. That's what Warm Bodies aims to do. The film is a fresh take on Romeo and Juliet with humor... and zombies. Whereas some films like Shaun of the Dead already combined the genre with humor, this one also adds an aspect of romance.
Nicholas Hoult plays R, a young zombie who we follow around at the beginning of the film as he narrates his inner thoughts to us. Apparently, zombies still have thoughts. They do need to find food and survive. It's just that their version of food is people. They don't remember much from the time they were alive. That's why he goes by R; he can only remember the first letter of his name. The zombies just strut around looking for the living and don't really speak. As we all know, they just grunt here and there. This film gives some additional explanation for the eating of humans. When the zombies eat their brains, they collect some of that person's memories. So it's implied that the zombies still have a bit of humanity and some purpose. Far worse off are the "bonies" which are zombies who have degenerated to the point of becoming skeletons. They've abandoned their humanity altogether and become complete killing machines.
When R and some fellow zombies find some surviving humans to attack, he immediately becomes enamored with one girl and decides to save her. He becomes her protector and attempts to get to know her. She struggles at first to understand why he's keeping her safe. But soon enough, through awkward communication, they get to know each other. Not only does he slowly gain the ability to speak to her but he also seems to become more in touch with humanity again. This revelation makes them realize there's hope for all zombies. However, it puts them much more at risk with the merciless bonies. This brings about the Romeo and Juliet aspect in that the girl must convince her military father (John Malkovich) that not all zombies are bad. He's the head of a militia that's set on wiping them all out. Humans and zombies are the Montagues and Capulets of the film while R and his new love are caught in the middle. It's safe to say that R probably stands for Romeo. And the girl - her name is Julie. There's even a scene that takes place on a balcony just like in the original story. Warm Bodies manages to put a weird, apocalyptic but humorous twist on an old classic. There are funny moments in watching a zombie try to impress a human girl and not come off too creepy. We get that mixed with scenes of brains being eaten like a delicacy. So it's not for everyone, yet it stays interesting to say the least. Julie is played by Teresa Palmer who looks and acts just like Kristen Stewart with blonde hair. But there's more personality in these characters than those overserious brooding ones of the Twilight movies. That's right, there's more liveliness in this undead corpse than in the Twilight characters.
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