This movie is a bit of a surprise to me since I wasn't really expecting much from it. The trailers looked alright but I didn't know if it would be something that I would get into. I wouldn't go so far to say that it's an excellent film or anything like that but I did have a lot of fun with this one. The story is straight up ridiculous but if you go into it expecting a silly story with a little bit of action then I don't see any reason why you wouldn't enjoy yourself. The movie is directed by a guy named Burr Steers who, to be honest, I have no knowledge whatsoever of anything he has done in the past. Still, he did a decent job in my opinion. Let's talk about the plot.
The title of the movie isn't just a reference to the time period. This story is literally a retelling of the original novel written by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) and her sisters live in an alternate version of nineteenth century England where a zombie virus has forced the bulk of the populace behind a wall around London. Elizabeth and her sisters have trained in various styles of martial arts in order to survive in this world. Elizabeth is proud of her ability and refuses to succumb to the temptation of marriage unless her husband respects her wishes and allows her to continue to hone her skills. She soon meets a man named Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) who offends her pride and stands between a successful relationship between his best friend and Elizabeth's sister. Oh, and there are tons of zombies around that everyone occasionally fight against.
I wouldn't call this the best cast I've ever seen but they do a decent enough job. Lily James gives us the haughtiness required of any good Elizabeth and she can also show off the fighting skills necessary to survive the zombie apocalypse. I also enjoyed Sam Riley's Mr. Darcy. Once again, nothing too spectacular but he gives a decent portrayal of the character. I like that they made him a bit unlikable which is how I imagined Mr. Darcy when I first read the novel in high school (the original, I mean). One character that does stand out to me is Matt Smith's portrayal of Parson Collins. I found this guy hilarious with they way he was able to make those around him cringe with his actions or just by saying whatever came into his head. He might actually be one of the best parts of the film.
There are a lot of spooky looking forests in this movie that help to set the tone pretty well. I did find myself wondering why everyone keeps taking shortcuts through this ridiculously dangerous forest though. I really enjoyed the actual look of the zombies. The zombies that haven't eaten any human flesh yet actually retain the ability to speak which is really unsettling (and a bit comedic) from some of these creatures. The faces of some of them are straight up falling off the skull and they look surprisingly convincing.
One thing that I wasn't aware of at first but this movie follows the original story very closely. I thought the title was just a reference to the time period but a lot of this film is straight up conversations made from Jane Austen. They just tweaked the plot to allow for all the zombies and other mayhem going on. I was surprised by this at first but it actually works well. The movie is still silly and is a bit difficult to take seriously but it does have some really fun parts to it. This obviously won't be for everyone but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I do think it works even better to come into the film already having knowledge of the original story just so you can see how many things they changed and what they kept the same. I recommend it to fans of the original that just so happen to enjoy an average to good zombie flick. It kind of reminds me of that Victor Frankenstein movie that came out a little while ago. Not a fantastic film but still offers a fun time at the theater.
The title of the movie isn't just a reference to the time period. This story is literally a retelling of the original novel written by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) and her sisters live in an alternate version of nineteenth century England where a zombie virus has forced the bulk of the populace behind a wall around London. Elizabeth and her sisters have trained in various styles of martial arts in order to survive in this world. Elizabeth is proud of her ability and refuses to succumb to the temptation of marriage unless her husband respects her wishes and allows her to continue to hone her skills. She soon meets a man named Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) who offends her pride and stands between a successful relationship between his best friend and Elizabeth's sister. Oh, and there are tons of zombies around that everyone occasionally fight against.
I wouldn't call this the best cast I've ever seen but they do a decent enough job. Lily James gives us the haughtiness required of any good Elizabeth and she can also show off the fighting skills necessary to survive the zombie apocalypse. I also enjoyed Sam Riley's Mr. Darcy. Once again, nothing too spectacular but he gives a decent portrayal of the character. I like that they made him a bit unlikable which is how I imagined Mr. Darcy when I first read the novel in high school (the original, I mean). One character that does stand out to me is Matt Smith's portrayal of Parson Collins. I found this guy hilarious with they way he was able to make those around him cringe with his actions or just by saying whatever came into his head. He might actually be one of the best parts of the film.
There are a lot of spooky looking forests in this movie that help to set the tone pretty well. I did find myself wondering why everyone keeps taking shortcuts through this ridiculously dangerous forest though. I really enjoyed the actual look of the zombies. The zombies that haven't eaten any human flesh yet actually retain the ability to speak which is really unsettling (and a bit comedic) from some of these creatures. The faces of some of them are straight up falling off the skull and they look surprisingly convincing.
One thing that I wasn't aware of at first but this movie follows the original story very closely. I thought the title was just a reference to the time period but a lot of this film is straight up conversations made from Jane Austen. They just tweaked the plot to allow for all the zombies and other mayhem going on. I was surprised by this at first but it actually works well. The movie is still silly and is a bit difficult to take seriously but it does have some really fun parts to it. This obviously won't be for everyone but I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I do think it works even better to come into the film already having knowledge of the original story just so you can see how many things they changed and what they kept the same. I recommend it to fans of the original that just so happen to enjoy an average to good zombie flick. It kind of reminds me of that Victor Frankenstein movie that came out a little while ago. Not a fantastic film but still offers a fun time at the theater.