Warm bodies warms the heart

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2013)

Some genre hybrids are beginning to deliver intriguing narratives and shifts as the cycle of parody loses its charm. With Warm Bodies we have what is essentially a romantic picture set in the world of zombies. In some ways the idea is not that new. If we have a look at the progenitor of the zombie genre as Frankenstein we see the undead monster in sympathetic terms. It was rather the narrow-mindedness of society that was being critiqued. Intolerance and societal shifts were later to place the zombie film firmly in the path of the Cold War and the race divide that underscored its inhuman sensibilities. With the resurgence of gore films in the 70s and 80s, style began to triumph over substance and zombie films lost their credibility.
Warm Bodies finds its strength and uniqueness not when it is in the mode of parody, which inevitably it dabbles in at times but rather when it focuses on its central theme of loneliness. Much of the film is set in an airport, a transient place where only pointless waiting and anomie await the zombie inhabitants. R (Nicholas Hoult), the protagonist so named because his memory has gone lives in an abandoned plane playing old LPs on his record player. As John Waites "Missing you" plays it is a poignant moment that resonates with us. Our inhumane world at times is not that different from this zombie world.
Of course R has to eat and ventures out into the city to find a human. R narrates his story in an introspective voice-over that has many moments of subtle humor. He is trapped by his lack of memories and dreams but knows that something essential is missing. During a feeding frenzy that plays down the gore, R meets Julie, a human and takes her captive. Initially she is filled with fear but slowly begins to warm to R as he rediscovers his humanity.
Unfortunately the third act capitulates into the well-worn face-off between humans and zombies and the film loses much of its power. It is a pity because if it had stuck to its guns it might have been propelled it into the sublime dimensions of the vampire flick Let the Right One In. Nevertheless it is well crafted, well-performed and infinitely more captivating than some of the more recent entries in the zombie and romantic genres. ****