A Zom-Rom-Com Do we really need those?

Rating: 4/10 (4 November 2015)

I don't like zombie comedies, and I especially don't like zombie comedies in which the zombies can think, feel, talk or – god forbid – slowly transform back into human beings again! I often wonder how far nowadays directors can and will go exploiting the concept of zombie comedies even further. The days of George A. Romero's original zombie trilogy are long over and nail-biting suspense has gradually turned into absurd comedy and annoyingly ambitious story lines. The majority of zombie comedies are pretty lame, with some notable exceptions of movies that accomplished something particularly refreshing or innovative, like for example "Shaun of the Dead", "Fido" and "Wasting Away". "Warm Bodies" is definitely also one of the more watchable zombie comedies out there, but this is merely thanks to the solid directing of Jonathan Levine and the excellent performances of Nicolas Hoult and Theresa Palmer, rather than to the dire and derivative subject matter. Following a not specifically mentioned type of catastrophe, 99% of the world's population turned into zombies while the last remaining human survivors entrench themselves in a fortress and listen to the orders of John Malkovich. But the shuffling zombies here are quite different than the usual type of braindead monsters, as they somehow still have remnants of emotions and intelligence left in them. The young R – he can't remember the rest of his name – lives at an airport where he cozily decorated his own private plane and he manages to contemplate about his life (or, better yet, his death) and even produce a few words. During one of his quests for human brains to feed on, R falls head over heels for the tough chick Julie. He munches Julie's boyfriend's brains – and memories – but rescues her and bonds with her in his airplane. Problem remains, of course, that R is a corpse and Julie is the daughter of the leader of the human resistance fighters. "Warm Bodies" contains a handful of really good ideas and – it has to be said – R's monologues are extremely witty. It's hilarious to finally hear zombies say about themselves stuff like "God, we move slow!" After an enjoyable first half, the film becomes dull and ordinary. The sequences with the skeletons or "Bonies" (zombies in a final state of decay and completely devoid of emotions) are downright pathetic, because of the unfitting violent tone and the miserably bad CGI-effects. The fairy-tale climax is as soft and weak as you would expect from a zom-rom-com