The beloved Jane Austen book, Pride and Prejudice, has recently been remade, once again, into a movie. This time, however, it has a twist: zombies. Based off of the best-selling book by Seth Grahame-Smith (and, of course, Jane Austen), the new movie release has Austen fans on the edge of their seats, wondering if this reimagining of the famous tale will do it justice. The cherished characters, dark humor, and well-known plot-line is filled with hordes of the undead showing up at inopportune times. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are both well-accomplished zombie-slayers in their own right, and their love story is made all the more sweet with the two saving each other from zombies several times.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, like other classic movies that have been redone these past few years, has come under much criticism. People have declared it “dull,” “boring,” and “silly.” (Personally, I enjoyed it, but that’s not what this article is about.) Other people found it clever and witty, with enough action and gore to add to the movie. Not to mention the gorgeous scenery and outfits which are always fun to look at.
However, as I said before, that is not the point of this article. Whether Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was good or not, the question remains―should we continue redoing famous movies? My question comes on the coattails of other fan-favorites that have recently been redone―Grease: Live, The Wiz, and Cinderella. Mary Poppins, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and The Little Mermaid are all currently in the works to be redone also. Not to mention classic tales are also being given a supernatural edge, such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Little Women and Werewolves.
So many famous and classic tales are being remade. Where will it end? I’m not sure that it will. When will these remakes cross the line from being fun and well-done into offensive and just plain bad to the original’s work? How will Mary Poppins be received? An entire generation grew up on this movie with the incredible Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Will the new actors even be able to compare? How many people will be angry that Disney is even trying? Personally, I’m worried about when they attempt to remake The Wizard of Oz. Who could ever compare to Judy Garland?
How many live-action movies are there going to be? Recently, I found out that the animated version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was a remake of a live-action version. Are they going to do a remake of a remake?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed the remakes so far. I’m just worried about when they go too far. I don’t want Hollywood to ruin amazing movies. Did we really need a remake of Footloose? (I haven’t seen either the original or the new one, so I truly don’t know. Did we need one?) Are they going to remake Dirty Dancing or Breakfast at Tiffany’s? (Who could ever dream to replace Patrick Swayze or Audrey Hepburn?) Maybe this isn’t as big of a deal as I’m making it out to be, but it’s a big deal to me. Maybe the remakes do help bring classic movies alive for the younger generation, but I personally feel like nothing can compare to the original.