Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | The Female Kingsmen?
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Director: Burr Steers | Starring: Lily James, Sam Riley, Jack Huston
Run-Time: 108 minutes | Rating: PG-13 | Score: 2/5
In 2010, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was released in a world obsessed with zombies. During that time, PPZ was in development…..for a really long time.
Now, in 2016, the zombie trend may not be at its height, but fierce leading females sure are.
Adapting the classic novel by Jane Austen, this time with a twist, we see the Bennet sisters not only looking for potential husbands, but weapons to defend themselves against the undead. Taking lengthy lines from its original source, DO NOT go into it expecting a gore fest. While there is definitely a lot of action, it really only totals for about 15% of the film.
The movie, then, feels like a spoof meant for fans of the original novel, being able to chuckle at the “tea” scenes being swapped out for training montages.
The action itself is not choreographed well, with the actors being forced to not pass a certain part of the frame without getting in the way of the apparent green screen. The females are fierce, the males are wimps, and the zombies are forced. I mean, they bring up “zombie politics” and even show them keeping mass at church. Yeah, I have no idea either.
Lily James is a formidable lead and Matt Smith is definitely the standout with the “comedy-hour” that he’s given, but by the end credits, the movie can’t reach beyond fans of the original source. Even then, they might be put off by the gore while everyone else is put off by its even heftier exposition.
