DON'T PANIC!
Big Thanks go out to peregrin8 who provided me and the wife the wife with preview tickets to a screening of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy last night. I must say I went into this with fear and trepidation. Both the book and the TV series were a big part of my formative years. I must say though as much as I braced myself for it to suck it, in fact, didn’t.
From the very beginning you see that it is not the Book or the TV show but it is VERY much in the spirit of both and respectful of both. By the end of the opening credits I had let out a sigh of relief. I had been persuaded that this is another great movie made, with love, by fans. I was sold.
I will admit that there were somethings that chafed a bit. Zaphod Beeblebrox is a tricky problem to overcome no matter how you approach him. The movie took a very new approach to him both physically and with regard to his character, but it works. It was interesting to see issues of politics and religion being addressed a bit less generally than in previous incarnations of HG2G. Not bad. Just new and different. There is a lot that is not in the movie and a lot of new stuff that is in the movie. My understanding is that a lot of the new stuff was actually written by Douglas Adams before he died and it shows. There were also a lot of wonderful treats thrown in. There were some really great performances both large and small including a wonderful Slartibartfast, performed by Bill Nighy who I like more and more every time I see him in something which isn’t often enough. You can spot some great actors in small character or voice parts and some great cameos and Easter eggs thrown in to reward fans of the book or TV series. I am not sure what someone who hasn’t had any prior exposure to HG2G will make of this but, really, who cares about them anyway.
Definitely worth seeing and probably not a bad idea to see it on the big screen. It’s a big movie with some impressive but not overpowering CGI but certainly bigger budget than the TV series.
From the very beginning you see that it is not the Book or the TV show but it is VERY much in the spirit of both and respectful of both. By the end of the opening credits I had let out a sigh of relief. I had been persuaded that this is another great movie made, with love, by fans. I was sold.
I will admit that there were somethings that chafed a bit. Zaphod Beeblebrox is a tricky problem to overcome no matter how you approach him. The movie took a very new approach to him both physically and with regard to his character, but it works. It was interesting to see issues of politics and religion being addressed a bit less generally than in previous incarnations of HG2G. Not bad. Just new and different. There is a lot that is not in the movie and a lot of new stuff that is in the movie. My understanding is that a lot of the new stuff was actually written by Douglas Adams before he died and it shows. There were also a lot of wonderful treats thrown in. There were some really great performances both large and small including a wonderful Slartibartfast, performed by Bill Nighy who I like more and more every time I see him in something which isn’t often enough. You can spot some great actors in small character or voice parts and some great cameos and Easter eggs thrown in to reward fans of the book or TV series. I am not sure what someone who hasn’t had any prior exposure to HG2G will make of this but, really, who cares about them anyway.
Definitely worth seeing and probably not a bad idea to see it on the big screen. It’s a big movie with some impressive but not overpowering CGI but certainly bigger budget than the TV series.