Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
"To succeed in polite society, a young woman must be many things. Kind...
well-read... and accomplished. But to survive in the world as WE know
it, you'll need... other qualities." -Elizabeth Bennet
The romantic/horror parody Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is directed by Burr Steers (17 Again, Charlie St. Cloud) and stars Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy, Bella Heathcote as Jane Bennet, Ellie Bamber as Lydia Bennet, Millie Brady as Mary Bennet, Suki Waterhouse as Kitty Bennet, Douglas Booth as Mr. Bingley, Matt Smith as Parson Collins, Jack Huston as George Wickham, and Lena Heady as Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
And it also stars a whole bunch of brain-craving zombies. These zombies are probably one of the most proper zombies in any zombie film I have seen. I wouldn't mind having a cup of tea with them.
It's 19th century England and Mr. Bennet is looking to marry his 5 daughters, Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Kitty, to gentlemen in high class who make a lot of money. The story revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, who has conflicted feelings between a couple of men in the film. It's the classic Pride and Prejudice story by Jane Austen, but the kicker is that the backdrop of this story is a zombie apocalypse. Elizabeth needs to find her suitor, all while fending off hoards of zombies who want to eat the brains of humans.
Zombie violence! But only in Victoria-era England are you going to get zombies who can dress up to eat brains.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter which was also adapted into a film (not very good). As you can tell by the title of the film, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a parody. I'm very happy to say that it treats itself like a parody. It's aware that the events, dialogue, and the characters are supposed to be ridiculous. Unlike Smith's previous adapted novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a lot more fun and caters to more people. Unfortunately for the self-awareness and quirkiness of this movie, it definitely wears out it's welcome. The shtick gets old by the end and it feels like it went on for too long. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is 108 minutes long. I enjoyed the complete left turn of Jane Austen's classic story, I just got somewhat annoyed by the reminder that this isn't the original Pride and Prejudice.
You lost the momentum of being interesting, guys.
I just want to make it clear that zombies in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are background characters in this otherwise lesser horror, more romance feature. This doesn't mean it is bad, it's just kind of a let down. It was more Pride and Prejudice than zombies. However, the scenes where there were zombies, I completely loved. The make-up was really well done. The cuts, wounds, blood, and the rotting flesh of the zombies looked like they had just actually risen from the ground. I really wish I would've seen more of them. The pacing of the story kind of played a part on why I may have felt this way. It all goes back to the fact that there was more Pride and Prejudice than zombies. The in-between scenes of zombie action dragged on a bit too long.
Zombies? Where are the flesh-eating corpses???
While the disappointing amount of zombies in this movie did bring me down a little, I was still with it because of the main characters: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. They had solid chemistry which held my interest until the next zombie scene. Lily James has blown up now with the recent Cinderella. I expect very big things from this actress. If she can hold my interest in moments in a film that is decent, then I seriously can't wait until she is in her next project. Sam Riley's Mr. Darcy is a believable love interest too, except his voice sounded really odd. Sort of like if Batman had bronchitis making his voice a little more raspy and if he were British. I can't say the same for the rest of the characters in the rest of the film though. I wouldn't say they were bad at all, but they just weren't as likable as the two main protagonists.
"Two Badasses in Love While Fighting Zombies" is what the name of this movie should have been.
I can see a lot of people wanting to see this movie for the zombies if they don't mind the romance aspect of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I would just have to caution them that there is an abundant amount romance while the zombie violence in this film is the minority. However, I enjoyed it for what it was. I'm just extremely glad that it didn't take itself too seriously and that it kept the consistency of being a parody. Also, I can understand how this movie will have a lot of fans and maybe being followed by cult horror fans. I just don't think it's a completely memorable film.
3.0/5
PRO
- The zombie violence was intense and cool
- Lily James' Elizabeth Bennet and Sam Riley's Mr. Darcy have a captivating chemistry
- It's a fun and entertaining homage to Jane Austen's classic novel
- Zombies are scarce throughout the bulk of the movie
- The parody factor gets old by the end
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is rated PG-13 for zombie violence and action, and brief suggestive material
Click here to watch the trailer
Pride and Prejudice and Zombie is in theaters everywhere now
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