Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Film Review
If you are a visitor on this site and you haven’t seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you really ought to get to a movie theater, and fast, because PPZ was an utter DELIGHT to watch and no period-drama lover should miss it!
For those who haven’t read the book (and this includes myself…though I will soon remedy this), it was basically like re-watching 2005’s Pride and Prejudice, with different (and great) actors and women fighting with swords instead of reading or playing the piano. In this world, a woman is accomplished if she has trained in Japanese martial arts, and less so if she has trained in Chinese martial arts. (As you might presume, Ms. Bingley trained in Japan and Elizabeth trained in China.) Oh, and zombies were constantly milling around and were a threat to society. But otherwise, it was Pride and Prejudice down to the very dialogue!
The movie had a satirical, light tone, and the setting was well-developed enough that as someone who hadn’t read the book, I just swallowed the premise and was in for an enjoyable, dark, somewhat bloody, ride. A world where your status depends on your fighting skills? A Mr. Darcy who was as initially disagreeable as he was secretly hot?! I LOVED IT. And also, points for making women warriors in the 1800s – so exciting to see the Bennets getting ready for the ball by strapping in their swords in case zombies were to be present! The plot reminded me of many fantasy young adult novels – such as Clockwork Prince or The Dark Days Club, which are books set in the 1800s with paranormal aspects forcing young ladies to fight for their lives!
It was exhilarating, dark, romantic, and amusing – sort of like a romantic-action-comedy of the 1800s, which is a rare film indeed. The movie’s tagline should have been: “BRILLIANT WARRIOR LIZZY BENNET AND HEROIC DARK DASHING WARRIOR DARCY FIGHT TO SAVE LIVES…AND EACH OTHER’S…LITERALLY NOTHING CAN MAKE THEM MORE PERFECT OR ADD TO THEIR STATUS AS ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN HISTORY.”
The actors were all splendid in their roles, but Lily James as Lizzy stole the show. She was beautiful, she was clever, she was determined, and her warrior skills against zombies were too hot to handle. I thought watching Darcy fight and swoop in as a hero against zombies was great, but Lily James was even more awesome than him. It was a treat to see the quirkily hilarious Matt Smith as Mr. Collins, and I thought Sam Reilly as Mr. Darcy was fantastic. I say that because he took a while to warm up to – his voice was a bit scratchy and his face not conventionally handsome immediately like Douglas Booth (Mr. Bingley) – but by the end I was totally swooning and ready to watch it again! Lena Headey as the unbeatable Lady Catherine was intimidatingly good as well.
My favorite part, of course, was the chemistry between Elizabeth and Darcy. Every glance, every word had meaning, and seeing their relationship evolve around this setting of the zombie apocalypse made the stakes even higher, and the movie even more exciting. (Maybe that’s just because I prefer high-stakes romance where they’re fighting for true love and life or death.) Plus the scene where they fight each other brought me too much joy to contain.
The movie (and book) stayed true to the original P&P – the dialogue stays mostly the same, the characters unchanged, just the setting – an England with zombies – is changed. It was funny, romantic, and everything a period drama should be. If you are sad because you’ve re-watched Colin Firth’s P&P and the 2005 P&P too many times, this was made for you. In my humble opinion, Pride and Prejudice should be remade with a new cast every 5 years and it would never get old!
P.S. Another tagline: “Slaying as they slay: The characters of Pride and Prejudice slaying zombies as they slay us (in style) with petticoats.”
What did you think of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Sound off below!
Photos: Sony Pictures
OVERALL RATING
“The stuff that dreams are made of.”
ROMANCE RATING
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Ahhh! I cannot wait to see this one. A blogging friend told me she things this Lizzie and Darcy might be her favorite yet. That’s high praise indeed, but then I expected Lily to be fabulous. Thanks for the review, Amirah – I’m MORE excited than ever. 🙂
Ps; “In my humble opinion, Pride and Prejudice should be remade with a new cast every 5 years and it would never get old!”
I wouldn’t mind this^ at all either. 😉
Oh no I decided not to watch thinking this might ruin my favourite book’s classic feel.. but your review has me running to watch.. Don’t like Sam Riley’s looks, but your tagline had me laughing.. Can’t wait to watch on TV now that I missed it in the hall. Thanks Amirah