I honestly was not expecting to like this movie. I thought the concept seemed lame, given the trailers, and that Hollywood was doing this necrophilia push. But...
I liked it. I liked it a lot.
It's a new take on a popular genre, while putting a spin on
Romeo and Juliet, the technicalities of vampirism, and the metaphor of how society of today are already a bunch of zombies, presumably doomed.
It's that last note that made me like the film so much.
Within the first five minutes, the film exposes its metaphor for the present--R (the lead who can't recall his fist name) wonders what it must have been like before the virus--people making eye contact and talking to each other, as opposed to bumping into one another with no heed of their surroundings as they do now as zombies. The brief flashback, however, shows us being slaves to blackberry's and cells and iPads, not making eye contact and bumping into each other without knowing what the crap is happening around us. So I guess, from the start I viewed the story in a different light [than others].
Then there came the correlation to vampires.
With most vampire lore, a demon takes over the body of the human and has his or her memories. The zombies can hardly recall their past and can't dream, but gets the memories of the person they eat if they eat their brains. The brains of the guy R eats helps him fall for Julie, though he did notice her before then, so perhaps it was a bit of both.
Anyway.
Eventually, there's a scene with water and daylight, signaling a "rebirth," but it's a pretty easy call to make when one watches. Or at least it was for me. I thought it worked quite nicely. I don't fancy their being a sequel, but it was done quite well. I rec it.
Note: The lead girl--Julie--kind of resembles a blonde Kristen Stewart. I see what you did there, casting directors...it wasn't necessary, but I see what you did.
Other Note: So weird seeing the kid from "About A Boy" all grown up.
