Friday, April 29, 2005
Don't Panic
Wlofie and I saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy today. I kept my expectations lows and generally, when I do that, the result is usually better than coming in with too high expectations. Overall, the movie was good but there were the obvious bits of Hollywoodization to the story (some chase scenes, a silly love interest story). The thing to remember about H2G2 is that the story isn't faithful to itself in any of the mediums it's been translated to. The radio version is different than the book is different than the TV series is different than the play(s) (there were two) were different than the computer game and this movie is consistent in that it isn't consistent at all, which (given that the book trilogy is five books long) fits H2G2.
The cast (mainly of unknown actors) is spot on perfect (and I absolutely adored Zooey Deschanel (Zooey—what a cool name) as Trillian). The visuals (especially the Magrathea factory floor) are just wonderfully done. And the new bits done specifically for the film are inventive (one involves a rescue (I won't say who) by filling out the proper release forms of the proper color, in triplicate and signed by the proper party with the only injury being a rather nasty paper cut (although to be honest, any type of paper cut is rather nasty) and another one involving the Point-of-View gun).
If you are a fan of H2G2 don't expect something that slavishly follows any of the previous versions of H2G2 that have come before and just enjoy the ride. If you aren't a particular fan of the work, it may be worth to view this once it hits DVD.
Also, stick around for the the credits. There's an amusing bit from the Guide itself during the final credits (of the several animated segments in the movie, they all look to be animated with Macromedia Flash; the sequences in the TV series were I think more innovative even if they weren't done by an actual computer. It's not to say the sequences were bad—they weren't, but I think I preferred the TV sequences which had so much going on you couldn't get it all at once).
