Warm Bodies-Review

Warm Bodies is zombie romance film based off a novel of the same name.  For the most part it’s pretty quirky, and has fun with its subject.   At its roots it is a Romeo and Juliet theme that is thinly veiled in the plot of a zombie finding love.  It’s not the best movie but it’s entertaining and that is what is most important.

A zombie boy named R, played by Nicholas Hoult, narrates as he wanders the airport.  He and his friend M, played by Rob Corddry, gather a crew of zombies and go into the city for food. There they find Julie, played by Teresa Palmer.  When R eats the brain of Julie’s ex boyfriend Perry, he absorbs his feelings for her and he becomes protective of her. As they spend time together they develop more feelings for one another.

There are several things the movie does really well.  For one thing, the soundtrack is really good.  In addition, Nicholas Hoult and Rob Corddry do a good job playing their parts. Nicholas is really great at the stilted speech and the far off undead stare.  I also enjoy the makeup job on the zombies that were involved.  This film has some amusing scenes that made it at least worth a chuckle.

Then we get into the meat of the movie.  It is essentially Romeo and Juliet. R is Romeo, M is Mercutio, Perry is Paris, Julie’s best friend dreams of being a nurse, and Julie’s Father hates R.  They even share a balcony scene.  The Romeo and Juliet theme is definitely not subtle.

Warm Bodies is a very silly movie.  It’s not something that a hardcore horror fan or a fan of the zombie genre will really find appealing.  The idea of the cure for the zombie apocalypse being love is probably the most sacrine thing I’ve seen in a long time.  If you are looking for a different type of romance movie this will be good for you.  If you’re just looking for something entertaining, then I’d say it’s worth a rental at the very least.

Fido-review

Omigosh! Fido's breath killed Mrs. Moss

Whenever you bring up zombie comedies most people leap to “Shaun of the Dead”.  Why not? “Shaun of the Dead” is a great movie. However, when I mention “Fido” to some folks they don’t know what to expect at first.  I’ll admit the title isn’t what I would have chosen in order to really sell this. Still, it’s a lot of fun and it’s really insightful for what it is; a story about a boy and his dog, with a zombie in the place of the dog.

I've run over so many gophers today.

“Fido” takes place in a version of the earth where it’s the 50s and radiation from space has caused anyone who dies to come to back to life as zombies.  Luckily there are domestication collars that people put on the zombies that make them into pets and into servants that can do various menial tasks without the hunger for flesh.  Timmy is a little boy who is bullied and is very alone.  One day his neglectful parents get a zombie and he befriends it naming it Fido.  The rest of the story is the tale of a boy and his zombie.

This movie is just really fun.  Carrie-Anne Moss kicks ass as Timmy’s mother, Helen, and Dylan Baker does likewise as his father, Bill.  Billy Connolly plays Fido and does a damn fine job of portraying emotion while still being an undead monster. There is a message about human kindness and love that is there but it is very subtle and it’s not preachy and thrown in just to claim it has meaning.

Even Zombies need walkies.

“Fido” really is a great movie that more people should see.  If you enjoy comedies you’ll like it.  If you like zombie movies, you’ll LOVE it.  It’s smart and the cast are very sincere in their roles and it makes for an experience that is really worth the time.  I hope more people are willing to give this one a shot.

Resident Evil:Afterlife-review

Gimme some sugar baby!

           Seriously?  Why is do these movies keep getting progressively worse?  It’s not as if the game didn’t have a simple premise.  A biohazard goes out of control. Kills people.  People become zombies and assorted monsters. A couple survivors fight off the horde in unique situations.  That is it. A couple variations to the theme but basically that is all there is too it.

            The first one is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine.  I think it’s one of the better video game movies around.  It’s a stupid and ludicrous movie but I like it.  The second took it a bit further.  It was more about Alice and Nemesis which I think made it really a stray off the format of survival horror it originally was.  Then by the third picture they took the plot and said “What the hell! Let’s just say the world has been taken over by the undead.”

           

            This idea is very anti-Resident Evil since in all the games they involve small areas of infection that you are dealing with.  Not things on a global scale.  Not only that but I really do not get why the Umbrella Corporation is still doing EVIL experiments if the world is totally screwed.  What could they possibly have to gain from it?  It’s not as if they can get money from the zombies. 

Eyes infected by the t-virus? There's a visine for that.

            So Alice is still around and by movie four she has found a shit ton of clones and has a slough of psychic powers that rival Jean Grey/The Phoenix.  So what do they do? In a quick battle they retcon the hell out her killing off the clones and making her much more human.  She then tries to wander the wastes looking for her friends keeping a video diary.  Who the hell is going to watch this and on what is a mystery.

            I also want to know how she is flying to all these locations with her single engine plane.  How does she fuel up?  I guess just like for the ammo on her gun she has a cheat code because we just about never see her reload.  One thing for sure this movie rides the bullet time effect into the ground like Slim Pickens riding the A-Bomb in Dr. Strangelove.  They milked the hell out of that effect. 

No shit Sherlock!

            The characters will kill one another needlessly only to prove they are transparently evil.  They will never ask some one’s name when that might answer a lot of questions.  Stupidly walking into a place with the enemies’ emblazoned symbol on it saying only “It’s a trap!” like Admiral Akbar” doesn’t make you look any brighter.  It makes you look like a tool. 

            It’s a bad movie and it sets itself up for a sequel with Sienna Guillory returning.  She rocks a jumpsuit like a champ.   But she and Milla together can’t save this one.  So rent it if you want.  It’s got some humor value.  Especially if you played the 5^th game since some of the villains will look familiar.  Really though?  How much more do they intend to milk this?