Greg’s Movie Review: Warm Bodies
About Gregory B. GonzalezGregory B. Gonzalez is an angry black man who isn't actually black. No, really- he told us to say that! His parents once had him tested for Tourette's, but when the doctor came back with his results, he said, "No, he's fine. Your son is just an a**hole!" It's been downhill ever since. He lives like the Unabomber, only without the explosives. Feel free to contact him provided you can actually locate him. Just keep in mind that he'll probably make fun of you to your face. We here at MMA can't stand him, so if you want him, he's all yours!
View all posts by Gregory B. Gonzalez →
As anyone can tell you, I LOVE zombies. It probably stems from the fact that I was married to a corpse for six years. Oh, I kid my ex-wife. She wasn’t a brain-dead corpse. Close, but not quite. At the time we were together, she was more of a soul-sucking, demonic succubus than anything else. Of course, I hear that she’s become a hardcore Republican in the last year, so maybe the ‘zombie’ tag would be more accurate.
Pic: Blackplume.com
But I digress. This is supposed to be a movie review. I can always make fun of my ex later. Sorry, I get stuck on things sometimes.
Just to reiterate: Yeah, I LOVE zombies. From the novels of Jonathan Maberry, to THE WALKING DEAD comic series and TV show, the various MARVEL ZOMBIES comics, and films like DAWN OF THE DEAD and ZOMBIELAND, if it has festering cadavers feasting on human flesh, I can’t get enough of it!
It isn’t so much for the zombies themselves, mind you- it’s the way the story is told that makes it fascinating. ANYBODY can write a story about a zombie invasion, but not everyone can make it interesting. For every good zombie comic, movie, and book, there are probably about five horrible ones. Which brings me to WARM BODIES.
In yet another post-apocalyptic America that has been wiped out by a zombie plague, a walking corpse named, R, longs for more out of his existence than just shuffling about and eating brains. Sure, life sucks when you’re dead, but who says it has to stay that way? R gets his jollies by hanging out with his undead buddy Marcus and listening to old eighties tunes like “Missing You” from John Waite. Enter: Julia, who R meets while hunting for fresh brains to snack on. It’s love at first sight- for him, anyway.
When a guy meets a girl he likes enough to NOT sleep with is hard when you have a pulse. It’s even harder when you want to gnaw on her flesh. The longer Julia remains with R, the more human he becomes, which changes the world around them in an unexpected way.
With WARM BODIES, it’s kind of difficult to avoid comparing it to the Twilight Saga. But the difference is that this film doesn’t take itself too seriously, unlike Twilight. You can laugh at everything that R is thinking. He knows that his existence is pointless. Bella is so much angst and drama that you just wanna punch her in the face sometimes. Nicholas Hoult, who plays R, is really great, though Teresa Palmer is trying a bit too hard to tap into her inner Kristen Stewart. It’s slightly annoying. I love John Malkevich, but they don’t give him much to do besides be a doorstop with a gun. But I guess everybody needs a paycheck.
Overall, this is a great movie for any age. Even though the zombies called ‘bonies’ could be a little scary for the younger crowd, there isn’t a huge gore factor here. It’s funnier than it is gross. Normally, I tend to be a bit harsh on genre films when they stray outside the lore they come from, but I try to keep an open mind if it’s an entertaining story. And WARM BODIES is exactly that.
Greg’s rating: Four of four stars
Follow MadMike’sAmerica on Facebook and Twitter, and don’t forget to visit our HOME PAGE.
If you liked our story please share it at REDDIT.COM and PINTEREST as well as TUMBLR.
Dale Fisk
February 4, 2013 at 8:33 am
ZOMBIES!! Love me some Zombies!
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 3:06 pm
Me, too! BRRRRAAAAAAIIIIINS!!!! YUM!
Dave Wren
February 4, 2013 at 9:01 am
Sorry Greg but I thought this movie sucked, then again, I don’t like love stories of any kind. My daughter dragged me to this one. She loved it ….
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 3:08 pm
Dave, I would agree with you if the love story overshadowed the film, but it didn’t. Like I said, the great thing about WARM BODIES is that it was funny and didn’t take itself very seriously. Sorry if you didn’t like it.
anonymous
February 4, 2013 at 10:32 am
Wonderful movie and it busted all the box office records this weekend.
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Totally!
Jess
February 4, 2013 at 1:20 pm
I’m waiting patiently for WWZ to come out.
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 3:22 pm
Jess, I really enjoyed WORLD WAR Z when I read it. When I saw the preview for the movie, I kind of figured that they would have to make all kinds of changes in order to make it into a film, so that right there kind of worries me. I’m going to hold my breath until it comes out.
Jess
February 4, 2013 at 4:39 pm
From all I have read about the production of the moive, it has been a hard road to get done. Supposedly they are going to break it up into a couple movies, finding they cannot get all of the good stuff in the book to fit in a couple hours movie. I have been reading that again and it is just as good the third time as it was the first and second.
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Jess, you should check out PATIENT ZERO and DEAD OF NIGHT by Jonathan Maberry. They are excellent!
Cathy crompton
February 4, 2013 at 8:49 pm
I love zombies too. Can’t quite figure out why. Walking Dead is the best show on , even Breaking Bad is 2nd to it.
Based on your review I will see Warm Bodies.
Carol Maietta
February 4, 2013 at 9:43 pm
We love zombies because they give us hope for life after death?
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Actually, Carol- I think the point of the movie is to say that you don’t have to shuffle through life like everyone else. You can take control and be who you want to be. Your environment doesn’t define you.
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Thanks, Cathy! You’ll love it!
Carol Maietta
February 4, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Greg…you had me with the line about your ex wife
gregory b gonzalez
February 4, 2013 at 10:01 pm
Believe me, Carol… she IS a demon succubus. If you were to check the definition of what a succubus is, she fits it to a “T”. If I had stayed married to her for much longer, I would be dead by now!