So I finally squeezed in a couple of hours to see Warm Bodies, the zombie love story. And it really is a zombie love story, in more ways than one. I went with my teen step-daughter with fairly low expectations, expecting a fairly straight forward (okay, maybe not so straight forward since it’s zombie love) teen angst kind of deal, which it was, and wondering if the directors and writers could pull off a love story between a normal girl and a zombie. Well, I wonder no more, because they did.

Part of why it worked was the humor. And to help the young couple along, Rob Corddry played R’s (the zombie guy) zombie bud. I love Rob Corddry, starting with his Daily Show stint to movies such as Hot Tub Time Machine. The actor who played R also did a good job with the humor, from his shambling body language, grunts, and adoring, often bloodied expressions of affection toward Julie. He pulled off emo zombie perfectly!

Another aspect I liked was the brain eating. 🙂 Not the gore (although the film was not overtly gory), but the way it showed R slowly regaining his humanity. I can’t explain too much without giving too many spoilers. Suffice it to say, when a zombie ate someone’s brains, they absorbed the victim’s memories. It was a nice touch.

And, heck yeah, such a relief from some of the current paranormal teen movie fare. What a great, quirky, different entry into the genre.

Yes, there were moments when I rolled my eyes and groaned at the obvious plot holes, and the way the zombies were saved. I won’t spoil it, but it was overly simplistic and hard to swallow. But I traded the cheese for some great comedic moments, fun acting, and nice touches, like with the zombie kids. Yes, they pulled at this mom’s heart strings. What can I say? I guess I’m a sucker for zombie love.