“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
As beautifully stated in Jane Austen’s original masterpiece “Pride and Prejudice,” Seth Grahame-Smith explained the state of zombies in his parody piece. Not only did this reproduction spam a prequel and sequel novel (not written by him), but a feature film. In the film, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” the zombie virus (brought to England by the French, as Mr. Bennett explains) has stricken London to the point that both an inner wall around London and an outer wall around England have been build, leaving a majority of the zombie hordes swarming the land in the middle—the in-between. This doesn’t stop the virus from spreading through London however. Thankfully Col. Darcy has arrived in London with his friend Mr. Bingley to investigate these occurrences.
Meanwhile, the Bennet sisters continue to train under their father in the skills of battle, finding any reason to take down the zombie hordes, knife and pistol always on hand. As in the original Austen classic, Mr. Bingley immediately becomes entranced by Jane Bennet, while Elizabeth and Darcy have nothing but disrespect for each other. This hatred is made even worse by Darcy’s expert swordsmanship and urge to kill anybody bitten or ill, whether or not they appear to be infected—this includes Jane who has been stricken ill by the rain.
What the novel included as tribute to the original—Austen’s language and the same plot and timeline, the film lacks. Instead, the film relies more on the introduction of zombies, focusing on killing and a more action-packed plotline. This is not to say the basic P&P storyline has been removed. Mrs. Bennet’s purpose, marrying off her daughters, is still a major focus. The same relationships are examined, but George Wickham’s dastardly nature is proven even worse by his newest involvement in the war with the zombies. This involvement escalates to a new scene not found in either Austen or Grahame-Smith’s novels, in which Darcy and Wickham engage in their own mêlée with each other on the battlegrounds after learning his disgraceful relationship with Lydia was much worse than was known to the public.
Despite these changes, the actors’ portrayals of these characters lack nothing to be desired. When the film was initially announced, Natalie Portman was named as a potential lead, which in my opinion was a perfect choice as Elizabeth Bennett, especially in an action movie like this. As time went one Portman stepped down as lead, staying on as a producer. This let Lily James (Cinderella, Downtown Abbey) take on the role and succeed as a sword-swinging Lizzie. Along with Sam Riley (Maleficent) as Darcy, Lena Heady (Game of Thrones) as Lady Catherine De Bourgh, and Matt Smith (THE DOCTOR) as one of the best versions of Mr. Collins I have seen in a while, this movie blends zombies and the classic Austen novel perfectly.