It is a universal truth that an adaptation in want to rise above parody must show a certain respect for Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies most certainly does. While cleverly staying true to the characters of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, P&P&P lets genre revisionists destroy Georgian era society.
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies follows the tale of the Bennet sisters as they balance combating zombies and the task of finding eligible suitors at the turn of the 19th century. As the zombies and suitors pile up it's up to Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) to navigate a path for the family through the apocalypse.
The film uses animation and a scene of Mr. Darcy investigating a zombie infection to explain how the plague works in this new England. If you are bitten by a zombie you don't present as a zombie right away. Though, once a victim eats a human brain they lose all humanity. This addage to the zombie mythos finally gives a once-bitten bastard a reason to keep his mouth shut about his bite.
In this iteration of Austen's landed gentry, rich families send their children to Japan to study combat techniques to fight the zombies while poorer rural families had to rely on Chinese fighting styles. The added layer of aristocracy to the proceedings is welcome though the film comes close to overloading you with details. The costume design will usher in a summer of cosplay decadence.
Highlights: Matt Smith, Lena Heady and Charles Dance bring broad life to their characters. Each owning the memorable scenes their respective characters have, but also playing them louder than normal as they are well aware when zombies are involved you can go big. Matt Smith's Collins is a revelation as he takes the most abysmal of characters in the written word and makes him an utter delight in un-earned optimism. Lady Catherine De Bourgh's backstory is radically different in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, so it doesn't make Collins seem like such a f**kboy. He's in the employ of someone worth respecting, so he comes off as overzealous, not sad. Heady plays Lady Catherine beautifully as both dour matriarch and savior of the peoples of England, commanding the screen in her brief appearances.
Disappointments: The cast is good, but the unfortunately dour expressions of a period piece can cast a pall on the visceral experience that is zombie warfare. You will understand what it means to see a look of consternation by the end of this film. The film has a few dangling plot threads at the end of it all, whether this is intentional for the hopes of a sequel or just forcing an explanation without explanation I'm not sure.
We've seen a myriad of adaptations of Austen's novel. Everything from Bridget Jones' Diary to an early millennia Pride and Prejudice of Latter Day Saints Edition has been made in a continued effort to mine the book's popularity. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies rises above regurgitation to become interpretation and expansion. The film can be considered a case in getting chocolate in my peanut butter. The film is fast paced, with fun action and tight fight scenes. While, Matt Smith as Collins is nothing short of brilliant.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is in theater February 5th, 2016.
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