PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES -
A movie review. I love me some Jane Austen! And this movie PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES did pretty good keeping the basic plotline of P&P going, but set in a fantastical England where a terrible disease has created walking dead. Only in this world, the walking dead are only scary and not deadly unless they get human braaaaaaiiiiinnns to eat. Then they become ravenous.
The best part of the movie, in fact, is how much of Austen's social and love story they include. They do away with that pleasant but non-entity, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who is Darby's cousin. Instead, Darby himself is a colonel fighting the zombie blight. That gives him excuses to work with katanas and guns and be a rescuer, so it makes sense. And they come up with a snobby social detail about zombie fighting training, which I found fun. There's a scene where the five Bennett sisters, all trained and kept in shape by their stern father, go striding through a party where they had been dancing just minutes before with their bad-ass faces shining and their weapons pulled out of leg holsters, etc. It's the poster scene, and it's surprisingly effective!
But probably the most interesting scene that's been updated with the new skills that Lizzie Bennett and Darby have is that famous marriage proposal that Darby does, confessing it's against his own better judgment but he just has to marry her. Lizzie, as we know, has reasons to dislike and resent him. So what do you get with a young woman who's highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and whom you've gotten alone and aggravated horribly? It's a very lively scene.
They don't do much with Lydia, the wild and self-centered youngest sister. She does go off with the same man as in the book, but she's an undeveloped character. Nor is Lizzy's mother much developed. She's supposed to be pretty awful, but in this not so much. The Darby actor has a hoarse voice and he's just no Colin Firth, though they do have him dive into a pond in his white shirt and beige pantaloons! People are making so much of Matt Smith, who plays Mr Collins. He does a cute job, is prissy and adoring of his benefactress, plus says overt things that make Darby appear much to the advantage. But David Bamber! Nobody can hold a candle to the David Bamber Mr. Collins...
Oh, and the retooling of that awful Lady Catherine de Bourgh! It's masterful! I loved it, loved how it changed the plot some, and loved especially who they got to play the part. It's worthy of its own spin-off movie, it's so rich.
I enjoyed Lilly James, so sweet in the live-action Disney CINDERELLA last year, with dark hair as Lizzy Bennett. I would say she made the most attractive Mr. Eliza Bennett I've ever seen (and I've seen plenty). I even believed her mad zombie-fighting skills! She was cool as a fighter and as a Regency Era woman who's told to seek a husband. But there's a weird thing where, with the dark hair, she often resembles the AT&T ad girl who sells unlimited data. So I got taken out of the movie several times thinking about that. Coincidence: That ad character's name is Lily Adams!
The best part of the movie, in fact, is how much of Austen's social and love story they include. They do away with that pleasant but non-entity, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who is Darby's cousin. Instead, Darby himself is a colonel fighting the zombie blight. That gives him excuses to work with katanas and guns and be a rescuer, so it makes sense. And they come up with a snobby social detail about zombie fighting training, which I found fun. There's a scene where the five Bennett sisters, all trained and kept in shape by their stern father, go striding through a party where they had been dancing just minutes before with their bad-ass faces shining and their weapons pulled out of leg holsters, etc. It's the poster scene, and it's surprisingly effective!
But probably the most interesting scene that's been updated with the new skills that Lizzie Bennett and Darby have is that famous marriage proposal that Darby does, confessing it's against his own better judgment but he just has to marry her. Lizzie, as we know, has reasons to dislike and resent him. So what do you get with a young woman who's highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and whom you've gotten alone and aggravated horribly? It's a very lively scene.
They don't do much with Lydia, the wild and self-centered youngest sister. She does go off with the same man as in the book, but she's an undeveloped character. Nor is Lizzy's mother much developed. She's supposed to be pretty awful, but in this not so much. The Darby actor has a hoarse voice and he's just no Colin Firth, though they do have him dive into a pond in his white shirt and beige pantaloons! People are making so much of Matt Smith, who plays Mr Collins. He does a cute job, is prissy and adoring of his benefactress, plus says overt things that make Darby appear much to the advantage. But David Bamber! Nobody can hold a candle to the David Bamber Mr. Collins...
Oh, and the retooling of that awful Lady Catherine de Bourgh! It's masterful! I loved it, loved how it changed the plot some, and loved especially who they got to play the part. It's worthy of its own spin-off movie, it's so rich.
I enjoyed Lilly James, so sweet in the live-action Disney CINDERELLA last year, with dark hair as Lizzy Bennett. I would say she made the most attractive Mr. Eliza Bennett I've ever seen (and I've seen plenty). I even believed her mad zombie-fighting skills! She was cool as a fighter and as a Regency Era woman who's told to seek a husband. But there's a weird thing where, with the dark hair, she often resembles the AT&T ad girl who sells unlimited data. So I got taken out of the movie several times thinking about that. Coincidence: That ad character's name is Lily Adams!