Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Movie Review

Clare

I'll be honest and say I did not like the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I know a lot of people do but I could never get into the writing style and it is one of the few books I have ever left unfinished. So I was a little nervous about watching the film but the trailers looked amazing, and Ann was keen to see it so I swallowed my misgivings and went. 

And I loved it. The plot was superbly done - separate enough from Austen's original that it didn't become awkward but close enough that it maintained the spirit of it. The acting, as could be expected from such a great cast, was well done and very subtle in some ways. I have no doubt that rewatching the film would show plenty of tiny hints of whats to come. At first I'll admit I wasn't entirely convinced by Sam Riley as Mr Darcy but I gave him a chance and by the time he had met Elizabeth I was fully on his side. He may even be my favourite portrayal so far (sorry Colin Firth). He had a more sympathetic side and backstory and his actions with regards to Elizabeth were, I felt, more understandable in a lot of ways. He also had the best Mr Darcy character growth I have yet seen.

Lily James was undoubtedly my favourite Elizabeth. Which may be because there is a part of me that has always wanted to see Lizzie kick Mr Darcy across the room after his first proposal (you can't say he didn't deserve it) or it might just be because she came across as both stronger and more vulnerable and she showed more concern here for her sisters than I have ever seen, usually she is very Jane-centric and ignores the others. 

If I had one complaint its that, due to the slight plot change, we do lose some of the characters. Georgiana never makes an appearance (except in Darcy's letter) and neither does Colonel Darcy - since Mr Darcy has now become a Colonel in the fight against zombies. But I think I would have been more upset if them being included had made the plot long winded or made it make less sense.

This adaptation definitely wont be for everyone. If you are not a fan of gore (mild but there) or zombies or just don't want Austen's original to be changed in any way - then this probably isn't for you. But if you are OK with all those things and you want to see some amazing characters and some great zombie fighting scenes - then see it. Please. And let me know what you think.

Ann:

I was so excited to see this movie as it sounded so good and from the trailer it seemed to be my kind of film with out to many parts that jump out at you. However the extreme detail of the zombies faces was incredible, the deaths of the zombies was also brilliant. This film definitely did not disappoint. 

At first Darcy does not seem all that attractive and just seems to be very rude and terrible. However as the film goes on he grows on you as he changes as a person. I love how he changes as he realises that that so far he hasn't been all that nice. I also really liked how Darcy was first introduced and also how it is mentioned later on in the film as he says he doesn't want to make the same mistake that he had made.

I really enjoyed that there was elements of comedy as well as the action and horror and of course the romance. It was all in all a combination of all the things that I love in the films. The letter that Darcy wrote to Lizzie was done really well and I started to feel a bit sorry for him at that moment cause he was realizing that he's made a lot of mistakes in his life but after she rejected him he starts to change his ways but realises that it is to late for him and that he will probably never deserve her love in this life. 

It was amazing how many times the women in the film saved the men and not the other way around. I also loved the first fighting scene that all the sisters were in as it made them look so bad-ass. It was amazing cause Darcy and Bingley were just kind of stood watching them fighting like oh okay then we'll just stand hear and watch!

I cannot think of a single thing that I didn't like about it. It was incredible how they managed to write the zombies in to the story without changing too much of the original plot of the book. As well as that all the characters were very well presented and I loved all of them. 

Overall I recommend you all go and see it and if I could I would go to the cinema and re-watch it but sadly I cannot afford to so I am just going to have to wait for it to come out of DVD so that I can watch it again and again until I can quote it word for word! It would nice to talk to some of you who have seen it so let me know what you thought of it.

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare) to keep up with what we are reading