PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES (2016)

10/22/17 -Pride, Prejudice and Zombies (2016) -  3/10

It begins on a high note, with a tremendous opening info dump. Both clever and artistic… Then the movie really starts and we get to choose from ridiculously flashy action, stodgy Austenian melodrama, and truly undead film-making, both cumbersome and lifeless.

The colors seem over-saturated, conflicts overly flashy, and the style overwrought. Everything is exaggerated and in your face. The breasts are pushed up, the effects popping out, and my spiritless disdain boiling over.

The mixture and juxtaposition of stuffy British romantic melodrama and bloody action set pieces did not really work, despite the conceptual playfulness inherent. It’s an idea that sounds better at a pitch meeting than it does up on a big screen.

Most redeeming quality is the picturesque depiction of beautiful zombies. Unique and inventive costumed undead. It also had likable small roles for Matt Smith and Lena Headey.

The plot got more convoluted and unexplained as it went along. Emotionally irrelevant and inert in story. The strangest and biggest problem is that it was boring. It had the seasoning and preparation of a piece of wood. Dull and perfunctory, without excitement in the relationships or engagement in a single battle. It simply shambled along, never as smart or deliberate as the flesh eaters in the film.