In 19th century England, five sisters must cope with the pressures of
love and marriage while mankind wages a war with the living dead. ACTION/DRAMA/HORROR
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Pride and Prejudice
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We all knew this parody was going to be as goofy as humanly possible, which it was. What I didn't expect was that it would take itself so seriously, trying to do justice to Jane Austen's classic novel while still attempting to become its own story. This misguided attempt to one day achieve cult status is the monkey wrench that holds the film back. If it had simply relished in its ridiculousness and loudly proclaimed "This is very much to be taken lightly," it may just have emerged from Austen's shadow and been something. Instead, it will no doubt be buried in the same film graveyard that the world decided to bury Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
I will admit that I have not read Pride and Prejudice, nor have I seen any film adaptations. Still, this film delivers pretty much the same overall story, with enough bloody zombie action to impress those who aren't familiar with it. The performance are all top notch across the board, though I didn't quite believe the chemistry between Lily James and Sam Riley. Because it is, in the end, an adaptation of Austen's novel, the attention is fixed on the budding relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. However, it is also a zombie film, which means that writer/director Burr Steers must balance the two equally and give enough of the plot away to both sides. After news breaks of a zombie apocalypse and the Four Horsemen literally rise from Hell to slay mankind, we are set up for one last hurrah between the living and the dead. Unfortunately, this entire plot thread vanishes in the third act in favor of the traditional fulfillment of love. I feel like there's no reason we couldn't have had both, unless they were hoping for a sequel, which I doubt they'll get. In conclusion, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an all too serious adaptation of a goofy parody novel that holds about as much literary value as an issue of MAD magazine. This film tries too hard to be something it never will and loses itself in the process. Long time Jane Austen fans may find something to enjoy here, but film fans will easily dismiss it much like I have. It suffers highly from a lack of depth and poor story resolution, two things that will almost immediately sabotage any film. I won't say it's a bad movie, but it's far from a great one. |