Pride And Prejudice And Zombies

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I know exactly what is wrong with this movie: it deviates too much from Seth Grahame-Smith’s book – and for that matter, from Jane Austen’s.

Grahame-Smith’s novel was a clever and funny mash-up that clearly honoured its source material (credit to Quirk Books editor Jason Rekulak, who came up with the idea). Fans of Austen will follow along delightedly, finding all of their favourite bits suddenly transformed by the presence of the undead and the ninja Bennett sisters’ unparalleled fighting skills. It almost feels like untitledAusten left her novel wide open for a zombie attack, having an independent heroine spoiling for a fight and lots of solitary carriage rides through unpopulated areas.

Unfortunately, writer-director Burr Steers thought he knew better than both Grahame-Smith AND Austen, and departs from their material quite substantially. This from the esteemed writer of How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days.

The movie has glimpses of period drama and some real horror gore but has no idea how to unite the two. Instead, it drives toward an action flick, concocting very weird scenarios in which the zombies are not just a plague but a formidable, willful enemy. Lily James acquits herself well as the delightful maxresdefaultMiss Bennett, and seems to remember that she’s supposed to be having fun. The movie, however, takes itself too seriously and winds up being ludicrous. All the juicy bits of Austen’s writing are MIA and the zombies lack bite (it’s rated PG-13) so it rather fails on both counts. The zombies keep looking for brains, but they won’t find any here.

31 thoughts on “Pride And Prejudice And Zombies”

    1. Jay Post author

      I think it might be better received by people who haven’t read Grahame-Smith’s book but the script deviates so far from it it’s frustrating.

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  5. ruth

    I have to disagree w/ you on this one. As a big Austen fan, I actually think it’s quite faithful to P&P and the zombies somehow fits perfectly into the story. It’s meant to be a spoof and an homage at the same time, and that fight scene between Darcy & Lizzie in the first proposal is a hoot!

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      1. ruth

        I bought it after seeing the movie and started reading it, but now I’m already moving on to reading Richard III stuff. I think Grahame-Smith worked closely w/ Burr Steers on this one. I hv to admit I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much as I did if it weren’t for Sam Riley’s Darcy.

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      2. Jay Post author

        I know you crush on him. But the book and the movie are quite different, disappointingly so. I think the book was more faithful to the material and more cheeky about things. Kinda surprising since it just plopped in his lap.

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  6. Summer Reeves

    You seriously had me spitting coffee on my ipad when you said “this from the esteemed writer of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. I am sad to hear the screenwriter thought he knew better, I was looking forward to seeing this… eventually. I must say it takes some big cahones to think you can out-write the divine Miss Austen, thanks for the good laugh 😂
    Summer

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    2. Jay Post author

      And yes. The book sticks a lot closer to Austen. This goes off the beaten path quite a bit, and I was looking forward to some particularly juicy parts that never materialized. Nuts!

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  8. Sean

    The book is great so far. It is such a good fit, I can only wonder how it existed without any zombies in it for so many years. Too bad the movie couldn’t find that same balance.

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  11. shesgotdimples

    Couldn’t agree more!! This was one I literally counted down the days for until DVD release, but after watching it, I realized why it was only shown in select theatres. 😦 Tragic. They even had Matt Smith!! Could have been wonderful…until it wasn’t.

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  12. allendemir

    I’m wondering when we’re going to reach a saturation point with all this zombie stuff. I even remember hearing someone’s proposal for a thesis about some economic theory or whatever involving zombies (“You kids like zombies, right?”). But none of the zombie lovers I know have gotten burned out yet. It makes me think it might have enough staying power to become its own religion like Dudeism or Jediism.

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    1. Jay Post author

      Oh, it’ll burn itself out eventually. I watch The Walking Dead intermittently but am otherwise not much of a zombie hunter, although it probably doesn’t help that so many zombie offerings are, er, brainless.

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  14. curious•pondering

    I also didn’t like it because of Mr.Darcy’s actor…. I tried to like him as I love the original, but I just couldn’t. I will still j to the classic

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