PPZ: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

During the 18th century, prosperous England was overrun by a plague of brain-eating zombies. The King retreated behind a high wall around London. The Royal Canal was built as a moat and the land between the two is called the In-Between. The landed gentry is secured behind their fortified estates. It became fashionable to train in the eastern martial arts. The higher class trained in Japan while the Bennet sisters became skilled fighters in China. Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) is put-off by the hard coldness of Colonel Darcy (Sam Riley). Her sister Jane Bennet (Bella Heathcote) is taken with Mr. Bingley but their budding relationship is broken up by Darcy. Darcy's aunt is the admired warrior Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lena Headey). Bumbling Parson Collins (Matt Smith) visits his cousin Elizabeth but she can't accept his proposal. They are visited by soldier George Wickham (Jack Huston) who reveals Darcy's evil history.

This movie faces a tough problem. There are people who like Jane Austen. There are people who like zombies. There are few people where these two circles of interest intersect. I found the insistent to pull these Pride characters into this world while maintaining their inherent traits compelling. It has zombies but the best action scene happens without zombies. The fight between Elizabeth and Darcy encapsulates their relationship perfectly. The climatic fight against Wickham is less compelling. It's visually less interesting outside in a random field. Overall, I think people unfamiliar with Pride will get lost and Pride fans are not naturally zombie fans. This is a tough sell.