The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Review

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" reviews

Movie

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-03-28 21:56:45

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Bounding about the galaxy has never been as fun--or confusing--as in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams' popular sci-fi novel has finally been brought to the big screen, but something seems to be lost in the jump to hyperspace. Though fans will relish the towels and every manic-depressive line from Marvin the Paranoid Android, the uninitiated may wonder: What's so funny about 42?

Story

Ape descendant Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) gets yanked from the Earth by best friend and alien Ford Prefect (Mos Def) seconds before a Vogon constructor fleet destroys it to make way for a hyperspace expressway. Next thing he knows, Arthur is aboard the Vogon ship, reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (voiced by Stephen Fry) and wondering where he might get some tea. But he and Ford are not in the clear: the Vogons (some of whom look like the nightmarish drawings of Ralph Steadman come to life in S&M leather) want to throw them into the vacuum of space, right after they read some of the third worst poetry in the known universe. Luckily, the spaceship Heart of Gold picks up the stranded hitchhikers in the nick of time. Stolen by the dim but groovy President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), the ship has an Improbability Drive that causes certain mischief, turning the stowaways into loveseats and later two missiles into a bowl of petunias and a sperm whale. Also onboard is doe-eyed Earth girl Tricia ''Trillian'' McMillan (Zooey Deschanel), who previously ditched Arthur at a costume party on Earth to satisfy her wanderlust with Zaphod. The crew then embarks on a quest to find the Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe and Everything after supercomputer Deep Thought (voiced by Helen Mirren) found the answer: 42. On the run and without a home, Arthur discovers that life's true meaning comes from the answers found within.

Acting

The slapstick antics and sharp dialogue evoke enough laughs to make one forget that the characters are rather one-note. Rockwell's Zaphod is a riot at first, but the cheeky smile and devilish winks soon wear thin. Deschanel has little to work with playing Trillian, though it's fun watching her wield a point-of-view gun on Zaphod. Mos Def mumbles some lines but does manage to act like someone from another planet. Freeman does an amiable job playing the fish-out-of-water Earthman but neglects to express the grief and bewilderment of someone who just lost his planet. Even John Malkovich as Humma Kavular--the spiritual leader of a cult awaiting the arrival of the Big Handkerchief--fails to make much of an impression in his brief appearance. Only Alan Rickman as the perpetually glum robot Marvin and Bill Nighy as the stammering planet designer Slartibartfast remain funny without becoming routine--though unfortunately Nighy only appears in the third act. A half-cocked romance between Arthur and Trillian is thrown in for good measure, with the couple merely going through the motions.

Direction

Directed with considerable flair by first-timer Garth Jennings, whose frantic visual style blends well with Adams' ironic wit, the film looks as good as can be. CGI is used to display Adams' universe in ways never seen before: The massive concrete slabs of the Vogon fleet surrounding Earth, the Heart of Gold tricked out in 1960's Formica kitsch, the stark bureaucratic world of Vogosphere and the eye-popping factory floor on Magrathea are all vividly brought to life. Although the graphics of the Guide look more like Internet pop-up ads than stellar entries from the best-selling book in the galaxy, the exposition from the Guide is clever and amusing, though one should brush up on the material prior to viewing. Even with all the stunning visuals, however, the plot is still thin. Jennings and screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run) have trimmed the story--and witty banter--to its barest essentials, leaving out some of the funnier bits to quicken the pace. Memorable exchanges--like the opening battle of wits between Arthur and Mr. Prosser--are reduced to a few meaningless lines, while the always hinted-at love affair between Arthur and Trillian gets the full Hollywood treatment. In the past, Adams, who died of a heart attack in 2001, has allowed the Guide to change and progress with each incarnation, so new additions--like the point-of-view gun and the cult of the Big Handkerchief--are welcomed. But the patchwork of wacky vignettes and neutered banter, particularly between Arthur and Ford, leave one yearning for something more meaningful.

Bottom Line

Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy fans will admire the striking visual effects, laugh at familiar scenes and leave the theater satisfied, though a little disappointed with the left-out bits. But the inside jokes and loopy antics could throw the general population into a panic--a violation of the Guide's golden rule.

Movie

THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 21:09:37

Provider

MRIB

Review

Perfectly timed to capture the current interest, nay hysteria, in quality British sci-fi, Douglas Adams much-loved galactic saga arrives at the cinema after 20 years in gestation.

Just before the Vogon construction fleet obliterates Earth to make way for a hyperspace freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by his best pal, Ford Prefect, who sticks out an interplanetary thumb and cadges the pair a ride off the planet. Hitchhiking across the universe, with towel and babel fish at the ready, they meet head-spinning galactic president Zaphod Beeblebrox, planetary engineer Slartibartfast, fellow Earthling Trillion and Marvin, the Paranoid Android... and get to sample some truly appalling poetry! It's the quest for the eternal question to the answer!

In a role he could've been born for, the great Stephen Fry provides the voice of the eponymous book, Martin Freeman - aka Tim from The Office - is Everyman Arthur, rapper Mos Def the cosmos-wise Prefect and Sam Rockwell the slick Beeblebrox. Screenwriter Carey Kirkpatrick retains the idiosyncratic style of Douglas Adams' original (as well as several of the iconic one-liners), while developing a romantic tussle between Arthur, Trillion and Zaphod, that was only hinted at it first time round (though apparently Adams intended this himself for the movie version).

Visually, Hitchhikers marries the stunning with the simple, moving back and forth between the modest sitcom style to full-blown Hollywood FX-laden epic. The film benefits from the decision of seasoned music video, but virgin movie director, Garth Jennings to create his own sets rather than resort to CGI. Great care and love has gone into fulfilling the weird and wonderful creatures of Adams' imagination, a move which may prove canny in the long term, as CGI effects are so quickly superseded by the next innovation.

Packed with quality quirkiness, good gags and sharp acting from the transatlantic cast (is Martin Freeman drowning in a sea of Hollywood offers?) Hitchhikers will delight the unsceptical cinemagoer. And if any die-hard fans tell you otherwise, remember what Douglas Adams said: "The history of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of idealism, struggle, despair, passion, success, failure, and enormously long lunch breaks".

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Review