Zombies in love
Ok, so I'm going with the zombies theme again. Just one more time, I promise.Thing is, I saw Warm Bodies at the movies the other night and I knew I would have to write about it. I mean, how can one movie be SO WRONG and yet SO RIGHT? Haters, cool your jets and let me explain.First, the obvious negatives.
- Warm Bodies is a zombie movie — that is to say, it is not 'high art'. But that doesn't mean it isn't good.
- There are plot details that are dubious, to say the least. As the saying goes, you could drive a truckload of grunting undead through those plot holes.
- It's possibly the silliest movie I've sat through. Ever. My companion and I even said it to each other. We did a lot of faintly appalled snickering.
Now to the positives. Warm Bodies begins with a voice-over narration from our lead zombie. So far, he does't have a name. He can't remember if he ever had one. He barely talks but he's somehow … aware. And funny. Very funny. Later we learn his name begins with 'R' and so our lead living person and erstwhile love interest, Julie, calls him 'R'.Wait, a self-aware zombie named R, or 'Aargh'? Count me in. Actually, you had me at 'Uhh' [shuffle shuffle, arms outstretched, head to one side].Without being a spoiler, here are all the other things I liked about this film from a creative writing perspective.1. Real characters: R lives in a disused jumbo jet and collects mementos of life. Julie is the rebellious daughter of the war-mongering general in charge of zombie extermination. She secretly explores life the beyond the limits of the 'safe' world.2. Real desires and real inner conflict: R kills to live while revering life. Julie hungers for a true and authentic acceptance from her hero dad yet isn't much inclined to follow his orders.3. Real outward conflict: By not killing each other, they're breaking all the rules. When it becomes clear that their actions have set off a chain reaction, they've got quite a situation on their hands. You'll love the scenes of the zombie-love-army on the move. So many comedy walks!4. Humorous self-reference: Here's a movie that laughs at itself all the way through. Everything you're thinking, they've thought it first and you'll hear your own questions and doubts vocalised by the characters. This device is clever and necessary, since we're talking about some highly implausible subjects here: zombie-human romance, re-animation and so on.5. An up ending: OK, you can disagree with this … but I don't hate a happy ending if it's fitting. These characters move along a personal trajectory from disjunction to conjunction; and their world must undergo a similar transformation as the community notion of 'normal' adjusts to the new situation. No need to get out the microscope to look for themes here: embracing difference, accepting the other. All good. Call me sappy, but I like stories that show a symbolic journey towards unity.My wrap-up? This is good story-telling: a good plot, a fun journey and a satisfying conclusion. Oh, and you'll love the brain eating too.Have you seen it? Are you gonna? Let me know.