Twisting the zombie tale

Rating: 6/10 (3 February 2013)

Like last year's plot-bending tale of teen slaughter and urban legends which was given a nice new treatment (with a healthy side of comedy) in Drew Goddard's "Cabin In the Woods," this new release tries to turn the overused and often clichéd premise of the zombie film on its ear.
Writer/director Jonathan Levine ("50/50") has adapted the Isaac Marion novel which tells the story from the undead's point of view, mixing other stories such "28 Days Later," "Zombieland," "Grindhouse (Planet Terror)," the "Resident Evil," "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Mummy" franchises and even mixing in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."
The results, although a bit uneven and nonsensical at times, nevertheless makes a fairly entertaining experience. And while most of the cast, with the possible exceptions of John Malkovich ("Red") as the zombie-phobic general and Rob Corddry ("Cedar Rapids," "Hot Tub Time Machine") are not very recognizable, there is enough humor and slight action to keep the tweeners happy.
Adults will have to be content with comparing the movie to other - sometimes - better efforts, and the quirky factor may never quite reach its full potential, but at just 97 minutes it does enough to keep this zom-rom-com in the positive category. Be aware, however, that 97 minutes is just about the limit a picture like this can sustain itself.
In the not-too-distant future, in an unnamed metropolis, a strange plague has caused the living deaths of thousands. These unfortunate creatures, while not completely physically expired, nonetheless shuffle about the city's airport, for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
Representing this rabble is the laconic (okay, most EVERYONE is laconic in this film) narrator and lead character, R (Nicholas Hoult, "X-Men: First Class" and the boy in "About a Boy"), who by the very fact he is narrating the movie means he is a few steps about your average zombie. He does, however, look like a cross between Johnny Depp in "Edward Scissorhands" and Robert Patterson in the "Twilight" series, so the creepy factor has to be overcome before his true humanity can be realized.
While he, M (Corddry) and a group of hungry compatriots are on a food run, they meet up with a group of survivors who have left the safety of the wall to search for medical supplies. Led by Julie (Teresa Palmer, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," "I Am Number Four") - the daughter of the general - and her boyfriend, Perry (David Franco, "Superbad," "21 Jump Street"), this group was supposedly trained by the vast and heavily armed military units which secure the human perimeter.
Unfortunately, these youngsters are not very good at their jobs and end up being ambushed and (most of them) become a light snack, especially Perry, who is given a new meaning to the term "brain food." Evidently, when a zombie munches on the gray matter, it is the only way they can revive memories, since their own are long-dormant.
Captured by R, Julie fears the worst, but the zombie is not like the others, or at least he does not show her his violent, non-living side. He secures her in his private 737 abode and keeps her "safe" from the others by teaching her to "act" dead (not much of a stretch for this actress).
Despite his warnings, though, and several examples of him having to save her life, she still continues to wander about as the only living human in this deadly apocalyptic realm. And while she can fool the mostly lethargic, slow-moving newly dead creatures, she is much more vulnerable to the "Bonies," those undead who have just given up, stripped off their skin and now "eat anything with a heartbeat" (which is sort of what REGULAR zombies do, so I'm not exactly sure of the difference other than appearance).
With the help of some vintage vinyl LPs and a montage backed with either totally recognizable classic rock songs or tunes we've never heard of, Julie begins to see that perhaps R is not a lost cause and her spark has given him a heartbeat and a reason to live. Dad, of course, does not believe this (he still harbors a resentment of the plague victims since they ate his wife), but now, because they can discern a beating organ, the Bonies are now after them both.
It's not just R who is changing, however, M and many of the others are seeing this zombie thing as a passing phase, but the question is can they make the transition fast enough before the humans blow their heads off or the Bonies devour them?
The picture is fantasy, of course, but there are a few nagging breaches of logic, such as why the soldiers - who have heavy weapons and armor -do not search for the medicine themselves instead of sending out inexperienced teenagers (and why the general's daughter would go out in the first place); and how R was able to move his entire home into the jet (did he feel the undeadism coming on and just decide to pack everything over the weekend before it took full effect?).
Then, there is the question of how the Bonies, who are basically recycled zombies, are able to move 10 times as fast as well as scale large buildings and obstacles with seemingly little or no effort.
But, just when we thought the concept had run its course with the hilarious "Zombieland" and "Shaun Of the Dead," Levine does pump some new life in the genre and wisely keeps it at just the right time before the idea ultimately collapses within itself.