February Returns To The Dumping Grounds With Warm Bodies A Zombie Romeo & Juliet

The Good: Clever idea, Decent acting
The Bad: Mediocre characters, Not as funny as it could be, Concept plays out fast, Very predictable plot
The Basics: Exploiting the current trend in popular culture surrounding zombies, Warm Bodies is a mediocre film that follows an unlikely romance between a woman and the zombie who ate her boyfriend’s brain.


It used to be that February releases were the death knell of a film’s shot at any chance of success. There is a lull in February as Awards Season wraps up, but before the March rush begins with the release of creative, visually-exciting films that will be forgotten well before the next year’s Awards Season. Last year, it appeared that the trend might be fundamentally changed with the release of some quality films, like Safe House (reviewed here!) in February. Alas, it appears that trend is not going to continue: Warm Bodies leads off the return-to-form for February as a film with a creative idea, executed in a mediocre and predictable way that will leave all but the most obsessed genre fans disappointed.

Warm Bodies is not terrible, but it is truly only the fact that zombies have been swapped into the mix that makes the movie even feel remotely fresh. The plot is that of a typical romantic comedy and the elements that trend toward the dramatic lack the gravitas of the Shakespeare they allude to. The film Warm Bodies is based upon a novel by the same name and it bears noting that this is a review solely for the cinematic version. I have no basis for comparison to the novel or how it compares to that.

Some eight years after the zombie apocalypse struck, the last enclaves of humans remain huddled behind defensible barriers – like athletic stadiums – doing whatever they can to survive and eek out an existence that is remotely normal. A zombie who vaguely recalls that his name used to begin with an R, wanders in the airport with other zombies, who – in turn – work to avoid the skeletons that are the desiccated remains of zombies. R and his undead buddy M join a pack of zombies that go out and feed on human brains. R gets the brain of Perry, a generically good looking guy who is in love with Julie. In eating Perry’s brains, R experiences the love Perry had for Julie. Seeing Julie nearby, R is thus lovestruck and rescues her from the hoards of the undead.

After saving Julie’s life, Julie learns to blend in with the zombies and she and R form an unlikely friendship, that R hopes will lead to an actual relationship. Julie and her friend Nora get to know R a little better and protect him from the militant human protector, Julie’s father, General Grigio. As R moves more toward feeling real love and trying to express that to Julie, the human encampment comes under siege by skeletons, putting everyone in danger.

Zombieland (reviewed here!) felt original as a zombie-themed comedy and in Warm Bodies, the humor is stretched way too thin. Unfortunately, the premise is vastly too much for me to buy. I can get the whole youthful desire for love to trump everything, even undeath. The practical aspects of zombie love, whatwith the rotting flesh and the more obvious death and thus more overt sense of necrophilia needed to sell the concept, are just disgusting, but Warm Bodies does what it can to make them seem less gross (though why R’s organ would be in any shape for romance when 1. the skin on his face is so cracked and 2. that particular organ would be of least use to the undead and would, logically, atrophy faster). But all other things being equal, the basic concept flops.

In Warm Bodies the viewer is asked to buy the idea that after eight years and billions of people transformed into undead, mindless husks who feed on brains that: 1. R is the first person to eat the brains of a guy who was in love or 2. R is the first person to eat the brains of a guy in love proximate to the still-living person they loved or 3. Perry’s love for Julie is somehow different from the love that others have felt before. My point in all this is simple: R’s transferred love for Julie is never defined as special or incredible in any way. Just as in Twilight (reviewed here!), viewers have to wrestle with the question of “Seriously, what makes Bella Swan special or interesting to a 100 year-old teenager?! What’s the real attraction here?!,” Warm Bodies begs the question, “If R’s sudden love for Julie is basically a transference based on feeding on Perry’s brains or something like a drug trip, how has this exact circumstance never happened before?”

The sad truth is, the film Warm Bodies does not make it clear why the circumstances are different other than that for the purposes of the plot development, they have to be.

That said, R makes for an interesting narrator and a decent concept protagonist. Getting the young zombie voice allows for some clever and comical internal monologues, even if they become progressively less audacious as the film goes on.

On the acting front, John Malkovich brings nothing to the role of Colonel Grigio that viewers have not seen from him before. Teresa Palmer has fair on-screen chemistry with Nicholas Hoult. For his part, Hoult portrays R with an incredibly realistic (as much as such things as zombie posture may be termed “realistic”) physical performance. R has a distinct body language and Hoult plays him as consistent and inhuman for all the time the part calls for that. It is a very different role from his triumphant performance as Hank McCoy in X-Men: First Class (reviewed here!).

It is, however, Analeigh Tipton who steals the show. Tipton plays Julie’s best friend, Nora, and while the character might be a pretty generic sidekick, Tipton infuses her with charm and great deliveries of some of the movie’s best lines.

But, at the end of the day, Warm Bodies bursts onto the screen like a parody of one of the Twilight films where zombies are substituted for vampires and skeletons take the place of werewolves. While that might appeal to the young adult supernatural romance lit crowd, it’s a harder sell for serious cinephiles.

For other zombie films, please check out my reviews of:
28 Days Later
I Am Legend
Aaah! Zombies

5.5/10

For other film reviews, be sure to visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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50/50 Is A Clever, Heartwrenching Comedy About Cancer.

The Good: Moments that are genuinely funny, Moments that have absolutely genuine characters, Acting
The Bad: The character of Katherine really annoyed me
The Basics: Ambitious and worthwhile, 50/50 tells a gripping and often funny story of a young man diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer.


There are very few films that I want to see that I do not manage to get to the theater to watch these days. For the most part, if I want to see it, usually I find a preview screening or, barring that, I pay to see the film as early as I can after its release. Somehow, I managed to miss 50/50 when it came out and now that it is out on DVD, I have just managed to get it in to watch. 50/50 came highly recommended to me and when my wife and I sat down to watch it, we were both a little emotionally guarded. We have both had a lot of loss in our lives from people dying or serious health concerns. So, the idea of a comedy about a cancer patient was one that would either soar or crash with us. Fortunately, 50/50 lived up to its potential and delivered a solidly entertaining film that became one of the best recent surprises we’ve sat down to.

50/50 is loosely based on a true story and Will Reiser manages to write a brilliantly deep – if occasionally predictable – film that captures the difficult realities of end-of-life issues while still making them entertaining. Above all, 50/50 works because it is funny and populated by interesting characters. 50/50 is the comedic version of cancer much the way that Six Feet Under (reviewed here!) made a hard-hitting drama that was unafraid to face issues surrounding death. 50/50 might not make cancer fun, but it illustrates how even a cancer diagnosis cannot stop those determined to enjoy life from actually living. That is an admirable theme and it is well-executed in 50/50.

Adam is excited about his relationship with the eccentric artist Rachael, so much so that he has a drawer for her in his house and that thought pleases her. After a few days of back pain, Adam visits the doctor where he is diagnosed with cancer. Shocked but immediately supportive, his co-worker and friend Kyle rallies around him and tries to keep his spirits up. Adam gives Rachael the chance to bail and is surprised and pleased when she does not take him up on the offer. After an awkward conversation with his mother and after meeting the hospital therapist, Katherine, Adam starts the chemotherapy that should help break down the tumor on his spine.

While Kyle uses Adam’s cancer to score with women, he remains fiercely defensive of his friend. When he catches Rachael cheating on Adam, he calls her out and helps Adam push her away. While Adam works with the painfully awkward Katherine (he is her third patient ever!) to process the feelings he has while going through the chemotherapy, he meets Mitch and Alan who also suffer from cancer and forms a friendship with them as well. Over drinks with Kyle, pot with the older men and therapy sessions with Katherine, Adam oscillates between hope for survival and despair that the odds might be too long to beat.

50/50 works much more often than it does not and the biggest issue I have with the movie is actually in the predictable elements. I’m not talking spoiler-alert ending ruined by all of the interviews I heard with Seth Rogen when 50/50 was released in theaters predictable. No, 50/50 is unfortunately formulaic even when one does not know anything about the real-world events that inspired the film. The most pressing of these predictable elements come in the forms of Katherine and Rachael. Rachael is the archetypal flighty young artist, so the few viewers who might not have seen her bailing on Adam when he first tells her he has cancer should pretty much see it coming a mile away the first moment she mentions “energies.” Her refusal to come into the hospital telegraphs the fact that the Adam and Rachael relationship is not long for the film. No surprise there.

What I saw as an unfortunately predictable element was how 50/50 developed the Katherine and Adam relationship. While the disintegration of Rachael and Adam was obvious and built-in to the characters, the burgeoning relationship between the terribly awkward Katherine and the emotionally fragile Adam was not inevitable. In fact, the more Katherine did unprofessional things like lay her hands on Adam, the more I cringed. And it is supposed to be awkward; it is presented in a very funny way in 50/50. But Katherine starts the movie trying, desperately, to be professional around Adam and because the relationship with Rachael was so doomed from the start, I wanted to see 50/50 defy the expectations and have Katherine fully assert her professionalism and put an end to any potential romance between her and Adam.

Even so, 50/50 is nowhere near a disappointment! Adam is a likable character, even if he is neurotic before he gets cancer. Similarly, Kyle is annoyingly lovable and the real treat of 50/50 is how, despite how self-serving Kyle seems on the surface, he has a clear and deep affection for Adam that is only deepened as Adam goes through his cancer journey.

50/50 rightfully earns a lot of respect for having good actors performing well. While I am on the fence as to whether Anna Kendricks (of Twilight fame) is a phenomenal actress or just cast perfectly for the awkward and somewhat disturbing role of Katherine, the rest of the cast is clearly professional. Anjelica Houston uses her brief time on screen to give a meaningful supporting performance as Adam’s mother, as does Serge Houde as her husband. In fact, Houde gives one of the most subtle and delightful performances as Adam’s Alzheimer’s-plagued father. Bryce Dallas Howard creates yet another delightfully unlikable antagonist as Rachael, but she manages to do it in a completely different way from how she portrayed the snobby socialite in The Help (reviewed here!).

Most of the film hangs upon the solo acting talents of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his on-screen chemistry with Seth Rogen. Seth Rogen appears in 50/50 as something of a more mellow version of his usual robust and energetic self. He is still eager and enthusiastic, but he does play the part of Kyle with a little more restraint and humanity than he does most of his straightforward comedy roles. Yes, Seth Rogen has all the depth we always suspected he dis and in 50/50, he lets it show.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fully divorced from his early comedic roots in 50/50, reaffirming his role as one of the premiere actors of his generation. He is somber, serious, and only mildly quirky as Adam. The strength of his performance in 50/50 comes from his ability to emote and present lines that are deeply expressive without ever seeming over-the-top. Add to that, he is able to smile using only his eyes at times and when Adam needs to look fatigued, Gordon-Levitt completely sells the moment! His brief interactions with Philip Baker Hall and Matthew Frewer are delightful and his ability helps to solidly sell the premise of the film.

Now out on DVD, 50/50 features a commentary track and three featurettes. The commentary track is very informative and the featurettes are fun, adding additional value to the DVD and Blu-Ray. For those who live in fear of cancer, 50/50 provides a powerful and charming story that will engage viewers for years to come.

For other works with Seth Rogen, check out my reviews of:
Paul
The Green Hornet
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Zack And Miri Make A Porno
Pineapple Express
Step Brothers
Donnie Darko
Freaks And Geeks

8/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for a complete listing of all the films I have reviewed!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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