I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. I have fought against my better judgement, my family’s expectations, the inferiority of this movie by rank and critic’s review. All these things I am willing to put aside.
I love Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
I’m just as surprised as anyone else, believe me. I can typically tell when I’m going to dislike a movie before seeing it (which might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but that’s a different discussion), and I immediately wrote off this movie based on a book that’s a spinoff of another book. My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever. How dare someone take Pride and Prejudice and ruin it with guts and brains and zombies?
I can’t tell you what possessed me to go see this movie. It didn’t get very good reviews and it simply looked stupid. But I was entirely wrong about it, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that. I was completely sold by the time the Bennet sisters were getting ready for the dance by strapping swords under their dresses and slipping knives into their boots.
The girls in this movie are fighters- and good ones too. It’s so fun to watch them take down zombies, protect their family and save the boys. And they do it in corsets.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies somehow strikes a perfect balance between Jane Austen and an action movie. There’s just enough fighting and just enough romance to keep everyone satisfied, and sometimes the two are mixed. (I never realized how entertaining it would be to see Elizabeth and Jane Bennet practicing their fighting on each other while talking about Mr. Bingley and Darcy).
The cast of this movie is excellent. Lily James is smart, fierce and beautiful and everything that Elizabeth Bennet should be. It took me a bit to warm up to Sam Riley as the zombie-hunting Mr. Darcy, but maybe that’s just because he plays the part too well. Doctor Who’s Matt Smith absolutely kills it as Mr. Collins and steals nearly every scene he’s in. He had me and my friends laughing out loud.
I think this movie’s downfall came from people like me thinking it was stupid, but also from the trailer. It tries to pass the film as all dark and dramatic- which it can be at some points- but overall this movie is just really funny. The idea of Jane Austen mixing with zombies is ridiculous, and the movie fully embraces that. Go into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and don’t take it too seriously. I promise it’ll be infinitely more enjoyable.
That being said- I was impressed with how well they managed to follow the story of Pride and Prejudice while also incorporating the zombie plot. To much of my own shock, this is probably my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice now. It maintains the witty cleverness and tension-filled love story perfectly. There are just some zombies thrown in for fun. It definitely makes the movie more exciting than other adaptations.
I honestly didn’t want this movie to end, and as soon as it finished I wanted to watch it again. I’ve already seen it twice in theaters. It’s at the top of my “Buy Immediately Upon DVD Release” list and I’m constantly battling the undying urge to go see it again. I just love it.
From an idea that I considered barely tolerable to one of my favorite movies, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is incredibly fun and surprisingly good. Anyone with a brain will love it.
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