Director:

Jonathan Levine

Staring:

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, and John Malkovich

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a zombie fell in love?  If the answer is yes, you are in luck!  

Warm Bodies

is based on the 2010 novel written by

Isaac Marion.

The setting will sound familiar.  Earth has been decimated by a plague and most of the population is left brain hungry.  A band of survivors have constructed a wall around a city and only venture out for supplies. 

It is on one of these supply runs that Julie, played by

Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four),

is left behind  after the rest of her group are eaten.  A cute looking zombie, 

Nicholas Hoult (X-Men First Class),

sees her and it is love at first sight. Unable to vocalize his emotions, R, a zombie who only remembers the first letter of his name, 

helps Julie escape.  They hide in an abandoned jet liner waiting for the zombie hoard to disperse.  By spending time with Julie, R begins to recall his humanity and his vocabulary. 

After realizing that R has no intentions of harming her, Julie escapes back to the walled city.  R follows her to the human stronghold in an attempt to reconnect.  In a Romeo and Juliet like manner,  the two are reunited.  Julie's main concern becomes keeping her father, Oscar winner

John Malkovich (Red)

, from putting a bullet through R's head on sight.

This is a light hearted and surprisingly well written zombie romance.  Our culture is in the midst of a zombie zeitgeist.  

The Walking Dead

,

Resident Evil

, and the upcoming

World War Z

are just a few of the mainstream examples.  Zombie comedies are not new.  Remember the hilariously funny

Zombieland

?  The romance twist is what sets Warm Bodies apart.  

Director Jonathan Levine (50/50)

has brought humor to unexpected subjects before.  His previous film 50/50 managed to find humor with cancer. Warm Bodies delivers the goods in a genre that has a hard time with originality.  The central character might be a cold dead body,  but this tale about  a zombie who just wants to love and live again will leave you feeling pretty warm.

fashionado

film

score  : 7 out of 10

fashionado

film :

Jamie Clemons