Douglas Adams’ beloved ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ finally has been made into a major motion picture, following the radio series, the towel, the computer game, the TV show and the other radio series. But will it join the short list of beloved novels turned into good movies, or will it disappoint long time fans?
The Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic highway and only one man survives – Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), thanks to his friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def). Luckily for Arthur, Ford is an alien, and an experienced intergalactic hitchhiker who knows the importance of bringing a towel.
Arthur soon comes to find that the rest of Universe is just as crazy as the Earth. And there’s not a cup of tea to be found anywhere. Luckily, Ford knows Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), the President of the Galactic Government. Unfortunately, Zaphod has a few enemies. What follows is a series of adventures with the ‘help’ of Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) and Marvin, the depressed robot.
When making a sci-fi comedy, there is a danger of having the special effects dominate, because of audience expectations. But debutante director Garth Jennings manages to give us a comedy that isn’t overshadowed by the effects. Which is not to say they aren’t impressive, but simply that the effects aren’t there to impress, but serve the story.
The casting of Martin Freeman (BBC’s The Office) is perfect. Some of the others not so much, except maybe Zooey Deschanel (Elf).
The fact that the running time of the film makes it an abridged version of Adams’ book doesn’t bode well in the hearts of fans. Yet, the film, which was green-lit after Adams’ untimely death, is highly enjoyable. The throw-away social commentary in the book is mostly gone. But this film is great entertainment for the whole family. And is more than we deserve, as the third most intelligent species on the planet.
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