Warm Bodies
Rating: 3.5 stars out of five
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Running time: 97 minutes
Parental guidance: violence, language, graphic depictions of zombies and their eating habits.
Opens Friday, Feb. 1 at: Angrignon, Banque Scotia, Brossard, Colossus, Kirkland, Lacordaire, March? Central, Sources, Sph?retech and Taschereau cinemas.
MONTREAL?? Far too often, American filmmakers shoot their epics here but have Montreal doubling as Pittsburgh or Paris or Moscow, or even the dark side of the moon. So credit must go to the makers of Warm Bodies, who don?t try to conceal the flick?s setting.
Warm Bodies is a whimsical, charming love story, wherein Montreal?s crumbling infrastructure and underused Olympic Stadium and Mirabel Airport serve as splendid backdrops for the post-apocalyptic story. Too bad director Jonathan Levine wasn?t around this week for the flood cascading through the downtown core.
Our city?s film commish would do well to sell other filmmakers on the concept of Montreal in Armageddon mode. Bet we could even provide locusts in a pinch.
The setting perfectly complements the greyish mood Levine seeks to establish for this rom-com, based on the hit Isaac Marion novel. The cinematographer and actors rise to the occasion as well.
Yes, that is Mirabel Airport serving as home for a community of zombies. They mostly stumble along slowly throughout the abandoned airport and grunt at one another.
Eight years earlier, a deadly virus destroyed much of civilization. So the undead must sustain themselves by munching on the ever-diminishing humanoids who have armed themselves and taken to hiding in bunkers to avoid annihilation.
In the midst of this cat-and-mouse game is a sensitive slacker zombie, R (Nicholas Hoult). He chides himself for being too pale and not getting out more. He asks himself: ?Why can?t I connect with others?? Then it dawns on him: ?Oh yeah, because I?m dead.?
But R?s life is soon to change. On a human-food raid with fellow zombies, he happens upon the very much alive Julie (Teresa Palmer) and her cronies, who are trying to thwart the famished insurgents. R is instantly smitten with Julie, and rather than feast on her brains for breakfast, he spares her. Instead, he feasts on Julie?s boyfriend?s brains. Apparently human brains are the best, and not just nutritionally: they also come with the warm feelings of their former bearers.
Julie is not immediately captivated by R. But when he saves her from his fellow hungry zombies as well as the truly sinister and skeletal Boneys ? whose rage is likely the result of being skinned and having to run around in our cold temps ? she realizes R has a heart of sorts.
R keeps Julie hidden in a deserted airplane on the tarmac. He scrounges around for canned fruit cocktail and bottles of beer to keep her nourished. He even keeps her mellow by playing his favourite discs. He prefers vinyl, because the sound is ?more alive.? Nice touch. As a consequence, viewers are treated to a super soundtrack, featuring cuts ranging from Feist, John Waite and Scorpions to Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Bruce Springsteen. The only thing missing are tracks from the Zombies.
No accident that the lovebirds are named R and Julie. This is essentially a postmodern, post-apocalyptic Romeo and Juliet chick flick. It is languid at times, moving at a snail?s pace ? but hey, that?s the way zombies roll.
There are elements of mirth as R tries not to creep out Julie. And there are elements of passion as she tries to protect her undead stud from vengeful humans like her widower dad, General Grigio (John Malkovich). He is skeptical about R and his ilk, and informs his daughter that zombies are not vegans: ?They don?t eat broccoli. They eat brains!?
Hoult, with his jerky movements and choppy dialogue, is absolutely moving and convincing as the sad-sack zombie who learns to curb his fondness for human brains and finds true love when he desists from devouring Julie. Curiously, Hoult will be seen next year in George Miller?s Mad Max: Fury Road, another post-apocalyptic tale ? but one in which one-time series star Mel Gibson is limited to a cameo role.
Palmer is equally fetching as the humanoid with heart who overcomes her zombie prejudice. Besides, how bad can an undead dude with a penchant for vinyl be?
OK, so our tourist board probably won?t be sending DVDs of Warm Bodies to would-be visitors, but there is some civic pride to be had in seeing that at least some folks appreciate the apocalyptic splendour of our Big O, Mirabel Airport and Turcot Interchange.
bbrownstein@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @billbrownstein
? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
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