Review of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Year: 2005 Reviewer: Chris Docker
When major cult characters are transferred to the big screen there can be inevitable problems. What works on TV, radio or paperback may not quite come off when it 'goes big', with vast amounts of money thrown at it and the critical attention of the millions of fans who have got to know it in a homely and lovable way - not to mention the cinema going hordes who see it for the first time and form a fast judgement.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is based on a story by the late Douglas Adams' (who also helped with the screenplay). It follows the haphazard adventures of earth-geek Arthur Dent and his crony Ford Prefect. Ford Prefect soon turns out to be not altogether human, but an alien who is researching a new edition of the galaxy's best selling book (from which the title of our story is taken). The two become closer buddies by circumstances - especially being thrown together as the earth is demolished to make way for an intergalactic highway.
The film is less sci-fi than oddball comedy. It has more in common with 3rd Rock from the Sun (or even Monty Python) than mainstream spaceship stories. The zany characters - Trillian, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Vogons, Slartibartfast - appear in rapid succession with even zanier gadgets and situations like flying dolphins, a chronically depressed robot, and the Infinite Improbability Drive.
Most of the audience will love it or hate it with very little in between. For many fans, it's a chance to touch base with many lovable characters, quite well acted for the most part, and have a 'Hitchhiker Fix' that will work, alone or in company of other addicts, and even for repeat viewings. Newcomers may just revel in almost two hours of utter silliness. For others, it will be a travesty of the original, a mindless money-making exercise that disembowels a unique creation and serves up dross. There is no pause for reflection, very little character or context building, nothing that can be called mind-provoking. The Disney 'plot-police' have served up the mere empty husks of genius, forced too much material into the time available to make any of it digestible, and given us a movie that provokes subdued chuckles rather than gut wrenching laughter. Where Adams' original pulled you in to explore ideas from a totally different perspective, the current movie has less intellectual appeal than Mickey Mouse. With the book you had to stop and wipe the tears of laughter from your ears, but with the film you simply sit there as a panoply of seemingly pointlessly wacky names, gadgets and situations are trotted out in fast succession. Were it not for the legacy of previous incarnations of Hitchhiker's Guide, this offering might be almost dead in the water or straight to video, but with modern market manipulation (ie $$$) and its impeccable provenance, it will pack cinemas and many will go along with the flow and smile enthusiastically.
When I first read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I remember to this day how I literally fell off my bed with laughter - and it was the only time this has ever happened to me. When I watched the movie, I smiled - but I could equally have fallen asleep.
Rating: 5/10
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