Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, Ellie Bamber, Charles Dance, Jack Huston, Lena Headey, Matt Smith
Directed by: Burr Steers
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Horror, Romance
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Elizabeth (Lily James) struggles with Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) against the backdrop of a zombie infestation of England in the 19th century.

Review:

Tim: I suppose I like the basic premise of this movie. Most Americans consider "Pride & Prejudice" to be a stodgy, boring book (which isn't the case at all, it's an excellent book). So, you take that slow romantic drama and you put it against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. It's such an insane idea, but it would be worth exploring- how would the romance of Elizabeth and Darcy be different if potential death was around every undead corner? Unfortunately, the more interesting aspects of this "what if?" scenario are jettisoned for a below average action horror movie. The insanity of the mashup could have worked, but it certainly does not.

By trying to be both a romantic drama and a zombie horror action movie, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies manages to be bad at both. Even though the source material is very strong, the human aspects of the film seemed forced and unnecessarily confusing. How many sisters does Elizabeth have? Whom are they going to marry? Do you care about any of this? Honestly, the characters are so underdeveloped that outside of the leads, they barely registered as being part of the film. They're completely forgettable, cardboard cutouts of actual human beings. None of the romantic or dramatic aspects of the film worked at all. They certainly take a backseat to the zombie action horror aspects, which might not have been a total disaster if that aspect of the film lived up to its potential. Unfortunately, it does not. Besides some sort-of-cool slow motion moments, the action and the zombie battles are surprisingly sterile. There wasn't a single sequence that stirred anything in me- we weren't offered anything we hadn't seen a million times before. So you have two different elements of the film, neither of them are effective and we're asked to suspend disbelief as they become mashed together. Not surprisingly, the end result is a bit of a mess.

The cast isn't terrible, but it's a ways away from good. I'm actually interested to see where Lily James takes her career. She was one of the better parts of this film, but she really doesn't do much of note at all. I'll chalk this one up to a major career blunder and hope she can move past it quickly. She's not bad, but she does nothing special throughout the film. Sam Riley makes a decent Darcy. I actually liked his performance. He's young, but he has talent and potential and I'm still interested to see what he does. Charles Dance is always a welcome addition, but I have to believe he regrets showing up in this film. Lena Headey is a little easier to understand, but man, she comes across as silly here. I still don't get Jack Huston and I didn't care for his one-note performance here.

The most damning aspect of this film is that I never cared about anyone or anything in it. It's a totally absurd concept, so it could have gone two ways- treat the subject matter seriously and get the audience to buy in, or do the whole thing tongue-and-cheek and just have fun with it. The movie chooses neither path (not good writer/director Burr Steers). The film exists in this awful in-between. It doesn't do anything especially well. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was always an out-there concept and it had the deck stacked against it from the start. However, we deserved much better than this. This is easily one of the worst movies I've seen so far in 2016.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pride & Prejudice (without the zombies)