I've never read any Jane Austen novel, but I have watched a few traditional adaptations of her work including Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley that I really liked. Without the zombie aspect, this mash-up would be a mostly respectable and respectful adaptation of the novel in terms of tone, characters and plot if the Knightley adaptation was anything to go by. However, it does "dirty up" the original classic story with undead so it could be blasphemous to Austen purists. Those who consider her writing sacrosanct should definitely steer clear unless they have a strong sense of humour. The story hit the major points and had some beautiful lines, but it veered off in the last part. The whole bridge thing also confused me.
The zombie aspect fit surprisingly well, was not too jarring (except at the start with Lady Featherstone), but it was not great, although I found original how some zombies still had enough brains to talk and even infiltrate society for a while. I also liked the facial makeup on some of the zombies. The zombie parts were also the catalyst for a lot of the humour. The contrast between the prim, well-spoken, 19th-century British society and the out-of-their-normal-environment zombies provided amusement. The action parts were somewhat disappointing. As an example, the first time you saw the 5 sisters jump into action, you would have expected something glorious and exhilarating, but it kind of fizzled because the moves weren't thrilling or convincing enough. Although the editing tried to hide it somewhat , you could guess that the actors were chosen more for their acting skills than their martial-arts skills (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Exceptions to the lacking action would be the human-only ones, especially the "confrontations" between Elizabeth and Darcy.
I suppose the film is by definition a parody, but it was played very straight, and I don't think it would have worked so well otherwise. Sam Riley, the actor playing Darcy was excellent in his role. Lily James as Elizabeth didn't fare so well, lacking presence and charisma, especially at the start. She paled in comparison with Keira Knightley (in the same role), but she improved later on. The zany Matt Smith (former Doctor Who) stole almost every scene he was in, playing an unconventional Pastor Collins. By re-watching Pride and Prejudice (Knightley version) after this film, I noticed how much the characterization of the secondary characters was cut (especially the 3 younger sisters) and how much the ballroom dancing, dining and conversation was replaced with zombie shenanigans. I'm not convinced this was an improvement, but it was certainly different.
I watched this at a sneak preview in a full theatre. The laughs mostly came in the first half. Personally, I smirked relatively often but never laughed out loud (I rarely do). I was entertained throughout though. What about the romantic aspect you ask? It is still there and Darcy's letter is still awesome, but it's often overridden by comedic or horrific elements. What about the gore? It can be surprising and a bit disgusting (the makeup mostly) but it's limited and over quickly. None of the parts of the film were particularly strong (except acting that was overall better than expected), but as a fun mash-up, I think it worked. For those curious, I consider the Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice superior in every regard and I don't recommend watching it too soon before this film because the latter would suffer too much in comparison.
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Good)
The zombie aspect fit surprisingly well, was not too jarring (except at the start with Lady Featherstone), but it was not great, although I found original how some zombies still had enough brains to talk and even infiltrate society for a while. I also liked the facial makeup on some of the zombies. The zombie parts were also the catalyst for a lot of the humour. The contrast between the prim, well-spoken, 19th-century British society and the out-of-their-normal-environment zombies provided amusement. The action parts were somewhat disappointing. As an example, the first time you saw the 5 sisters jump into action, you would have expected something glorious and exhilarating, but it kind of fizzled because the moves weren't thrilling or convincing enough. Although the editing tried to hide it somewhat , you could guess that the actors were chosen more for their acting skills than their martial-arts skills (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Exceptions to the lacking action would be the human-only ones, especially the "confrontations" between Elizabeth and Darcy.
I suppose the film is by definition a parody, but it was played very straight, and I don't think it would have worked so well otherwise. Sam Riley, the actor playing Darcy was excellent in his role. Lily James as Elizabeth didn't fare so well, lacking presence and charisma, especially at the start. She paled in comparison with Keira Knightley (in the same role), but she improved later on. The zany Matt Smith (former Doctor Who) stole almost every scene he was in, playing an unconventional Pastor Collins. By re-watching Pride and Prejudice (Knightley version) after this film, I noticed how much the characterization of the secondary characters was cut (especially the 3 younger sisters) and how much the ballroom dancing, dining and conversation was replaced with zombie shenanigans. I'm not convinced this was an improvement, but it was certainly different.
I watched this at a sneak preview in a full theatre. The laughs mostly came in the first half. Personally, I smirked relatively often but never laughed out loud (I rarely do). I was entertained throughout though. What about the romantic aspect you ask? It is still there and Darcy's letter is still awesome, but it's often overridden by comedic or horrific elements. What about the gore? It can be surprising and a bit disgusting (the makeup mostly) but it's limited and over quickly. None of the parts of the film were particularly strong (except acting that was overall better than expected), but as a fun mash-up, I think it worked. For those curious, I consider the Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice superior in every regard and I don't recommend watching it too soon before this film because the latter would suffer too much in comparison.
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Good)