Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - A one trick flick

I was in two minds as to whether this film was for me.  On the one hand, I’ve watched every zombie film ever made (even the really bad ones that most people hate!).  On the other hand, I’ve never seen Jane Austin’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and I’m guessing she wasn’t made a producer on this filmic adaptation (see, that’s how much I know about that side of the genre – she is still alive, right?).

In case you’re not aware from the kind of self-explanatory title ‘Pride and Prejudice with Zombies’ this is a kind of mash up based on the classic tale, only throwing the undead into the mix for… er comedy’s sake I guess.  I saw a few reviews of the film and the general take was that (believe it or not) it was actually quite a faithful version of the original text.  And, by that I’m saying that it keeps to the original story’s structure – even though I haven’t reads it I’m pretty there weren’t armies of flesh-eating ghouls rampaging through the Home Counties in Jane Austin’s original vision.  However, because I’ve never read the source material (or watched anything with Colin Firth in) I can’t really comment on how accurate the story really is.  All I know is that every once in a while, a load of zombies turn up and start trying to eat people, then the corset-wearing starlets all suddenly turn into Milla Jovovich from the ‘resident Evil’ franchise and start hacking the zombies to death with comparative ease (and stylish visual camera work).

And that’s about it really.  It’s a period piece interspersed with bits of zombie-slaughter.  Yes, it’s quite funny that a classic work of literature has been ‘reimagined’ in this way and the genres mixed, but, once you get over the initial cleverness of it all, there really isn’t enough left for anyone.  My mum loves Pride and Prejudice, but I can’t see her really wanting to sit through this film.  I love zombie films, but once the passing novelty of a ‘period zombie film’ had faded (and it does quite quickly) there was nothing here that I hadn’t really already seen before.

Basically, if you’re looking for a period piece, watch a ‘proper’ adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.  If you want a zombie film, watch ‘The Walking Dead’ or one of George R Romero’s original trilogy.  This is the sort of film that you could watch the trailer and see all the best bits included.

However, although I’m probably sounding like I totally hated the film, I didn’t.  It’s not a bad film, just not as original as it wants to be (and I wished it was!).  Plus you have Matt Smith.  Now I never was that fussed for him as a Doctor Who, but I thought every line he delivered was done with great comic timing and he really did lighten the mood considerably.  Not bad, just a bit forgettable. 

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back