Warm Bodies delivers an undead love story

Rating: 7/10 (14 February 2013)

It's no secret the zombie craze is in full force thanks to some great films and TV shows on the subject. At this point there are so many zombie themed films hitting the market, there is very few that have anything unique to add to stand out. The latest Warm Bodies attempts to step out of the shadows of the others by creating a love story of sorts, mixed with some humor but is it effective or dead before it comes to life?
Warm Bodies follows introspective zombie who, much like the rest of the population is cursed to walk as the undead feeding on human survivors. During a routine feeding, he meets a beautiful woman that he suddenly feels compelled to protect. As their relationship begins to grow so does the temperature in his body as he slowly begins to regain his humanity. Soon this effect starts to spread through the other zombies shining a beam of hope on humanity, but first they must contend with not only the trigger happy humans, but also the ferocious Bonie zombies who threaten everyone. The story is easily one of the more unique to come along for the genre, breaking all the zombie rules, but working pretty well. The first bit of the film is a bit slow, but not in an all bad way. As it moves forward things start to pick up a bit as the audience is given an inside look at the zombie's side of things. There is little explanation as to how the change really occurs, but makes little difference other than being a bit irritating. In addition there are some disconnects here and there in relation to how people would have acted towards a situation, but it is minor enough to not hurt it. Besides that this film works pretty well. It keeps itself pretty light, even during the darker moments and somehow manages to deliver an effective love story.
The looks of the zombies fit the idea and feel of the film really well. They aren't overly gory like the norm, but can't be for this story to really work. Instead they introduce the Bonie's, which are skeleton type zombies that are there just to feast and kill anything in their path. The effects bringing these guys to life works pretty well and adds the much needed kick to keep it from being slow and sappy. If you are a zombie fan, then you will want to give Warm Bodies a chance. If for no other reason as it takes the genre into a fresh new direction, even if the characters are dead and rotting.