Now we know what all those zombies are REALLY thinking

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2013)

In the long annals of walking dead fiction, "Warm Bodies" is likely the first work to ever actually get inside the head of a zombie. And it turns out his thinking process is not all that different from yours or mine - if you can just get past that whole "I want to eat your brains" thing, that is.
Skillfully written and directed by Jonathan Levine, "Warm Bodies" may not be the first attempt at a zombie-movie parody - "Shaun of the Dead," "Zombieland" and "Fido" got there before it - but I'll bet it's the first to apply a "Romeo and Juliet" template to the genre (his name is "R" and hers is Julie, and there's even a charming balcony scene between the two to clinch the parallel).
Nicholas Hoult plays a young walker who's been reduced to shambling aimlessly through the zombie-infested airport, playing vinyl records on the grounded jet he's converted into a comfy little "home" for himself, and mulling long and hard over what it means to be living out one's existence as one of the undead. He's not exactly proud of what he's become, but he's pretty much learned to accept it - that is until he devours the brain of Julie's boyfriend, thereby appropriating his memories and falling immediately in love with her. Our unlikely chivalric hero thereupon takes it upon himself to become the young woman's sole companion and protector as she tries to make her way through this dangerous and hostile world. And as Julie (Teresa Palmer) and R grow together in closeness and mutual understanding, R slowly but surely regains many of those precious qualities that once made him human.
Based on the novel by Isaac Marion, Levine's screenplay, with its romantic tone and wry voice-over narration, is a subtle, gentle movie parody rather than a smart-alecky one on the order, say, of the "Scary" movie franchise or "Date Movie" and such. And it works beautifully from beginning to end, thanks in no small measure to the extraordinary chemistry between Hoult and Palmer in the starring roles (and Rod Corddry is equally great as R's best friend among the living dead).
Corpse or no corpse, it's been a long time since the ineffability of young love has been captured so winningly on film. And the movie caps it all off with a coda that is about as sweet and uplifting as anything you're likely to see at the movies all year, guaranteed to make you feel proud to be a member of a species that, for all its faults, can still be pretty darn terrific when it puts its collective mind to it.
It's nice to be reminded of that every now and again.