PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES Review

Say what you will, but I've never read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. That said, I've clearly become familiar with the story over the years and have seen some of the many adaptations namely Joe Wright's 2005 film starring Kiera Knightley. Say what you will, but I did read Seth Grahame-Smith's 2010 novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and kind of loved it, but the 2012 movie adaptation was less than satisfying. Given I knew Grahame-Smith's debut novel would also get the movie treatment I decided not to give it a look with the fact I'd never read Austen's original text also weighing on my decision. And so, going into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I looked forward to seeing if a film version of one of Grahame-Smith's parody/mashup novels could be turned into an entertaining movie or if it would still be little more than a good idea even without knowing the depth of the original text. Of course, much of Grahame-Smith's novel from which this film is based is apparently text taken directly from the Austen classic only with elements of modern zombie fiction inserted throughout. So, one could say if you know Pride and Prejudice it isn't hard to imagine what Pride and Prejudice and Zombies might be. That's true. It isn't. Strangely enough though, it isn't the fact the story doesn't have to be outrageously creative in order to weave the zombie narrative through it, but more simply how much the movie embraces that aspect. Director Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, 17 Again) has crafted a film with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, but does so without ever going too far. Sure, the movie is aware of what it is, but it never becomes a parody of itself in that it goes to certain lengths to highlight its unique premise while never giving cause to laugh at it. In short, the film is cool enough to laugh with us at its absurdities and for that it packs a fun enough punch as far as action/adventure movies go. All in all though, the film is simply decent. While it exudes style at certain points and embraces itself fully that still doesn't necessarily mean it executes itself well and when it comes to following through on the promise of the premise with such spectacle this film version falls short and unfortunately feels rather fatigued by the time we cross the finish line.

Teaser Trailer for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES

While I read Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and enjoyed it I was of course less ecstatic about the 2012 feature film adaptation. What I haven't read is Grahame-Smith's 2009 novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the one that put him on the map and made his whole "thing" the mashing together of classic literature and historical fiction with staples of the horror genre. It's a pretty ingenious idea and it clearly worked as the books seemed to be well received, but having not read the new version of Jane Austen's novel (who Grahame-Smith credits as a co-author) I'm curious to see if this film turns out any better than that other Grahame-Smith adaptation. The story essentially follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice, but places the novel in an alternate universe version of Regency era England where zombies roam the English countryside. While the trailer is merely a teaser and more or less is a compilation of quick action shots it certainly gets it's tone across by opening as if little more than another Austen adaptation before switching things up. This is an expected twist if you know what's coming, but one I'd think many will find a fair amount of fun in if they're seeing it for the first time in a movie theater and are unaware of what trailer might play next. The look of the film seems to be top-notch and given I really enjoyed Lily James in this years live-action Cinderella film I'm anxious to see what she does with a role that's completely opposite the sweet and innocent Disney princess facade. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies also stars Ellie Bamber, Millie Brady, Bella Heathcote, Suki Waterhouse, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Lena Headey, Charles Dance and opens on February 5th, 2016.

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Review

It has been seven years since the original Zack Snyder 300 hit the big screen and the big question surrounding its belated follow-up was always going to be if the novelty of the look of the film had worn off. It was a worthy concern as it seems every major action film since has if not taken cues from the tone of the color palette and enhanced nature of it all than at least the slo-mo of the action that then speeds up to real time, making the strikes from spear to flesh all the more cringe-inducing. It was something fresh and new at the time, Snyder coming off his big win that was the Dawn of the Dead re-make and taking notes from Robert Rodriguez, but going in a different direction and one that would become more of a cultural mainstay than the more cult-worthy Sin City. Like that graphic novel, 300 was also adapted from a Frank Miller work and while Rise of an Empire doesn't take its marching orders from any pre-written comic book it at least tries to make-up for the lack of originality in the visuals by pushing the narrative to more complicated, layered lengths than the original. While 300 was never a film that needed a sequel and really deserved not to have one as a proper sequel could never be concocted Rise of an Empire ultimately gives us the events that surround the actions of the Spartans as they chose not to cooperate with the rest of Greece to fight off the invading Persians. It comes to light even more than it did in 300 that if the Spartans were anything but brave, they were arrogant and in many ways the events documented in this second film minimize the glory and honor that many in the audience no doubt imagined went along with Leonidas and his brave three hundred's beautiful deaths. They went into battle expecting death, but left their women and children with the likelihood of being turned into slaves by Persians anyway? It doesn't make much sense and ultimately seems selfish in order to adhere to the code of how they were raised than anything resembling bravery, but the good thing of all this is realizing Rise of an Empire stirred some thought in me and invoked a reaction and participation with the film I never expected to have.

First Trailer for 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

It was hard to decide when Warner Bros. moved the sequel to Zack Snyder's breakout film 300, 300: Rise of an Empire, from this August to next March whether that was due to something having to do with the production or the quality. As we have received the first and more extensive first trailer today it seems there is something to believe in here and shifting the release from a late Summer, easily disregarded date to match the release of the original in that now coveted first weekend of March might mean good things for audiences who enjoyed the first film. As a 20 year-old male I dug the highly stylized action and as a film student found the film visually striking. Though it also is one of the finest examples of style over substance there is plenty to enjoy and looking back on it six years later it holds up rather well. The trailer is no doubt debuting so far ahead of its release date to the fact Snyder was a producer this time around and his latest,a little film you may have heard of called Man of Steel, is opening this weekend. Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo from the first film) narrates most of the trailer here as the story is said to take place around the same time as the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Based on Frank Millers latest graphic novel "Xerxes" and directed by Noam Murro (Smart People) we follow Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton of Animal Kingdom) as he leads an army against Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) as they take to the high seas that leads to a confrontation with Artemisia (Eva Green) the commander of the Persian navy. The visual style seems to be intact and the battle scenes look to be as blood-splatteringly graphic as those we witnessed under Snyder's helm. I wasn't expecting much from this sequel that probably should have come along much sooner if it was going to capitalize on the momentum of the first, but given the trailer looks much better than I expected and I'm interested to see how this turns out. What do you think? Will it have been worth the wait? Hit the jump to check out the trailer and let me know what you think. 300: Rise of an Empire opens on March 7, 2014.

THE PURGE Review

When Ethan Hawke showed up in last years legitimately scary Sinister I was happy to see the actor branch out slightly and give the genre picture a go. I was also glad he paired with the director of one of my other favorite scary movies of the last ten years, The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Upon seeing the first trailers and promotional materials for The Purge though I thought he might have jumped in head first too quickly and began splurging on the kinds of roles in the kinds of movies that might eventually end up in the five dollar bin. While this second trip into scary movie-land is not as intriguing or mysterious as the aforementioned Sinister it has an interesting enough premise to draw people towards it (and the creepy, over exaggerated face masks are always a plus in home invasion thrillers). Director James DeMonaco, who has only directed one previous feature before this, has also composed a script that contains a fair amount of potential in the points it is trying to make and the message it is trying to get across, but unfortunately we never really see any of the gritty realities of this new found way of life. No, instead of diving into that real potential the film could have brought to the experience it instead quickly dissolves into that standard home invasion film where we see every plot twist coming and every supposed scare is as obvious as how this whole thing is going to end up. There were times the movie almost had me fooled, had me thinking it was going to go a different way, but heaven forbid it do such a thing as to dare to make the audience unhappy. This timid nature ultimately results in the most typical conclusion led up to by the least surprising and least effective set of circumstances. Worse than all of this is the fact there are no likable characters here. We don't like our supposed protagonists from the beginning because they've succumbed to this annual event that makes little sense and we don't like their kids or their new enemies because they all make dumb decisions. In the end, there is only one word that comes to mind when I reflect on what this turned out to be: pointless.