It hasn’t been that long since movie goers were treated to
the film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s turn on our famous president with
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. Grahame-Smith has written several novels now
that take a well-known subject or book and adds something supernatural to it.
That LINCOLN was the first to be made into a film is surprising since the book
this film is based on was published first. But with the success of that first
film this one has been made. But is that a good thing or bad?
The book and film take their source material from the famed
classic novel by Jane Austen that focused on the morality and lifestyles of the
landed gentry in England, focusing on a family whose daughters are seeking
matrimonial partners. As if that wasn’t enough of a story this time around the
setting is altered in a world where a zombie plague has taken on most of
England and those that have survived not only have to deal with the day to day
life of noble men and women but the chance of getting eaten by zombies as well.
The Bennet family has five daughters all at an age where
they are ripe for marriage. Elizabeth, the second oldest child, has the
possibility of being courted by Mr. Darcy, a friend of Mr. Bingley who is
interested in Elizabeth’s older sister Jane. As the courting goes back and
forth it also includes Parson Collins, a cousin of the Bennets who has his eye
on Elizabeth as well. If this wasn’t enough an ex-friend of Mr. Darcy, Mr.
Wickham, also has eyes for Elizabeth.
Mr. Bingley throws a ball for the countryside and all attend
only to have it interrupted by a zombie attack. Rather than become the demure
ladies that are expected the Bennet sisters are fierce warriors capable of
taking care of not only themselves but those around them as well. Armed to the
teeth they take down zombies left and right during the attack.
A traitor to his/her own kind exist among the loaded gentry
and has sided with the zombies in the hope of some sort of co-existence between
the living and the undead. The zombies are fairly harmless until the taste
human blood and can exist on pig’s blood. But the chances of them never being
exposed and what would happen after are the main fear of the remaining humans.
So the story here basically moves back and forth between a
romance and horror film with comedic elements surrounding both. Does it work?
In some cases but for the most part this film has jumped on the zombie
bandwagon as the genre is fading from sight. With the exception of the still
popular THE WALKING DEAD zombies have once more fallen out of favor and have
grown tedious rather than horrifying. The same holds true for the gore effects
that accompany these films. They may be well done and offer a few new sights
for gore fans here but for the most part they’ve become boring.
The movie has a nice look to it and the set design and
costuming are top notch. Unfortunately due to the subject matter my guess is
that Oscar will not come calling for those who worked in those departments here
though no matter how good a job they’ve done. The cinematography is excellent
and we get clear views of all that goes on even though most evening shots
inside are illuminated in the scene by candles only. The acting is well done by
all involved and the direction is fine. But in the end it still feels as if
something is missing.
I will say that my biggest complaint was the sound. Once
again we have a movie where every sound involved is blasting from the speakers
with the exception of dialogue, the one thing that we want to hear above the
rest and as clear as possible. My viewing experience with this film ended up
with subtitles running throughout just so I could know what the actors were
saying. For some reason this seems to be the norm rather than the exception these
days with most Hollywood films. I remember reading how Robert Altman was hailed
when he championed this sort of sound mix beginning with his film MCCABE AND
MRS. MILLER. For me it becomes a distraction rather than something that helps
in developing a mood or setting.
Some will enjoy this movie because they love Jane Austen and
the romantic novels of her time. Some will love it because they still crave
zombie films. And some will find it interesting to watch and see how the two
genres are combined, one of the higher points of the film and the novels. In
the end though the movie is one worth watching but not something I think I
would want to keep around and watch over and over again. It might be worth a
rent though and possibly better than some of the alternatives.
Click here to order.
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