19th century, England. A terrible pestilence is turning humans into putrid undead, and for this reason many are trained in self-defense from childhood. The noble Bennet family is no exception, whose five young daughters are taught martial arts. Among them stands out Elizabeth, whom her mother would like to marry to Mr. Darcy, a close friend of Mr. Bingley, to whom Elizabeth's older sister, Jane, is promised. Elizabeth is firmly against the marriage, although she values Darcy for his skills in killing zombies. But when the undead threat advances towards the city, the Bennet sisters and Darcy will have to set aside pride and prejudice to unite their forces against a common enemy.
In 2009, the young writer/comic book writer/screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith achieved editorial success with the novel "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," in which, following the advice of his editor who suggested anchoring to something classic to avoid paying copyright fees, he made his own the famous work of Jane Austen and blended it with the current zombie craze. The success was such that the film was immediately optioned for a cinematic adaptation, which attracted the interest of actress Natalie Portman, as a producer. The film's production was particularly troubled, meanwhile Seth Grahame-Smith wrote a second novel "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," which immediately became a film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and produced by Tim Burton.
But in the end, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" managed to reach the cinema under the direction of Burr Steers, who has a past as an actor for horror cinema ("Intruder – Faceless Terror") and for Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs") and as a director for the teen movie with Zac Efron "17 Again".
"PPZ – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," as the film is titled with an obvious wink to the blockbuster with Brad Pitt "WWZ," is a decidedly unsuccessful product because it fails to find the right balance between Austen and horror that Grahame-Smith had managed to convey in the novel.
Let's start with an observation that in itself has a bit of the whole meaning of the operation and the reason for the "failure": "PPZ – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is a PG-13 and is made to primarily satisfy a
teenage audience. We are absolutely not in the territory of the nefarious young adult trend, but, in some respects, Steers' film comes out almost as a complementary operation. After all, there is a lot of "Pride and Prejudice" and very little "Zombies" in this film, showing an imbalance in favor of the romantic dimension inherent in Austen's work, leaving the viewer who expected flesh-hungry undead with a dry mouth.
The zombies are present, at times they have an even disturbing look (although the CGI corrections are not always pleasingly successful), unfortunately they have a sometimes mimetic behavior that generates confusion and shows indecision of intent, but that damned PG-13 ruins everything and makes the attempt to horrify a rather cloying pink story vain (that Austen from beyond does not hold it against us!). During the almost two hours of "PPZ – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" not a single drop of blood flows, all the killings are out
of frame and the blades of the swords, after impaling and cutting, are always shown unrealistically clean. And this, in the era of television undead of "The Walking Dead," is really serious!
The attention to the pink component is also underlined by precise casting choices that place in the role of Elizabeth Bennet the beautiful and talented Lily James, known for the TV series "Downton Abbey" and especially for the Disney film "Cinderella," and put her next to Sam Riley, who played the magical raven in the other Disney live-action "Maleficent," and the inexpressive idol of young girls Douglas Booth, seen in "Posh" and "Romeo & Juliet." To top it off, there's also Matt Smith, one of the most beloved Doctors of the series "Doctor Who," who adds a touch of humor, and then two class actors who come directly from "Game of Thrones," the Lannisters Charles Dance and Lena Headey, who add professionalism but confirm the intention of a mirage.
And then there is this rushed screenplay where an attempt is made to condense nearly 400 pages into less than two hours and there is a strong sense of summary, with unclear passages, characters who disappear before our eyes, important events treated superficially and, above all, underdeveloped characters... including the protagonists.
Here and there there are also some well-executed insights, such as the flies to identify the undead (detail invented specifically for the film) and the basic concept is in itself appealing, sufficiently bizarre to be remembered beyond the success or failure of the work.
In the end, the prevailing feeling is that of a huge wasted opportunity, because by not ghettoizing in the PG-13 and with a more accurate screenplay, a memorable horror blockbuster could have emerged!
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