Plot: Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
We have imagined life on other planets and within the universe numerous times and with varying success, yet none more so unique than the book written by Douglas Adams.
I read the book before venturing into the movie, and I will have (hopefully) posted the book review before you see this post (Okay no you will have to wait). This series is far out of my comfort zone, and it was with great skepticism that I ventured into both.
So, I hope all the big fans will forgive me, but I think the more wine you have in your body, the better this movie. It is okay, especially if you consider the oddness of the material and how hard had to have been to create a film the fans would enjoy and make it intelligible to people who hasn’t read the book. I had both these types in my watching committee, and they all claim to have enjoyed the film the first time around.
Martin Freeman plays the role of Arthur Dent, the man who survives the destruction of earth by moving onto a spaceship managed by the bureaucratic Vogons with the help of his alien (unbeknownst for the duration of their friendship) friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def). They are booted off the ship almost immediately, and saved by Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell), who is accompanied by none other than the human girl who slighted Arthur at a party. Trillian (Zoey Deschanel) has no clue Earth has been destroyed and is quite surprised at finding Arthur on her new lover’s ship.
Even after reading the first book, I should have probably finished the series before watching the movie. There’s a lot that happens in the film that doesn’t happen in the book. I watched with people who had read the entire series and they could confirm these things were in the books, so I guess I should read all of those books at some stage.
I enjoyed Martin Freeman in his role of Arthur. Freeman has a knack of playing a slightly washed out character and making him interesting, and the main character of this series is certainly that. I also thought Sam Rockwell was pretty perfect to be Zaphod, the hapless and possibly dangerous to his own safety President of the galaxy. The depiction of Zaphod’s second head was rather disgusting and very well done – my imagination would never have come up with that on its own. Deschanel does her typical bug eyed look in the film and is as adorably quirky as the persona she has created for herself in all her roles.
The best decision however was to cast Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin, the robot with human emotions who is eternally depressed. No other voice could have been better suited to the robot than his truly, and I wish I could have had a robot like that in my life.
I don’t have too much more to say about this film – it is a weird fandom film that fans will enjoy and not too bad if you are a semi-enthusiastic watched. But like I said – the more wine the better the quality.
Rating: 6.5/10
Life of this city girl 