Pride and Prejudice and Zombies : Movie Review



Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Lena Headey, Matt Smith
Director: Burr Steers

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
When it comes to films, my wife and I have similar tastes and opinions. We have both read Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and we both enjoy zombie movies. However this film divided us. She liked it, whilst I found it so mundane that once or twice I (briefly) fell asleep.


The idea is fantastic. A world of high society ladies and gentlemen trained to fight zombies! It sounds crazy and fun. And whilst the film is well acted, smoothly directed and looks very nice indeed, unfortunately the storyline, which is overly complicated, simply isn’t compelling.


The castof Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, Sam Riley as Mr Darcy and Lena Headey as Lady Catherine DeBourgh are certainly game and they clearly had a lot of fun making this movie. But for me that sense of fun and excitement doesn’t come across in the film. Matt Smith as Mr Collins seems to be the only one aware that this film is intended as a comedy and he is fun and over-acts to comedic effect.


One of the major plot errors in my opinion is that the zombies - normally dumb and lumbering or aggressive and fast but never cognisant of their place in the world - are not only able to speak but also able to evade detection and even fight with a level of ability and dexterity never before associated with zombies. Indeed, in the purest sense, they are barely zombies at all. Partly due to this the zombies also fail to be horrifying in any meaningful way, so the horror element of the film is dulled. Perhaps even more damning is that the film is played entirely straight. Opportunities to introduce humour are passed up.


I had eagerly anticipated watching this film but for me it failed to hit the mark. My wife enjoyed it, and indeed everyone has their own opinion on films. I encourage you to take the time to watch the film and to form your own opinion, after all that is really the only opinion that counts.


Author : Kevin Stanley