Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) review

29. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

Directed by: Burr Steers

Produced by: Sean McKittrick, Allison Shearmur, Natalie Portman, Annette Savitch, Brian Oliver, Tyler Thompson, Marc Butan

Screenplay by: Burr Steers

Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Bella Heathcote, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance, Lena Headey

We’ve got another film based on a Seth Grahame-Smith novel; this is “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” which is of course a mashup of the 1813 Jane Austen novel with the zombie subgenre. I’ve never read the novel or seen any of the adaptations, so I don’t know how much they have in common, but just judging by the film alone, I find it surprisingly fun and kick-ass, if slightly dull and featuring a few awkwardly executed storylines. The main one is that it’s 19th century England, besieged by a zombie invasion; the five Bennett sisters—Elizabeth (Lily James), Jane (Bella Heathcote), Lydia (Ellie Bamber), Mary (Millie Brady) and Kitty (Suki Waterhouse)—have all been trained in weaponry and martial arts, with their father (Charles Dance) insistent that they defend themselves. Their mother (Sally Phillips), however, just wants to see them married and provided for, as they attract the attention of Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy (Sam Riley), his friend Charles Bingley (Douglas Booth), soldier Charles Wickham (Jack Huston), and their cousin Parson William Collins (Matt Smith), all while the undead threat draws closer.

Full disclosure, I typically don’t like the Victorian Era cinematic setting; just something about the aesthetics and general hoity-toity vibe has always rubbed me the wrong way. And there’s plenty of that here, characters acting snooty and stuck-up with their outdated views of women, etc. I know the latter is just a product of the time, but it’s still a little boring to sit through; but trust me, this movie doesn’t talk down to women, as I love the addition of making all the Bennett sisters veritable fighting machines. The image of all of them unsheathing their swords is wonderfully synchronistic, and they still have a good, if slightly underseen, familial bond; maybe not as wholesome or nuanced as in “Little Women,” but I still like watching how they interact.

Leading the way is the dynamite Lily James as Elizabeth; this was her first starring role after “Cinderella,” and I’m stunned how more interesting I found her character here. She’s never fully committed to one state of emotion; she’s cold, she’s inquisitive, she’s strong, she’s vulnerable, she’s steady, all without ever feeling inconsistent. I’d like to see her in more high-profile works; she’s a great talent. Matt Smith has a great sense of comedic timing as Collins, Jack Huston is appropriately charming as the duplicitous Wickham, but I’m somewhat torn on Sam Riley as Darcy. He speaks in kind of an odd drawling voice, and I just think it takes too long for him to become likeable, at least for me; the only scene between him and Elizabeth that I really like is his proposal scene that devolves into a full-on fight with swordplay, use of props, and hand-to-hand combat. It’s simultaneously funny, energetic, dramatic, and sexy, almost making you forget how little chemistry they have.

I didn’t expect much variety with portraying the zombie aspect, but I like how it’s not as simple as making them undead brutes. For starters, there’s a great opening scene where Mr. Bennett narrates the history of the plague through these really creative popup book illustrations. It’s interesting how this is still sort of a functioning world, just one where zombies are running amok, usually in a realm outside the London wall called The In-Between, but often blending into the crowd. Yeah, there seems to be different undead stages, where they can act somewhat normal until they get the taste of human brains and turn completely savage. It’s an interesting idea, conveyed in a scene where Wickham takes Elizabeth to—well, I don’t know how else to say it—a zombie church, where they feed on pig brains, and tries to convince her that it would be more beneficial and realistic to try to live peacefully with the zombies rather than eradicate all of them.

However, it doesn’t amount to any big revelations; it still just runs the course you’d expect, with betrayal and zombie slashing. While most of the make-up is good, these scenes aren’t especially memorable, and they have kind of an ugly gray color palate. Also, I would’ve liked to have seen Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lena Headey), go to battle with them as a notorious zombie killer, but we only get a brief flashback scene. Lena Headey is awesome in what little screen time she has; she’s properly authoritative and intimidating, and has a great scene with Elizabeth in the third act, but we don’t get much else from her. For its shortcomings, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” gives you what you’re looking for in this setup: romantic courting, kill zombies, aristocratic talk, kill zombies, marital subterfuge, kill zombies, you get the picture. The cinematography, costume design, and humor are all good, and there are performances to latch onto, but the story leaves something to be desired. It’s still much more fun for me to watch than “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” so just ignore how much of a box office bomb it was; if this sounds interesting to you, I say go for it.

My rating: 6.5/10