The zombie genre has become almost as prominent as vampires these days, be it AMC’s “The Walking Dead” frenzy or the upcoming summer blockbuster “World War Z.” When you think about it, the undead are some of the most terrifying movie monsters ever conceived because they are, in essence, people without their humanity. There is horror to be found in the creature under the bed, or the blood-sucking beast in the woods, but the idea of men, women and children behaving as animals and seeking your flesh to devour touches a certain nerve. The new movie “Warm Bodies,” based on the novel by Isaac Marion, features zombies as they’ve ever been, dead-eyed and craving human meat to survive, but with one important twist — the hero is a zombie, and he’s struggling to become, well, warmer.

“50/50” director expands his horizons

Director Jonathan Levine, who made the well-received dramedy “50/50” in 2011, has helped adapt Marion’s book into an action-comedy feature for audiences who want something unique but without the romantic schmaltz that Twilight exacted. As the story goes, R (Nicholas Hoult) is a young zombie who cannot remember his first name aside from the initial. He can’t remember much of anything, actually. In the world of “Warm Bodies,” strange rules exist, like the undead experiencing people’s memories from eating their brains. R snacks on the cranium of Perry (Dave Franco) and therefore falls in love with Perry’s girlfriend, Julie (Teresa Palmer). What follows is R’s determination to protect Julie from his zombie brethren, as well as the “bonies,” an evolved form of zombie with a skeleton-like bodies. R and Julie’s bond increases as she sees the humanity that still exists in him, and together they work to change the apocalyptic world they now inhabit.

I have not read “Warm Bodies” the novel. I was intrigued by the story when I saw a trailer for the movie. What an unusual angle on tired zombie folklore: to acknowledge that a heart still exists in these seemingly lifeless beasts, and that this heart and soul alike may be capable of exhumation and re-ignition. “Warm Bodies” has a strange plot to say the least, and it isn’t difficult to follow as much as it is hard to take seriously. At its heart, this film is a charming comedy set in a bleak world, and its humor is stocked in the ridiculousness of hearing a zombie’s tortured, love-struck thought. However, it may have missed the mark in terms of portraying a world that the audience could feel connected to by more than just ironic laughs.

Story ends up being bland where it could experiment

I had expected either more charm or more dread from “Warm Bodies.” Most likely due to its PG-13 rating, it played it safe, inhabiting a grey area between innocent magic and dark significance. Think about it — a story about a zombie fighting his own nature in favor of love sounds like a tragic romance to me. When you add a comic factor, then it becomes something much different, and the potential is not lost but rather shifted. I did enjoy “Warm Bodies,” but it fell short of the promise that either more serious subject matter or Disney-esque sentiments could’ve afforded it. 

Nicholas Hoult is golden as R, with enough animation in his face to sell the humanity, and enough awkward sluggishness to play the zombie part. His voiceover work for R’s inner dialogue supplies some of the biggest laughs as it correlates with the action. Teresa Palmer is vivacious as Julie, who is a much more nuanced character than I would’ve expected. She is a tough heroine who provides heart to the plot, unlike the uninteresting and helpless Bella from Twilight. The chemistry between Hoult and Palmer is great, and they do become one of the more memorable movie couples to date. John Malkovich is underused as Julie’s tyrannical, zombie-hating father, but still fun to watch as always.

“Warm Bodies” is a pleasant enough time at the movies, but it fell relatively short of its potential. I wanted this to be the answer to Twilight, proof that a romance fable can amount to more than forced dialogue and painfully obvious self-awareness. “Warm Bodies” achieved this, but it also failed to create a singular, fictional world to get lost in with the characters. The romantic in me wanted more magic, and the horror-lover wanted more darkness — unfortunately, meeting somewhere in the middle shortchanged “Warm Bodies.”