Warm Bodies By Isaac Marion – The Book Or The Movie? Which One Is Better?

I have watched Warm Bodies the movie with my wife and my friend.  We love it.  The concept of a zombie falling in love with a human girl in a Romeo and Juliet-like setting is so unique and fun.  The date of the story is unknown.  It begins some time in the future when worldwide conflict has resulted in the collapse of our civilizing giving rise to a new breed of ‘human’ – the zombies or the Dead.  The Living lives in fear, hiding inside closed walls isolated from other pockets of survivors.  Once in a while, the humans send savaging team out of the city and collect essential items that may still be of use to the Living.  Zombies meanwhile have developed this hunger to eat human flesh and to relive human memories by eating human brains.  This may sound like a horror story but it is not.  One day, during a hunting trip, R the zombie has done the unthinkable (zombies can think?) and has taken Julie the human to his home of the Dead.  Not knowing exactly what to do with her, R’s first task is to teach Julie how to blend in.  Those who have seen the movie may agree with me that this is perhaps the most memorable scene of the show.

I walk and she follows, stumbling along behind me and groaning every three or four steps.  She is overdoing it, overacting like high school Shakespeare, but she will pass.  We walk through crowds of Dead, shambling past us on both sides, and no one glances at us.  To my amazement, Julie’s fear seems to be diminishing as we walk, despite the obvious peril of her situation.  At a few points I catch her fighting a smile after letting out a particularly hammy moan.  I smile too, making sure she doesn’t see me.

This is … new.

It is this new feeling that has started to change R.  That to kill or not to kill, he has a choice.  His hunger can be overcome.  Love – in the context of care and reaching out to one another – can induce change from within.  And that change can be infectious, affecting those who have witnessed or heard of the union between the two different worlds.

While R may have lots of words in his head but few to speak of, Julie has a certain character attitude that fits well in such a bizarre setting of humans and zombies.  She has come to term with the current situation.  But unlike other humans who are holding onto status quo, she has hope for a better future.  That a cure can be found.  The whole situation can be reversed.  Humans can once again live freely in the open with a future.

“I guess I talk a lot of shit about Perry [Julie’s boyfriend who was eaten by R], but it’s not like I’m such a shiny happy person either, you know? I’m a wreck too, I’m just … still alive.  A wreck in progress.” She laughs a quick, broken laugh. “It’s weird, I never talk about this stuff with anyone, but you’re … I mean you’re so quiet, you just sit there and listen. It’s like talking to God.”

The author has done a great job in portraying a world of end time through Julie’s eyes.  Each day could be one’s last day to live.  It is a lot easier to forgive given such circumstances.  Books and pictures have become essential in preserving memory, and humanity.  While the overall backdrop is gloomy, the book is not without hilarious moments so brilliantly weaved into and light up the story.

The scene as Julie and I make our way out of the airport [full of zombies] resembles either a wedding procession or a buffet line … The unnatural silence of a room full of people who don’t breathe is surreal. I swear I can hear Julie’s heart pounding. She is trying to walk steady and look cool, but her darting eyes betray her.

“Are you sure about this?” she whispers.

“Yes.”

“There’s like … hundreds of them.”

“Keep you safe.”

“Right, right, safe, how could I forgot.” Her voice grows very small. “Seriously, R … I mean, I’ve seen you kick ass, but you know if someone decides to ring the dinner bell right now I’m going to be sushi.”

The story takes a turn when it is R’s time to enter the human world, with Julie and her friend Nora trying to keep him safe.  And it is where the movie deviates more from the book.  In the movie, the plot has turned into an action scene with humans and zombies fighting against each other and against the skeletons.  In the book, the author explores deeper into R’s mind, juxtaposes R’s narration with Perry’s memory, his imaginary dialogue with Perry’s soul, and his new dreams and illusion.  This clever transition between these branches of subplots makes the book less of a linear read.

Do I like the movie or the book more now that I have seen and read both?  I would say that the filmmaker has done a good job in transforming the story into something more action oriented while preserving the author’s sense of humor.  The book dives deeper into emotion and the various human conditions – something that probably has to be read than seen.  In short, watching the movie and reading the book gets the best of both world.