Such a heartwarming tale...

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2013)

Zombie meets girl, zombie eats brains of girl's boyfriend, zombie saves girl from other zombies and romance blooms. In this unique genre mashup of 'zom-rom-com', Nicholas Hoult plays a monosyllabic zombie with no memory of his name (only that it started with an 'R'...or "aah", as he puts it), nor his past life. With only a grunt here or a few words there, Hoult's able to express a lot while portraying a pale, scarred, slouching, shuffling corpse (also notable: his zombie 'run' and impressive ability to not blink). Unlike in a lot of films, where the narration gets on your nerves, the voice-over here is part of the film's charm. Hearing what R is thinking lets us know exactly what's going on inside his head since he's unable to express it verbally. A lot of the film's humour comes from Hoult's dead-pan delivery, as he makes wry observations regarding the slow movement of zombies, his hoodie-wearing and 'conversations' with his fellow zombies.
The film gets to the point pretty quickly when a group of survivors searching for supplies encounters R. It's here that he meets resistance fighter, Julie (played by terrific Aussie actress, Teresa Palmer, who always makes the most of her roles, but has sadly felt underutilised in some subpar films. Thankfully, this isn't one of those). Seeing Julie (understandably) kick-starts R's long dead heart, and this is before he feeds on the grey matter of her boyfriend, Perry (absorbing his memories in the process). Julie awakens something inside R. Not just his heartbeat, but his feelings/emotions/humanity as well. Unlike some other so-called 'heroines' in supernatural/romance films, Julie is freaked out by R, showing vulnerability/fear as any sane person would when confronted by the undead. To keep her safe, he takes her back to his 'home' (an abandoned plane at the airport). Although she's cautious (and takes advantage of several chances to run), here begins the blossoming relationship between zombie and human girl, as they bond over R's collection of old vinyl records, among other things. While some may roll their eyes at this, that would be rather short-sighted/selling the film short, as it manages to make this unconventional 'love story' actually feel believable.
It's not just a case of "Well, you ate my boyfriend's brains...let's kiss!", Julie is a kick-arse girl who can more than handle herself, as evidenced by her fending off zombies with a weed-whacker and shooting them while on the run (and shooting WELL, it must be noted). She also shows smarts, not being all zombiephobe like her father, nor trusting R fully from the get-go. She understands that R saved her, but is also determined that she isn't going to remain holed up on his plane forever either. It's nice to see a well-rounded, smart, kick-arse girl in a zombie movie. The montage of the pair's blossoming romance is really well done (the fact that Hoult and Palmer have great chemistry helps a lot). The film has just the right amount of humour sprinkled throughout (keep an eye out for Teresa Palmer's comedic skills when R instructs her to 'walk like a zombie' to blend in when they're surrounded by other zombies. Julie's zombie impression is quite hilarious).
However, the movie's not without its dark moments, however. Considering the film's rating, its beginning is surprisingly gruesome (like when we learn what 'Boneys/Bonies' are) and there's no shying away from what zombies do best: eating brains (R's shown snacking on his supply of Perry's brains from time to time). There's the perfect balance of light/dark moments and some amusing nods to 'tropes' in these sorts of film, like the balcony scene between R/Julie referencing Romeo & Juliet or when Julie and her friend, Nora (Analeigh Tipton, who also displays great comic timing/provides quite a bit of the film's humour and isn't annoying like some 'best friend' roles tend to be), give R a makeover so he can pass as human while 'Pretty Woman' is played (though is cut short). The other great supporting character is R's best friend, M (Rob Corddry), who eventually regains his memories/humanity along with other zombies. The choice of music and how it's used throughout the film is also excellent.
There were just a couple of characters/actors who failed to live up to the rest. I can't say John Malkovich (who plays Julie's father) nor Dave Franco (who plays ill-fated Perry) left much of an impression (the former just seemed bored throughout the film while the latter's character made it rather understandable how Julie could seemingly 'move on quickly' from him following his demise). The film is just the right length of time, not being overlong (which is a blessing these days, given all the films that overstay their welcome), but not feeling 'rushed' either. While the film's pace may seem as slow as a shuffling zombie to some, it is in fact taking the time to properly focus on developing its central characters and doesn't just throw in needless action scenes just for the sake of it, thus making you actually *care* what happens to the characters. I very much enjoyed this film, and if you ignore the haters (and those likening it to the Twilight Saga), you too might just find yourself enjoying it as much as zombies enjoy brains.