The Spew Family just came back from seeing Warm Bodies--the first ZomRomCom that I have seen. Yes, a Zombie Romantic Comedy. It was very good, with spoilers below, so you should see it if you like a good human-zombie romance. The biggest surprise in the movie was the soundtrack: When Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart started playing, I didn't think how apropos it was at first because I was stunned that they spent so much money.
The least surprising but most pleasurable part of the movie: How easy it was to turn Montreal into a post-apocalyptic hellscape. My wife and daughter appropriately enough spotted a bit of the set when they went to a Montreal comic-con last year. So, I knew it would be in Montreal (although it was clearly set in an American city). At first, they did enough to disguise a bit where it was, but a French sign in a background made it clear. That and Mirabel airport. The movie starts with the airport, and it is the best place in North America to film an airport since it is not used for its original purpose. The movie ends up giving up any pretense as it shows more and more distinctive Montreal features, but that just made the movie more fun. Especially featuring the Olympic stadium--having zombie movies use that as a set is probably the best use of the dead stadium in years. And they didn't have to use any makeup on the bridges!
Voice-overs usually do not work so great, but when you have an inarticulate zombie, it is kind of necessary. So, it works quite well. The various actors do quite well, with Rob Coddry stealing a heap of scenes. Not bad for a corpse. The ethnic conflict, if you will, within the undead was a very nice touch. And it led to some balance of threat dynamics? No, better still, something akin to the Anbar Awakening! Oh, and best use of exhume in a movie in quite some time.
The movie had a nice balance of humor, drama, romance and terror, pretty actors for all gender preferences, and John Malkovich, too. It is the zom-rom-com of the Winter! And probably of 2013!
Leave it to Doug Benson to have the best tweet:
"Warm bodies, luke warm hearts, can't lose." -Coach Taylor
— Doug Benson (@DougBenson) February 2, 2013
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