Review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) by Patrick L — 07 May 2016

"Zombies have ravaged one of Jane Austen's acclaimed works in this muddled horror comedy".

Movie Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Date Viewed: February 5 2016.

Directed By Burr Steers (17 Again and Charlie St. Cloud).

Screenplay By Burr Steers, Based on the novel by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston,.

Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Lena Headey and Charles Dance.

I enjoy a good B-flick when it has good acting and awesome action sequences but unfortunately for "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", it fails to make that mark. It is another version of Jane Austen's classic story but this time with zombies. The movie is based on the outrageous novel from Seth Grahame-Smith who also penned another silly idea, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". I actually enjoyed that movie but "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" has cruddy-looking action set pieces, choppy editing and boring performances. This awful idea could've been turned into an enjoyable bad movie but this concept isn't smart or clever enough to make it an entertaining movie.

The movie tells the "Pride and Prejudice" story again but this time set in an apocalyptic Europe where zombies have ravaged most of the continent. The only thing that separates the "Pride and Prejudice" setting from the zombie population is a giant wall. Are main protagonist Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James, from "Downton Abbey") is not just a classy lady, she's also a feisty heroine thanks to her father (Charles Dance). Mr. Bennet helped train Elizabeth and her sisters to fight off any zombie who comes along their path.

As usual in the "Pride and Prejudice" story, Elizabeth has to chose between different lovers, will it be handsome Parson Collins (Matt Smith), a polite soldier named Mr. Wickham (Jack Huston) who plans to unleash a mighty zombie army on her native land or Colonel Darcy (Sam Riley) who is an excellent zombie hunter. Elizabeth has no intention in finding a husband, she's more concerned about stopping zombies from pouring in her land.

Director Burr Steers (17 Again and Charlie St. Cloud) maybe good at staging romance but he has no idea on how to stage action sequences. The acting is okay here but the screenplay by Steers isn't as juicy as it wants to be. There are a few moments where I jumped out of my seat but this movie has very little gore. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is a muddled horror comedy that tries it's best to be a good B-flick but it only ends up being a sloppy mess.