PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES: Problematic, Silly, But Fun Nonetheless

I love Pride & Prejudice and I will never tire of its adaptations and interpretations. I also really like zombie films. I am Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ demographic. Long ago, prior to the announcement of this film adaptation I read the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies book. Or, at least, I got halfway through it. It was kind of like Seth Grahame-Smith had just inserted zombie scenes into the overall original narrative, and once the novelty of Lizzie Bennet killing zombies wore off, I got bored.

But I was keen on the idea of a film, something that could deliver on the original Austen story and also offer up some strong visuals of zombie attacks. What I actually got to see though, I can only liken to watching Pride & Prejudice’s greatest hits in a film about blokes killing zombies.

Lizzie’s Story?

Lizzie, or should I say Liz (as she is called in this adaptation, which is a bit annoying), is the leading voice in Pride & Prejudice. Everything is about her and from her point of view. So colour me annoyed when the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies film starts with Darcy, and makes a lot of the narrative surrounding Darcy and Wickham. Don’t get me wrong, Lizzie (I have to call her Lizzie, sorry if that’s confusing) is still central to the story, but it feels very much like the men’s roles have been increased at the detriment to the women’s.

Darcy, Wickham and Mr. Collins are all given a wider berth. While Jane and Charlotte (who actually becomes a zombie in the book) are pushed into the margins. Furthermore, based on what I can remember of the book, the women get to do less fighting in the film as well. That’s disappointing. As is the fact that Burr Steers falls prey to sexualising the girls from the outset. Shots of girls being strapped into corsets and putting daggers into their suspenders anyone? Luckily he kind of drops it quickly, although there is more than one heaving bosom in later fight scenes.

I wouldn’t say that Steers makes this all about the guys, but you do feel that this is definitely more of a man’s take on Austen. It sort of makes me think of a teenage boy flicking through a copy of Pride & Prejudice for English class, picking out the important bits, then re-writing it with all the gaps in his knowledge filled in with blokes fighting zombies. In the original Austen book the men kind of exist outside of the women’s world. But here they are brought in as though a guy were reading it, and thought: you know what? There aren’t enough things about blokes in this book!

It’s also to the story’s detriment that Steers has changed a lot of Grahame-Smith’s adaptation, so this film is something of a copy of a copy. The framework is still there, but everything else has been messed around. I liked this film alright, so I’m not going to get mad about it. Though there is a little part of me that’s thinking: what, Austen wasn’t good enough for you? Or, thought you could improve on Austen? Mainly I’m a little bit sorry for the fact that all the subtleties of the original story have been thrown out. But while it’s a great shame, it doesn’t make for an awful film.

Saving Graces

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies spent a long time in development, with a number of different actors rumoured to be filling the roles of Lizzie and Darcy. I suspected this might have been because the script wasn’t all there, and as you’ll see from elsewhere in this review, I was probably right. However, I really like Lily James (Lizzie), Sam Riley (Darcy) and Matt Smith (Mr. Collins). When I heard they were on board I was excited to see what they would do with the roles. Which ended up being quite a lot.

Lily James doesn’t really feel like she’s being pushed to her acting limits in this at all, but what she brings in determination and some bad ass stage fighting really makes Lizzie stand out from Steers’ rather thin script. She is a proper Lizzie Bennet, and to her and Riley’s credit, they really infuse Lizzie and Darcy’s relationship with an extra shot of venom that you don’t get in other versions. Although, equally, the cheesy romance is whipped up too. This gets a bit silly, but you get over it. Again, it’s like romance as written by a teenage boy.

Sam Riley does credit to the role of Darcy, as does Steers. This version of Darcy has lost a lot of his subtlety, but he has also gained an arrogance that does really make you understand why Lizzie wants to punch him. Something that doesn’t necessarily always come across in other adaptations. Although, this more abrasive Darcy does make you wonder why Lizzie falls for him at all, and her final declaration of love seems hollow. This is wrong. Lizzie didn’t love Darcy from the first moment she saw him, that’s the whole point of the book: damn you Steers!

The great surprise in this film is Matt Smith. Mr. Collins has in the past been portrayed as sleazy by David Bamber, and irritating by Tom Hollander. In Smith’s hands, however, Collins is delightfully annoying. He does a great job of getting in the way and infuriating his fellow characters. He also pulls off a number of jokes, and his comic performance is a real joy in the sometimes grimy apocalyptic misery. I wouldn’t say it was a rich performance, but it is very entertaining. Which could be said for the film as a whole, it’s devoid of the depth Austen wrote in the originally story but it is very entertaining.

B-Movie Territory

Although this version of Pride & Prejudice doesn’t live up to other adaptations or translations (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries recently setting the benchmark quite high), it does have a lot going for it. Though what is entertaining about it isn’t the thrill of seeing Austen’s characters fight zombies, but the characters themselves. These alternate versions are great fun, and in another remake that’s all you can ask for, really.

It goes to show how much (despite my criticisms) of Austen still exists in this film, and how truly her entertaining characters continue to be. This zombie world is an interesting take, and it makes up for the shortfall in interest as other characters are marginalised, but that’s all it is, a novelty, which wears off. It takes Austen’s characters to wade into the shallows of B-movie fare, and that’s good fun, but it never gels with the original story and actually ends up doing more harm than good.

Conclusion

Like I said, I’m a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice. While this film doesn’t sit amongst the best of its remakes it’s still very enjoyable. Yes, the emotion is about as subtle as a zombie attack, it’s definitely got a more masculine edge and the story is a bit of a mish-mash of the scary and the silly, the Austen and the zombies, but that’s not always a bad thing.

If you’re looking for a great adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, or a great zombie movie, or even a great meeting or the two, this isn’t it. But if you’re up for a bit of fun and a markedly different, but strangely intriguing, take on the Lizzie & Darcy relationship then have at it and enjoy yourself.

Are you a fan of Pride & Prejudice? How do you feel about this new adaptation? Let us know in the comments.

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is currently out in the cinemas in the UK & US, for the release dates in your country see here.