Review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) by Harry W — 29 Feb 2016

Though not one particularly fond of romantic stories, my prion for ridiculous zombie exploitation made a film with the title Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Having never read the source material for this film or even the original 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the only direct familiarity I have with the cultural relevance at hand is from viewing Joe Wright's 2005 film Pride & Prejudice. To be bleak, I didn't enjoy the film. I couldn't empathize with the themes of the protagonist's experiences a daughter, a sister or a woman in general. But most of all I was blankly bored by the reliance on romantic melodrama which is a dramatic theme I can rarely find enjoyment in. I would pick an exploitation film over a romantic drama any day, and so the concept of a zombie apocalypse in the midst of a romantic drama would provide brilliant satire at best or an entertaining distraction at the least. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies provided neither of those, it was purely an awful experience.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is hardly a parody of Jane Austen's novel because it is so dedicated to capturing a legitimate retelling of the story that it neglects a sensible sense of humour. The are jokes in the film, but since they occur within a mood which is far too serious for its own good, there is hardly anything to laugh about. Obsessed with attempting to be an actual adaptation of Pride and Prejudice while retaining the comic spirit of an outlandish parody at the same time, director Burr Steers fails to find the correct balance to make it work. As someone who didn't like Pride and Prejudice, the fact that it was essentially remade with a slightly altered plot does not prove enough of a satirical innovation to offer sufficient appeal to the horror film market.

The main problem with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is simple: there aren't enough zombies. The story sporadically breaks away from its obsession with romantic melodrama to briefly depict zombies, but then suddenly audiences are back to dealing with the characters. Since the characters are intentionally pretentious shells of Jane Austin's popular creations, there is hardly any point in valuing them as anything more than parodies and archetypes in the context of a horror film. But Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is not a horror film, it's just a long melodramatic bore which makes vague references to zombies without having any sensible narrative. And even though the pace of the story is rather fast as a means of constantly cutting to the point, there is still an abundance of story to get through which makes the experience a fast-moving yet slowly developing which is hardly worth 108 minutes or running time.

As a horror film, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an abysmal failure. There are so few horror-themed moments in the story that it would be more appropriate to title the story "Pride and Prejudice feat. Zombies" so they know to expect that it is nothing more than a throwaway gimmick which nothing good is done with. In terms of stylish value, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies manages to stretch its low budget fairly far and uses some decent scenery and costumes. But as a means of hiding its limitations, the countless conversations of the film simply occur within the context of a few selective settings which grow repetitive quickly. The rare occasions in which zombies actually show of mostly end up with them having their heads blown off with mediocre use of blood and gore effects. There is never a genuine horrific atmosphere nor are their deaths actually that funny, failing in both the horror and comedy departments of the intended genre. The shortage of blood, gore and zombie carnage in general renders the use of the word "Zombies" in the title completely obsolete. The fact that there is no final battle scene but rather a mediocre explosion before the film reverts completely back to melodrama, and suddenly things are over. After a shortage of zombies for the entire film, the climax of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies lives up to the mediocre buildup and viewers are left to wonder what the hell they're doing with their life to be sitting through such mediocrity.

Since the cast are left stranded in one-dimensional roles, the natural charms of the actors are left to determine how much viewers enjoy the characters.

Lily James is a decent lead. Seemingly cast heavily on the basis of how much she looks like Keira Knightley, Lily James effectively evokes memories back to Joe Wright's 2005 film with her appearance and her ability to convey the melodramatic nature of Jane Austen's original material. She takes the material as seriously as the director intended, and even though it fails to match up to the off hybrid of subject matter it certainly is accurately melodramatic. She delivers the material with a serious passion, but she also has occasional moments of flair in other areas. These predominantly come from her abilities as an action heroine which show her using swords and martial arts to put up a good fight even in the face of mediocre cinematography and editing. Lily James fits the iconic character of Elizabeth Bennet with dedication to the seriousness of the narrative and grasps the melodrama with ease.

Sam Riley delivers a decent supporting effort as Mr. Darcy. He pursues the role with such determination to continuously maintain the sophistication of the character that he never steps out of it. This forsakes any hope of comedy, but in the sense of melodrama it certainly captures an accurate depiction of the character. And when it comes to the action scenes, he manages to put a decent physical effort into the sword fights and close combat. Sam Riley is not given all that much of a challenge, but following the same path as Lily James he engages her with strong dramatic chemistry alongside everyone else.

The presence of Lena Headey is also enjoyable for fans of Game of Thrones while Matt Smith's ridiculous comic supporting effort should entertain those who follow Doctor Who.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is too focused on adapting the tone of Jane Austen's original 1813 novel to actually put any horror exploitation into the story, settling instead for an obsession with dull and predictable melodrama which is shorter on zombies than humour.