...And the chorus goes "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish"
I went to see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tonight. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, reviews have been a mixed bag and I've had one friend tell me they liked it and another friend tell me they hated it.
Well, I gotta tell you, I liked it. It did an outstanding job of capturing the voice of the novels. (which I remind you, are not the definitive Hitchhiker's source material, as there were radio and stage version that preceded) I wasn't sure if the humor of the books would translate well into film. The humor isn't really derived from the situation so much as comic asides. But the movies pulled it off quite well, mostly because of Stephen Fry as the voice of the Guide. The other casting was also spot on. Martin Freemen was born to play the befuddled british every-man Arthur Dent. Sam Rockwell added a little contemporary humor giving his brainless president a texas accent. The casting choice I was most concerned about was Mos Def as Ford Prefect. Mostly because I had never really see Mr. Def in a performance that impressed me. Fortunately, I have now. The only problem was that between Arthur and Zaphod, his part got the short end of the screen-time stick. There were also great supporting performances from Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin and Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast.
But this wasn't a perfect movie. The story was kind of meandering and lacked any strong momentum. The love story between Arthur and Trillian felt forced. The changes to the story were (sorry, I can't help myself) mostly harmless. But I'm baffled by one of the new characters, a religious leader played by John Malkavich, who at first seemed to be fulfilling the villain role, but completely dropped out of the movie after one seen. If you weren't going to use him, why make him in the first place?
But the good stuff outweighed the bad. I was really impressed with the creature effects done by Jim Hensen's Creature Shop. It was a breath of fresh air in this age of Jar-Jar's and Gollum. But mostly, I just thought it did a much better job of capturing the essence of the source material than many adaptations I've seen recently.
And by the way, if any of you out there have an mp3 of the Dolphin song from the opening, please send it my way. I'll be your bestest friend.
Well, I gotta tell you, I liked it. It did an outstanding job of capturing the voice of the novels. (which I remind you, are not the definitive Hitchhiker's source material, as there were radio and stage version that preceded) I wasn't sure if the humor of the books would translate well into film. The humor isn't really derived from the situation so much as comic asides. But the movies pulled it off quite well, mostly because of Stephen Fry as the voice of the Guide. The other casting was also spot on. Martin Freemen was born to play the befuddled british every-man Arthur Dent. Sam Rockwell added a little contemporary humor giving his brainless president a texas accent. The casting choice I was most concerned about was Mos Def as Ford Prefect. Mostly because I had never really see Mr. Def in a performance that impressed me. Fortunately, I have now. The only problem was that between Arthur and Zaphod, his part got the short end of the screen-time stick. There were also great supporting performances from Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin and Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast.
But this wasn't a perfect movie. The story was kind of meandering and lacked any strong momentum. The love story between Arthur and Trillian felt forced. The changes to the story were (sorry, I can't help myself) mostly harmless. But I'm baffled by one of the new characters, a religious leader played by John Malkavich, who at first seemed to be fulfilling the villain role, but completely dropped out of the movie after one seen. If you weren't going to use him, why make him in the first place?
But the good stuff outweighed the bad. I was really impressed with the creature effects done by Jim Hensen's Creature Shop. It was a breath of fresh air in this age of Jar-Jar's and Gollum. But mostly, I just thought it did a much better job of capturing the essence of the source material than many adaptations I've seen recently.
And by the way, if any of you out there have an mp3 of the Dolphin song from the opening, please send it my way. I'll be your bestest friend.