"Who Says Romance is Dead?"

Warm Bodies, directed by Jonathan Levine, is an abstract version of Romeo and Juliet. It was released on February 1, 2013.  The director made many changes to the characters while keeping the plot similar to the original play by Shakespeare.  Some of these changes included the language, the setting, and the time when it was set.  The language is modern English including some comedic lines. The setting was much different.  The time is set in the future after a zombie apocalypse has occurred.  Rather than the feud between the families, the two groups are the zombies, also referred to as corpses, and the humans.  The character R comes from the corpses (Montague) and Julie from the humans (Capulet).  In both the play and the movie, love is a possible cure to the feud between Romeo and Juliet's worlds/families.  The director based many scenes and characters off of those in the play with some key changes.

In the movie, Julie talks to Nora, who is similar to the Nurse, in her room about R.  While this conversation is much later in the play, Julie asks the same questions as Juliet: why does she love Romeo/R more than any other guy?  Why does it have to be him? This scene is followed by the balcony scene.  The balcony scene in the movie happens later in the movie, after R killed someone she loves.  The scene still portrays the fact that Romeo risks his life to see Juliet. In addition, Nora also interrupts them, similar to the way the Nurse calls Juliet in the play.   

Julie's boyfriend, Perry, is similar to Paris and to Tybalt.  He is similar to Paris because him and Julie are dating, but their love isn't perfect.  At the beginning, Julie reaches for Perry's hand and he lets go, focusing on the message they are watching. This is different from the play, where Paris was more interested in Juliet than she was in him.  Perry is also similar to Tybalt because both are killed by Romeo/R.  In addition, it is brought to Juliet/Julie's attention that the person they loved killed another person who they loved.  

The movie and the play were also slightly different.  The biggest difference is that the movie is not a tragedy, but the play is.  At the end of the play, Romeo and Juliet both die, as well as other characters.  In the movie, only Perry and the bonies, who are corpses that are too far gone to be cured die.  Julie is able to convince her father that R is becoming human again, so R and Julie do not die.  Instead, they are able to be together.  Another difference is that R and Julie do not get married. Their relationship is much longer and they do not kiss until the end. 

I enjoyed Warm Bodies. I previously watched the movie with friends before reading the play and did not realize that it was an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. This movie is enjoyable with and without knowledge of the play, but connecting it to the play makes the plot more interesting.  Due to the modern language, the movie is easier to understand and makes the play more understandable.  Overall, watching Warm Bodies enhanced reading Shakespeare's play. 

Sources: 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588173/

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