Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie Review:


Four years after his untimely death, Douglas Adams' radio play/books/TV series finally make it to the big screen--with his original screenplay still in here somewhere. The result is raucously enjoyable but also extremely chaotic.

Arthur Dent (Freeman) is a simple Englishman catapulted into an intergalactic adventure when his friend Ford (Def) rescues him just before Earth is destroyed to make way for an interplanetary bypass. They join up with Galactic President Zaphod (Rockwell), earth girl Trillian (Dechanel) and depressed robot Marvin (Davis, with Rickman's voice), bouncing from planet to planet while everyone seeks the answer to life, the universe and everything. If only they knew what the question was.

Director Jennings uses effects cleverly and jams every frame with witty touches. But the editing is far too frenzied; the plot jumps and lurches, and we never get a chance to engage with the characters. The cast is an odd mix, with too many Americans for a purely British story, which adds nothing to the film or its marketing campaign. Freeman has some terrific scenes as Arthur, but is never allowed to fully flesh him out. As planetary designer Slartibartfast, Nighy gives another effortlessly laid-back performance that's probably the best in the film. Fry is perfectly cast as the voice of the Guide. And Def is funny, if you can understand his mumbled dialog. But Rockwell and Deschanel barely register at all--which leaves a big hole where the romantic subplot should be. While Malkovich's camp cameo feels gratuitous and unresolved.

The frantic action keeps us watching, although it's exhausting--like watching a feature-length trailer. It'll work better on repeat viewings. There's a wide range of humour, from a heavy dose of faux Monty Python (the dolphin song, for one) to both subtle irony and manic zaniness. There are only a few scenes that manage to grab us, because they're the only ones allowed to develop (the best is Arthur and Slartibartfast's journey through the warehouse). The film feels like a collection of small, high-energy comedy scenes, and it needs more character moments and set pieces to really grip us. Colourful and diverting, but disappointing.



Rich Cline

Arthur Dent (Freeman) wasn't having a great start to his day. Bulldozers have turned up to knock down his house to make way for a bypass but he
friend Ford Prefect (Def) had even graver news. Not only is his house due for demolition but the Earth is also scheduled to be destroyed to make way
for an intergalactic highway. Just as the Earth is about to explode Ford manages to save them both by hitching a ride on one of the spaceships in
orbit. Ford then gives him a copy of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', an intergalactic encyclopaedia which comes with the instruction 'Don't Panic!'

If there was one cult phenomenon that deserved to be transformed into a motion picture, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is the one.

The Douglas Adams fantastical stories of Arthur Dent's adventures in the galaxy had moved from radio to books to TV, so the step to the silver screen was the next obvious choice but it has been years coming. Adams himself was working on the screenplay when he tragically passed away but the adaptation pushed ahead and the good news for fans is that all their expectations for the film have been met and then some.

All your favourite characters are here and are wonderfully played by the British and American cast. Martin Freeman is excellent as Arthur Dent. He portrays the last surviving human male with all the fear and trepidation that you would expect from someone thrown into a completely unbelieveable
situation. While the Guide tells him not to panic, seeing spaceships, aliens and the realisation that his home planet has just been destroyed is a little
too much information for him to comprehend. Mos Def is also fantastic as Arthur's best friend Ford Prefect. Unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford is in fact an
alien, who is gathering information for the latest version of the Guide. The casting of a hip-hop star in such a pivotal role in the movie might have sounded completely wrong but Def is really excellent in the role and is everything you want from the character. The same can be said about Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, the last surviving human female from Earth. She has always been an interesting and talented actress, playing standout parts and never really conforming to the usual Hollywood female persona. She makes Trillian believable and adventurous allowing you to understand why Arthur fell for her.

Stealing the show is the excellent Sam Rockwell. Still one of the most underrated stars working today and he brings all his skills to bear as Zaphod Beeblebrox. The luckily elected President of the Universe, is completely full of his own self-importance and thinks that everyone adores him. He even stages his own kidnapping to raise his profile. Rockwell excels in the role, providing many of the laughs and most of the slapstick.

There are also some noticeable smaller roles for Bill Nighy as planet designer Slartibartfast and Anna Chancellor as Questular Rontok. There are also some cameos that fans will really appreciate.

The film isn't all about onscreen actors however, there are also some fantastic vocal performances. Alan Rickman is superb as Marvin, the clinically depressed robot. He has some of the best lines in the film and Rickman's deadpan delivery makes you wonder why he isn't providing vocal performances all the time. The casting of Stephen Fry as the voice of the guide was inspired. He provides all the detail and advice from the guide with the completely right tone to make even the most preposterous statement sound convincing. Helen Mirren is also good as the voice of Deep Thought, the computer built to answer the ultimate question.

The visual effects are outstanding. Successfully merging amazing computer generated visual effects with brilliant creature makeup and designs, 'The
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' is a visual treat. The space and planetary scenes are beautifully designed and realised, to produce some of the best
science fiction effects in a long time. The filmmakers have also made the
right choice by creating the Vogons and Marvin as fully created creature effects. These still look far better than anything created by computer and
the quality of the designs make them seem real.
'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' takes you into the surreal and hilarious mind of Douglas Adams. Fans of the series should rejoice at their
favourite characters on the silver screen and the rest of us should delve into this brilliantly conceived universe and enjoy every single second of
it.

Don't Panic, this is a movie destined for cult status.

Jamie Kelwick

Not familiar with the classic text and hitching a ride of my own, I climbed aboard a train bound for the stars. I guess curiosity had got the best of me since so many of my contemporaries were ecstatic about the classic novel by Douglas Adams. So I just had to see what all the fuss was all about.

Everyday Joe, Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is having a really bad day. It seems that a construction company wants to build a freeway interchange right through his house. Dent refuses to comply and lies in front of the bulldozers. Dent’s best friend Ford (Mos Def) begs Dent to leave the demolition site claiming that the whole thing doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Eventually Dent leaves with Ford and they visit a local pub. Ford explains that he isn’t really from “around there” and that in precisely 10 minutes the whole world will be destroyed. Why will the planet Earth be destroyed? Because an intergalactic agency wants to build their own version of an expressway interchange. So Dent can relate some what.

Just as the planet explodes, Arthur Dent and Ford are whisked up into a spaceship after Ford shines a ring into the sky. When they arrive on the ship, Ford shows Dent a book called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Ford explains that the book will explain everything about life traveling among the stars. And thus Ford and Dent’s adventures among the stars begins.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is a goofy British sci-fi romp that brings a whole new look on intergalactic travel. Some of the characters and adventures that Dent and Ford embark upon are hilarious after they meet up with Marvin the paranoid robot (voiced by Alan Rickman and performed by Warwick Davis), Trillian (Zoey Deschanel) and Zaphod (Sam Rockwell).

I found the first portion of the film very reminiscent of “Shaun of the Dead” where all these things are happening around Dent but he really doesn’t noticed except for his house. But like “Shaun” I found the “Hitchhiker” ran out of gas about the half way mark of the film.

I just didn’t find the jokes and characters funny anymore. Thank goodness Bill Nighy shows up and adds some much needed new blood to the film’s third act.

My favorite part of the movie was probably the rather hilarious and goofy narration. Most of those sequences left me in stitches. I also really liked Rickman’s robot but like Sam Rockwell’s Zaphod wore thin on me after a while.

Since I wasn’t familiar with the source material I didn’t have an instant connection with the characters and situations but maybe if I had then I would have been more connected to the events on screen.



So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

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