Warm Bodies (2013) – Review

Review: Warm Bodies is a fun mix of genres with a surprisingly fluid (yet subtle) message. The film is about two young people (star-crossed lovers, if you will) who happen to be from different sides of a giant wall. The zombie-apocalypse has happened, and the surviving humans have built a massive wall protecting them from the zombie masses that surround them, but they still need to scavenge outside their protective enclosure for supplies from time to time. During one such supply run, Julie and a group of her friends are attacked by a zombie horde, but one of the zombies, R, has an unexpected reaction upon seeing Julie. R finds his life as a zombie to be unfulfilling. He is bored and craves connection. When he sees Julie, something changes within him and he decides to protect her and not eat her. He takes her back to his home, and the two of them form an unlikely bond that could save humanity. Just a warning: this review does contain some plot spoilers, so seeing the film first would probably be wise before reading the full review.

It would be easy to dismiss Warm Bodies for many reasons based on its premise – like: it is just another zombie movie trying to exploit the current fad (headlined by the AMC series The Walking Dead) and a Twilight copycat supernatural genre teenage romance aimed at drama-caving young women. However, writer-director Jonathan Levine’s film (based on Isaac Marion’s novel) is so much more. Yes, it is a zombie movie and yes it does center around two young characters, one a zombie and one a human girl, who develop a relationship, but Levine also addresses social issues, fleshes out great characters, and infuses the film with very funny material. And, best of all for genre fans, it is a good zombie movie too.

Visually, the film has a very typical post-apocalyptic look – things are in shambles, civilization has collapsed and retreated into an entrenched area, and dangerous creatures roam the wasteland. Plus, the action beats are done very well, fitting what one might expect in a zombie movie. However, Levine quickly makes it apparent that this is not a typical zombie film, as it opens with voice-over narration from R. He explains the mundane life that he has as a zombie and his inner aspirations. What works well about this is that Levine has established R as a character the audience can relate to – how different is R’s life to the banality of the typical day-to-day life of the viewer (aside from being a zombie) and all R wants is to not be alone, which is what we all want really. Outwardly, R cannot really communicate, so the use of voice-over allows him to stay in character while still enabling the audience to get to know him. This is the first major difference between most zombie movies and Warm Bodies. Here, the zombie is the main character and not just the monster (and they are still the monster too, as they do attack and kill humans). The audience actually gets to take a stake in their story.

Levine likes to switch gears and genres with the film. It starts out like a typical zombie movie (with a twist, as R, a zombie, is the main character and the audience hears his inner thoughts), but after R and his fellow zombies attack and kill most of Julie’s friends (R eats her boyfriend) he takes Julie back to his home and the film shifts to more of a romantic comedy. Julie does not know what to make of R. She does not really like him at first (because she is terrified of him), but as she gets to know him she sees there is something different about him. R, on the other hand, is trying his hardest to impress Julie, as he has fallen for her almost immediately (a common troupe of young love in movies – the main character having a crush on a seemingly unattainable girl or boy, and over time they come around). R acts chivalrously towards Julie, trying to both keep her safe and to evoke some affection. They share some pleasant times and Julie does form an affinity for R, but this relationship only exists in isolation. Her group would not approve and likely would shoot R in the head, and his group would not approve and likely eat Julie’s brains.

While it is certainly not new territory to have characters from two opposing sides form a bond, Levine does it in a manner that still feels fresh, while referencing Romeo and Juliet (of course) and making a social statement as well. Shakespeare’s play is probably the most famous to feature star-crossed lovers, and Levine pays tribute (along with Marion, the novel’s author). First, and maybe the most obvious, are the main characters’ names: R and Julie for Romeo and Juliet. Second, there are visual and narrative references as well – most notably there is a scene in which Julie is on the balcony outside her room and R has snuck into the human compound to find her and calls to her from below the balcony. This is maybe the most iconic of the Romeo and Juliet imagery.

Levine seems to also be very interested in delivering a social message with the film about love being the answer to problems and not fighting or war. It is the love and understanding between R and Julie that unites the humans and zombies, rather than one making the other subservient or eradicating them. Once Julie gets to see the zombies interacting with each other, she realizes that they are misunderstood and not so much different than humans. One of the final images in the film sees the massive wall that separates the humans from the zombies being destroyed, which invites memories of seeing the Berlin wall come down. Again, Levine is promoting love, understanding, and togetherness rather than hate and fear. What is great about Warm Bodies is that Levine never forces feeds or is heavy-handed with this social message. It seems to organically come out of the narrative (a sign of good direction).

The film also has a lot of great comedy. The interaction between R and Julie plays very much like the normal interaction between an awkward boy who is interested in a girl. It is resonates with the audience because they can relate. But, it also has an additional comedic undercurrent due to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation: a zombie making googly-eyes at a young woman and trying to get her to like him.

Unlike Romeo and Juliet, however, Warm Bodies is not a tragedy. In fact, its resolution is a very neat and tidy happy ending. (Personally, I thought) it works well, but maybe it is too wrapped up in a bow for some – especially those looking for a zombie movie, because ultimately this is not a zombie movie, it just operates under the guise as one, it is a romance. The resolution seems too easy. Would zombies and humans suddenly be friends? Well, there are a few factors to consider. First, they worked together to defeat a common enemy in the Bonies (super zombies that want to kill both the humans and zombies, once they become more human-like). Second, R and Julie’s connection ignited something in the zombies that made them become more human, even restarting their hearts. And third, there is no timeframe between the events of R and Julie starting a revolution of sorts and the tearing down of the wall signifying zombie and human co-habitation. Really, the specifics of how exactly they live together do not matter, as the message of the film is what is important. We can assume that they worked something out.

The film also embraces many of the clichés of the romance genre. And therefore, yes, the film does feature many of the same clichés, but Levine has turned them on their head, so to speak, by staging his romance in a world ravaged by the zombie apocalypse. Also, a lot of the humor comes from seeing these cliché romantic moments played between a zombie and a human girl. The film does not shy away from the clichés. It draws attention to them and revels in them.

Warm Bodies is not just a zombie movie or just a romance or just an action adventure. It blends all three creating a very fun and entertaining experience, and one that actually aspires to uplift through its positive social message of love. It is the first great film of 2013.

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Jonathan Levine has now made four films, though his last two saw bigger commercial releases. 50/50 and Warm Bodies have both been very good films, blending genres and delivering great stories with wonderfully relatable characters and meaning. He is definitely a filmmaker on the rise and one to watch.

Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders give the film a score that equally matches its genre blending aspects. However, it is the soundtrack that really shines, as it features both great music and songs that poke fun at and play with the zombie and romance movie features (stuff like: John Waite’s Missing You, Bruce Springsteen’s Hungry Heat, and Bob Dylan’s Shelter from the Storm). Levine uses music cues fantastically throughout the film as well. Javier Aguirresarobe’s cinematography is brilliant. He creates varying looks for the film depending on whether something is taking place pre, during, or post the zombie apocalypse. During has a very bleak color saturated look, while before (seen through memories) and after are much brighter, angelically lit, and filled with color. Martin Whist’s production design is equally great. R’s home inside the main cabin of an airplane, filled with knickknacks, is full of character. The dilapidated and decrepit city (in the wake of the zombie apocalypse) feels just as authentic as any zombie movie.

The film is comprised mainly of only a few main roles, and the cast is great across the board in them. John Malkovich plays Julie’s father, who also happens to be the leader of the humans (because if she is Juliet, then her father must be the patriarch of the Capulets). While he does not have much screen time, he is able to create the sense of a menacing and vindictive father that would never trust in a zombie. Analeigh Tipton is fun in support as Julie’s friend Nora. She is kind of goofy and sweet, but kind of badass too (she reminds me of the girls in Red Dawn a little). Rob Corddry is brilliant as R’s friend M. He has perfect comedic timing and brings heart and emotional depth to his role as well (something that is very important in aligning the audience with the plight of the zombies). Tipton and Corddry bring so much more to their roles than the typical throwaway one-dimensional best friends to the leads parts that the romance genre usually churns out. Teresa Palmer’s Julie is fairly complex for a teenage romance film. She is dealing intense emotions with the loss of her mom (turned by zombies and then shot in the head by her father), a distant father who is driven by hate, a boyfriend who is pulling away, and of course the zombie apocalypse, and yet she wants to be in love, have fun, and just be young but does not really have that luxury. This is why her mini-vacation away from her life with R (once she got over her somewhat debilitating fear) affects her so much and why she forms such a strong bond with him, because he enables her to feel those things. Palmer is able to covey all these emotions drawing the audience into the narrative and love story, as she must carry most the scenes with R merely reacting to her (due to the nature of his character). It is by far her best work to date. Nicholas Hoult has a very difficult role as R. He has to be a zombie, yet be a character the audience can relate to and care about. The voice-over narration helps, however Hoult is able to do enough with his face to sell his inner emotions. It is easy to overlook the performance, but it is great work.

Summary & score: Warm Bodies is both an exciting zombie movie and a funny and charming romance. It even has genuine and positive social message. It does all this while feeling fresh and original. 7/10

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) – Review

Review: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is an uneven road drama, with stuff that works and stuff that does not, but held together by great leading performances and a sincere narrative. The film is about Dodge, an insurance salesman who is abandoned by his wife in the final days before Earth’s destruction by the asteroid Matilda. Thinking about his high school sweetheart, Dodge decides he wants to find her before the world ends. Accompanying Dodge on his journey is his neighbor Penny, who wants desperately to get back to her family in England. She will help Dodge find his past love, and he will take her to a man with a plane. Writer-director Lorene Scafaria structures the film to be a fairly generic road film (though, it does its time to finally get on the road). Dodge and Penny run into strange characters and have misadventures as they make their way. The problem is that most of their encounters on the road are not particularly funny (when they are supposed to be) nor do they work particularly well. Rather, it is Scafaria’s buildup of the characters before they depart and their resolution (which takes up some of the second and the entire third act) after the road trip that is the film’s strongest aspect. The lead characters are both very well played and drawn, and it is in these two sections of the narrative that Scafaria gives them their best character moments. The film is trying to be a dramedy, with the comedy coming from the absurdity of modern humanity carrying on their day-to-day lives in the face of impending doom and the drama coming from the internal struggles of the characters as they come to terms with their own feelings about their lives and inevitable deaths. Scafaria does well with the drama and poorly (for the most part, though there are a few jokes that work well) with the comedy. Most of the random characters and situations that Dodge and Penny meet and find themselves in (clearly played for comedy) do not work and hamper the film’s pacing a bit. However, the character work is strong enough to save the film, and by the end make it quite compelling. Scafaria somewhat shifts the tone of the film, from being a dark comedy to being a drama, as the characters seem to find new meaning in their lives, and suddenly have more to live for and lose. Narratively, she also plays with the overarching structure, shifting it back and forth from character drama to romance, which balances the story by giving it both a lighter feel (along with the comedy) as we watch the characters come to terms with their feelings for each other and a more dramatic feel as the characters also address their own internal struggles. This saves the film from feeling overly generic, both tonally and structurally (I also like that Scafaria is not afraid to sick to her narrative convictions regarding the ending). Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, despite maybe wanting or trying to be, is not so much a quirky dark dramedy, but rather a good character drama that is held back due to some very uneven sections.

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Lorene Scafaria makes her directorial debut with Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (on her second produced screenplay). It is clear that she has a strong handle on getting good performances from her leads, as they are both fantastic and hold the film together. However, much like her first script Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Scafaria needs to work on tightening up her narrative structure and trimming (or reworking) the stuff that is flat or drags the narrative down. She has a good scene of humor, evidenced by some of the better jokes in the film, but again needs to realize that the film is playing better as a character drama than a quirky comedy and not force bad comedy bits in that detract from the overall momentum of the narrative just for the sake of comedy – it needs to come from a more organic place. I do look forward to her next film, as she clearly has talent and should improve. Composers Jonathan Sadoff and Rob Simonsen’s score is fine for the tone of the film, but the found music soundtrack overshadows it completely. Tim Orr’s cinematography is very straightforward, as is Scafaria’s shooting style. The actors are simply allowed to perform with the camera merely capturing their performances, which is fine given the strong performances. Chris Spellman’s production design is also fairly straightforward. His sets mostly match the characters, as continuations of their personalities. The supporting cast (made up of small bit roles) is very uneven. Some of the performances worked well, dramatically or comically, and some did not. The performances of Martin Sheen, T.J. Miller, Adam Brody, and especially Rob Corddry (whose performance is probably the funniest thing in the film) highlight these small roles. Keira Knightley plays Penny, who is somewhat written to be what film critic Nathan Rabin calls a manic pixie dream girl (or a stock character who does not exist in reality, but cinematically exists to teach male characters to embrace life). However, Knightley’s performance is much deeper than the stock character would seemingly allow. The film is also concerned with Penny’s internal drama and how she will come to terms with it, and she is not solely there to save Dodge (though, that is an aspect to her role). Knightley brings a lot of life to Penny and the film, and juxtaposed to Dodge, who Steve Carell plays to be a black hole, void of love, empathy or even caring, is a necessary component to making the film work (without her, or someone equally skilled, it would just be a drag). Carell can only be so down in the dumps because his negative energy can be bounced off of Knightley. He is also good in the film, playing his typical sad middle-aged character, but to a much more depressing degree.

Summary & Score: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is not a very good comedy or road movie, but is a great character drama with some strong performances from its leads. 7/10

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) – Review

Hot Tub Time Machine is the type of film made for a specific audience, one that is looking to laugh without qualms about what they are laughing at; and for this audience, the film does its job. It is funny, full of nostalgia and referential nods and gets the most out of its cast and premise. Upon first look at the credits, the film seems to be a waste of the talent of actor/producer John Cusack and his friend director Steve Pink, after all the two worked on High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank together, what are they doing making this film. But after seeing it, the film resembles The Hangover in that it takes something iconic (in The Hangover it is Vegas and the mythos that applies, while in Hot Tub Time Machine it is the 80’s and it’s teen film genre) uses the lore of this time or place (or both) to insight comedy, while telling a somewhat heartfelt story, in which the characters come to realizations about their lives, and this is where Hot Tub Time Machine succeeds. While the film is very funny and there are plenty of jokes at the expense of the actors and the 80’s (at least how we remember it now), the film really works because while the audience laughs they also are building a relationship with the characters and want to see their journeys come to a satisfying conclusion. The narrative structure for the film takes three friends on hard times, asks them to reevaluate their lives and what they mean to each other and finally to make changes and reconnect to find deeper meaning in themselves, each other and their lives. This does not sound much like a comedy, but it works well as the foundation for the film, which then piles on tones of jokes on top. The cast for such a film is essential as well, as they must be able to both play to the drama of their arch while being able to pull off the comedy. Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, and Rob Corddry make up a great team, each playing to their strengths: Cusack has sort of a tortured coolness, Duke has an ambivalent cynicism, Robinson is sort of lovable, and Corddry is a wild man, anything can happen type – their powers combine to form a well functioning comedic group, enabling for many sorts of jokes to work (and a film like this needs that, similar again to The Hangover). The film also features a number of fun supporting roles including: Crispin Glover (sort of playing a caricature of George McFly), Chevy Chase, Collette Wolfe, Lyndsy Fonseca, and Lizzy Caplan (whose character oddly felt out of place in the 80s, almost postmodern, like she was from the present too, but living in the 80’s). Bob Ziembicki’s production design fits the film well, as it is both realistic for the period but also full of nostalgic joking fun. Overall the Hot Tub Time Machine works to the strengths of is cast, features all types of jokes, and lots of 80’s fun, but it is the underlying narrative that sets it apart from most comedies of its type. 7/10