Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies

Directed by Jonathan Levine

Summit Entertainment, 2013. 112 minutes. Horror/romance/comedy film.

ISBN: None

Reading/Interest Level: PG-13

Curriculum ties: Preparedness

Booktalk Ideas: Zombies! Oh my!: Talk from the perspective of Julie, how she feared and fought zombies, and then how she noticed that one seemed a little different.

Challenge Issues: Violence

Challenge Response: First Defense File

Reader’s Annotation:

A zombie spends his day wandering around, finding humans so he can eat brains and experience their memories. When one brain holds memories of a certain girl, the zombie’s dead heart softens and he beings to change.

Plot Summary:

Post zombie apocalypse the world is overrun with the undead and humans are in the minority, hiding in their fenced off communities. R lives at the airport and basically just wanders around. He constantly craves human flesh, and particularly brains because that is the one way that zombies can feel somewhat alive again. When they eat brains, they experience the memories of the human they’re eating.

One day when R is out hunting for humans he comes across a pack of humans trying to get medicine from a hospital. One of the humans is killed and when R starts eating his brains, he experiences the love the host had for a girl, Julie, one of the living girls in the group they just attacked. R decides to save Julie from the pack of zombies and gradually they become closer. The effect these tender emotions will have on R is something no human, or zombie for that matter, ever considered possible.

Critical Evaluation:

Though this was a movie based on a book, I never felt like I was missing anything that probably would have been explained better or made more sense if I had read the book. Time was well spent developing the character of R and his typical life. Even though R is a zombie, the voiceover of his thoughts made his experiences funny. For example, in just the opening scene, the camera focuses closely on R’s eye as it slowly zooms out and through voiceover, R asks, “What am I doing with my life? I’m so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture is terrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter. What’s wrong with me? I just want to connect. Why can’t I connect with people? Oh… right. It’s because I’m dead.” He sounds like just another teen, worrying about how other people see him, except for the fact that he’s a zombie. The dry humor perfectly captures what I would expect zombie humor to be like.

As a zombie movie, this one stands out since it’s a love story and the main character is actually the one who’s a zombie. R is a likeable, relatable, and sympathetic protagonist with one main flaw, he’s dead. The acting is excellent with the dead stare and slow lumber, which is given life by the voiceover of R’s thoughts. I really can’t say enough good things about this movie. It was fun and entertaining, which believable and relatable characters. Except for the fact that, well, they’re dead.

About the Director:

Jonathan A. Levine (born June 18, 1976 in New York City) is an American film director and screenwriter. He received a BA from Brown University, and an MFA from the American Film Institute.

Levine won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his film The Wackness. He directed the 2011 film 50/50 and the 2013 film Warm Bodies, which is based on the novel of the same name by writer Isaac Marion.

Levine was also director Paul Schrader's assistant for a time before his own directorial career took off. He is currently in pre-production to direct a film called Legend, based on a book and series of the same name by Marie Lu.

-from Wikipedia.com director page-

Justification of Selection:

Zombie movies, books, and TV shows are currently a hit and this is a fun, quirky take on the zombie myth. It’s got a bit of romance that will appeal to girls, and the humor and witty protagonist will appeal to the guys.