Rating of
2/4
Uneven Cheeky Retelling
Unknown - wrote on 02/07/16
'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' is another adaptation from the writer of 'Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'. Thankfully, this time he didn't adapt his own work. This is in the same vein of entertainment as 'Abe Lincoln', only done slightly better. Here we have an actual attempt to combine the serious and farcical elements, while staying true to the original 'Pride and Prejudice' story. The balance works some of the time. The zombies act as a background danger to provide plot propulsion, never overriding the personal drama. Story progression is stable until after the halfway point where things tilt in total favor of the Jane Austen sensibilities. It's a shift that deflates the mood and sucks out what little fun the movie was having with itself up to that point. The humor vanishes entirely. Some earlier scenes held cheeky cleverness, but lacked any real laughs outside of a very entertaining comedic turn from Matt Smith. The zombie violence is toned down due to the film's rating, giving us a few borderline gruesome moments without any punch. The action is shot and edited terribly. This whole endeavor settles on mediocrity based solely on the lead actors' conviction and the (somewhat) admirable effort to keep Austen's characters fully intact.
