REVIEW: WARM BODIES

First off, I must tell you a movie I fully recommend: "Django Unchained."  I didn't review it last week because of exams and the fact anyone who really wanted to see it probably saw it over Christmas when it came out.  It is a bold, extremely  gutsy movie that has become one of my favorite movies...not even of the year, but ever.  I'm still rooting for "Argo" come Oscar time, but I'd love to see Mr. Waltz pick up his second supporting actor Oscar for his remarkable work in this film.

If you're thinking, wow, recommending a movie before the actual review...that can't be good!  It's not..."Warm Bodies" is absolutely a February movie, like the much-hyped "Mama" and "The Woman in Black" last year.  It's a (kind of) horror movie with some comedy and a whole lot of romance dashed in there, but not all of it works, and some of it is just downright predictable.  "Warm Bodies" works especially best as slumber party fare, or a date movie, but other than that, I can't see it holding up for too long, even as well as "The Woman in Black" did back in the day.

IMDb trivia declares that the movie (based on Isaac Marion's novel) is in turn based on Romeo and Juliet.  Retrospectively I can see a few similarities with the names (the zombie only goes by "R"), but it's so abstract it didn't really work at all.  The movie starts our actually fairly humorously, with R talking about what it's like being a zombie...actually more peaceful than you'd think. There's the whole eating-your-brains thing, but...hey at least they're not sparkling and biting each other's necks.

Which leads me to R's Juliet, (the character's name is Julie, oh the wit in this film), played by Teresa Palmer WHO IS KRISTEN STEWART'S DOPPELGANGER   I bet you looked at the picture and said: "Travis, why are you showing me two pictures of a blonde Kristen Stewart?"  The hair, the eyes, the way her mouth never fully closes all the way...just add in a nervous hair touch and a third wheel werewolf tool and you've got Stewart in the flesh.  Ms. Palmer is fine in the movie, I suppose, she's still cute and occasionally BA, but she still has to shake off that Stewart vibe, it got weird after a while.

Corddry steals the film!

While R and his so-called "best friend" M (Rob Corddry) are limited to grunts and soft, almost Stallone-like whispers, Corddry surely steals the show in this film.  My relationship with Corddry has been difficult: I always thought of him as a poor man's David Koechner, always appearing in movies for a brief time, usually playing a douche.  I enjoyed him in the irreverent "Hot Tube Time Machine," and finally saw him on "Conan" when he was promoting "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World." I was kind of turned off by him, however, when he referred to his daughter as a "retard" (I know he was kidding, but click on the link and see for yourself.)  He's redeemed himself in this movie!  He does a superb job as a thoughtful, changing zombie who shares R's desire to become normal, and provides the movie with the best (if profane) lines.

So with all this in mind, don't feel guilty if your significant other drags you to this movie, you might have a good time with it, but it's fairly by-the-numbers and only has a few inspired moments with its semi-wasted premise.  And, to the film's credit, it's way more "Zombieland" than "Breaking Dawn."

Rating: 2/4 stars