Nick Cerofeci
Staff Writer
In 19th Century England, Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters have to search for love while coping with the prideful nobles, navigating the prejudiced social classes, and defending their loved ones from the disease of the undead.
“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” directed by Burr Steers, blends Jane Austen’s classic romance story, “Pride and Prejudice,” with modern day effects and horror. The film is surprisingly better than it looks with outstanding acting and an interesting storyline. It definitely accomplishes the goal it wants to reach, even though the soundtrack and makeup are nothing special.
The story takes place in London where Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James), her family, Mr. Darcy, (Sam Riley), Mr. Bingsley (Douglas Booth), and other classic characters develop complicated relationships established by Austen in her classic victorian novel, “Pride and Prejudice.” The harsh world of “Pride ad Prejudice” becomes even harsher when a disease spreads turning humans into zombies.
The primary storyline is about the Bennet sisters, five highly trained zombie killing warriors, trying to marry higher in social class. Jane Bennet (Bella Heathcote) and the wealthy Mr. Bingsley become aquatinted with each other while Elizabeth becomes highly repelled to the even wealthier and arrogant Mr. Darcy.
As the story progresses, Elizabeth’s feelings start to change towards Mr. Darcy. Austen’s classic theme that true love is blind to pride and prejudice prevails and is taught to the audience in a clever and creative way, as seen through the way zombies are incorporated while still keeping the original storyline.
The soundtrack flows well with the atmosphere of 19th Century England but is nothing special. During some of the action scenes music wasn’t playing because there was often dialog during the fight. It is interesting and adds something unique to the film.
The affects and makeup throughout the movie are decent and varied. When there is only a few zombies on screen, everything looks excellent. However, the costume and makeup are not as impressive when there are a larger group of zombies.
The horror aspect of the film is present, however not throughout the entire film. There are breaks between zombie scenes making the film less gory and easier to watch. In addition, there are not many jump scares or suspenseful moments as a regular horror film which allows an audience that doesn’t like horror, to still enjoy the movie.
It helps knowing the story of “Pride and Prejudice” but is not needed at all to watch and understand the movie. Knowing the basic tale will make the experience more enjoyable and make the film seem more clever, however it is still entertaining without knowing the original story.
Although the story is mainly about love and the boundaries it overcomes there are also themes of female empowerment. Elizabeth Bennet portrayed very well by Lily James is a wonderful and likable character who stands up for herself, making the film more appealing to today’s diehard feminists.
In addition to Lily James, the rest of the cast also performs well. Sam Riley played Mr. Dracy perfectly and captured his arrogance, subtlety, and internal conflict seamlessly. All accents are very believable which helps the film and characters seem more real.
The film accomplishes its task of putting a creative spin on a classic tale and making it even more entertaining. Although the effects and soundtrack aren’t incredible, the creative story, great acting, and the balance between horror and romance defiantly saves this film and makes it quite enjoyable.
“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is rated PG13 and now available in theaters nationwide.
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