Warm Bodies (Movie)
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Director Biography:
Levine won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his film The Wackness. He directed the 2011 film 50/50 and the 2013 film Warm Bodies, which is based on the novel of the same name by writer Isaac Marion. Levine was also director Paul Schrader's assistant for a time before his own directorial career took off. He is currently in pre-production to direct a film called Legend, based on a book and series of the same name by Marie Lu.
Genre: Horror/Romance/Comedy
Viewing Level: PG-13
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment
Reader’s Annotation:
With barely any recollection of his former life, a zombie later named “R” aimlessly wanders around where he was killed, devouring the brains of the living and claiming their memories in the process. In his latest attack, R kills a teenage boy and consumes his brains, granting him the memories of the boy’s girlfriend Julie. As a result, R recovers enough of his humanity to protect Julie from the other zombies and may have discovered the key to revert from his monstrous form.
Plot Summary:
A teenage zombie wanders around an abandoned airport filled with hordes of the undead day after day. Though he is capable of rational thought, the intense craving for flesh and brains forces him to attack the living and tear them apart. Like his other zombie kin, the teenager can relieve the memories of those he kills by eating their brains. It’s not something he particularly enjoys doing, but then he really can’t stop himself from doing it either.
One day a team of teenagers breaks into the airport to scavenge for food, but to disastrous results. Julie and her boyfriend Perry fight alongside the other survivors against the ravening undead, but the group’s fight is nearly hopeless. Julie gives the teenage zombie pause, however, making him feel slightly human at the sight of her. Regardless, he kills Perry during the attack, stealing his memories of her in the process. After experiencing their love, the zombie becomes slightly human and rescues Julie, hiding her in a nearby plane. Julie names him “R,” and the two manage to bond somewhat, enabling him to gradually become human. R escorts Julie back to her home and, though the process breaks his heart, restores even more of his lost humanity. R is able to communicate this to the other zombies who, taking their bizarre friendship/emerging love to heart, also retrieve bit and pieces of what made them human. The process isn’t a complete love-fest, however, as horrible skeletal figures known as “bonies” sense their emerging humanity and draw closer and closer to attacking not only them, but destroying the nearby survivor settlement that Julie calls home.
Critical Evaluation:
Warm Bodies is an incredibly bizarre twist on the tried and true – and sometimes tired – genre of the zombie apocalypse. While there’s plenty of gore, violence, and brain eating that many have come to expect from zombie movies, Warm Bodies turns the subgenre on its head by turning it into a strange comedic romance between R and Julie. While it’s hard to believe that Julie could ever feel anything more for R than pure hatred after he kills and eats her former boyfriend in front of her, their interactions with each other are still endearing. R struggles with the intense urge to eat her or hug her, while Julie is equal parts fascinated and repulsed by the teenaged zombie. Movie-goers are forced to suspend their disbelief until they are at the moon to believe not only in their romance, but also that zombification can be cured through the power of love. Yet, that’s what makes the movie so fun; it’s crazy, over the top, unbelievable, and is both gross and cute the same time.
Curriculum Ties:
Challenge Issues:
Defensive Maneuvers:
Book Talk Ideas:
n/a
Why This Movie?
Warm Bodies is a crazy take on zombies vs. humans, and must be seen to be believed. Teens looking for something new and quirky from their zombie movies will want to check Warm Bodies out, while other teens with an offbeat sense of humor might find this film a fun date night movie.
Director Biography:
Levine won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his film The Wackness. He directed the 2011 film 50/50 and the 2013 film Warm Bodies, which is based on the novel of the same name by writer Isaac Marion. Levine was also director Paul Schrader's assistant for a time before his own directorial career took off. He is currently in pre-production to direct a film called Legend, based on a book and series of the same name by Marie Lu.
Genre: Horror/Romance/Comedy
Viewing Level: PG-13
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment
Reader’s Annotation:
With barely any recollection of his former life, a zombie later named “R” aimlessly wanders around where he was killed, devouring the brains of the living and claiming their memories in the process. In his latest attack, R kills a teenage boy and consumes his brains, granting him the memories of the boy’s girlfriend Julie. As a result, R recovers enough of his humanity to protect Julie from the other zombies and may have discovered the key to revert from his monstrous form.
Plot Summary:
A teenage zombie wanders around an abandoned airport filled with hordes of the undead day after day. Though he is capable of rational thought, the intense craving for flesh and brains forces him to attack the living and tear them apart. Like his other zombie kin, the teenager can relieve the memories of those he kills by eating their brains. It’s not something he particularly enjoys doing, but then he really can’t stop himself from doing it either.
One day a team of teenagers breaks into the airport to scavenge for food, but to disastrous results. Julie and her boyfriend Perry fight alongside the other survivors against the ravening undead, but the group’s fight is nearly hopeless. Julie gives the teenage zombie pause, however, making him feel slightly human at the sight of her. Regardless, he kills Perry during the attack, stealing his memories of her in the process. After experiencing their love, the zombie becomes slightly human and rescues Julie, hiding her in a nearby plane. Julie names him “R,” and the two manage to bond somewhat, enabling him to gradually become human. R escorts Julie back to her home and, though the process breaks his heart, restores even more of his lost humanity. R is able to communicate this to the other zombies who, taking their bizarre friendship/emerging love to heart, also retrieve bit and pieces of what made them human. The process isn’t a complete love-fest, however, as horrible skeletal figures known as “bonies” sense their emerging humanity and draw closer and closer to attacking not only them, but destroying the nearby survivor settlement that Julie calls home.
Critical Evaluation:
Warm Bodies is an incredibly bizarre twist on the tried and true – and sometimes tired – genre of the zombie apocalypse. While there’s plenty of gore, violence, and brain eating that many have come to expect from zombie movies, Warm Bodies turns the subgenre on its head by turning it into a strange comedic romance between R and Julie. While it’s hard to believe that Julie could ever feel anything more for R than pure hatred after he kills and eats her former boyfriend in front of her, their interactions with each other are still endearing. R struggles with the intense urge to eat her or hug her, while Julie is equal parts fascinated and repulsed by the teenaged zombie. Movie-goers are forced to suspend their disbelief until they are at the moon to believe not only in their romance, but also that zombification can be cured through the power of love. Yet, that’s what makes the movie so fun; it’s crazy, over the top, unbelievable, and is both gross and cute the same time.
Curriculum Ties:
- The origin of the zombie legend
- Disaster preparedness
Challenge Issues:
- Violence
Defensive Maneuvers:
- Have the library's collection policy on hand and memorized. Even though you may have it committed to memory, being able to show specific provisions as proof with strengthen your position.
- Be familiar with the book. Having great knowledge of it will prove you understand the content and the way the challenged matters interact with each other.
- Cite any awards the book may have. Though the patron may disagree with the book, showing that it is well known and seen as having great literary merit will strengthen your defense.
- Have a few reviews ready from respected sources such as Amazon or VOYA. At the very least, you can prove you understand the material and reviews will corroborate that.
- Have a strong idea WHY that item is in the library. Explain its merits, who the intended audience is, and so on.
- State your library's commitment to providing intellectual freedom as written in the Library Bill of Rights.
- Stay calm. Getting defensive or hot under the collar will only weaken your position.
- And finally, be open to discussion and LISTEN. Even if you do not agree with the patron, their concerns are still legitimate and you should show that you are engaged with them. Listening to their concerns may be enough to take the edge off.
Book Talk Ideas:
n/a
Why This Movie?
Warm Bodies is a crazy take on zombies vs. humans, and must be seen to be believed. Teens looking for something new and quirky from their zombie movies will want to check Warm Bodies out, while other teens with an offbeat sense of humor might find this film a fun date night movie.