Review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) by Thomas D — 06 Feb 2016

Like most people, when I heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies being turned into a film, I scoffed. Just the very idea of it seemed ridiculous. But like every idea, with the right talent involved, it can turn out just fine. The film is directed by Burr Steers, who worked on the classics 17 Again and Charlie St. Cloud. Okay perhaps there's a little sarcasm there, but I actually happen to think he did a fine job with P+P+Z. With some surprisingly good visuals, a well developed history behind the story, and some great action sequences, I had a fun time with the film.

Lily James stars as Elizabeth Bennet and Sam Riley as Mr. Darcy. James captures the essence of Bennet's personality while also giving the new bada** side of her. The idea that Mr. Bennet trained his daughters from birth to defend themselves against the undead is a great twist. Plus, having Charles Dance play the part is definitely a welcomed bonus. The important aspect to take away from the Bennet girls is that they are not damsel in distresses or cliched female characters at all. In fact, quite often the saving is done by the Bennet's themselves.

Mr. Darcy on the otherhand, is as stiff of a character as ever. I know the point of the character is to not show emotion, and Elizabeth says he "feels less than the unfeeling", but I'm just not interested in a character like that. Nor does his performance bring more to the role than what is asked. All of this contributes to the fact that the romance between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy never feels right. Really, Elizabeth is one of the only characters you care about at all, and end up rooting for. However, Matt Smith as Parton Collins is terrific and steals almost every scene he's in.

I enjoyed all of the little changes they made to the story and switching the gender roles, especially a particular fight sequence between Elizabeth and Darcy. Though, sometimes the appearances of the zombies come few and far between. There are definitely some jump scares, but I can't say I would have moved if the sound design wouldn't have been so abrupt and bombastic. I think overall, it does what it set out to do, and that is to pull off an interesting twist on the classic love tale, even with that romance is actually rather weak.

+Great action.

+Cinematography and landscape was set up well.

+Matt Smith.

+Lily James kicks butt.

-Romance is iffy.

-Sam Riley brings nothing new to the role of Mr. Darcy.

6.5/10.