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Written by Mandroid3000
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THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY ***1/2 out of ***** Genres 2005 Directed by Garth Jennings Written by Douglas Adams and Karey Kirkpatrick Cast Martin Freeman .... Arthur Dent Mos Def .... Ford Prefect Zooey Deschanel .... Trillian Sam Rockwell .... Zaphod Beeblebrox Warwick Davis .... Marvin Alan Rickman .... Marvin (voice) Stephen Fry .... Narrator (voice) John Malkovich .... Humma Kavula Bill Nighy .... Slartibartfast Could there be a better time for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to make it to the big screen? Douglas Adams’ sci fi comedy can finally be filmed without cheap prosthetic second heads and clunky space ships. The resulting film gets the look of the Hitchhiker’s universe right but is just amusing, not hilarious. It’s an adaptation that Adams’ fans can be pleased with rather than proud of.  | "42 is not the answer to "Who wears short
shorts?". | The story follows Englishman Arthur Dent, who discovers his best friend Ford Prefect is an alien. It’s fortunate he is as Ford manages to get them off earth as it’s demolished to make way for an interstellar expressway. They find themselves on a ship run by the maniacally bureaucratic Vogons, are ejected out of the air lock and, luckily, picked up by Trillian and Zaphod Beeblebrox. Coincidentally, Ford has been dreaming about Trillian ever since they met at a party. But she left that party with Zaphod instead. Zaphod happens to be the President of the Galaxy, but he’s just stolen a spaceship fitted with an Improbability Drive to take him to discover the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
| John Malkovich's character is central to the storyline because....um......pass. | From here the film follows their travels around the galaxy. To explain the various things they encounter the film cuts to an animated Hitchhiker’s Guide which explains the alien races, history, etc. The animations are excellent, but some things that are funny written down aren’t funny when read out. Particularly when read by Stephen Fry. He not only narrates the Hitchhiker’s Guide entries, but the film in general. His narration fails to generate a single laugh. It the sort of thing that someone, somewhere, would find funny. I finally worked out who that person was. Me, when I was reading the book twelve years ago. Of the characters that appear on screen, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox is probably even less funny than Stephen Fry. Not only isn’t he funny, it’s hard to tell just what the hell his character is. It seemed like unfocused manic screeching to me. And despite the cgi, the second head just does not work. Marvin the android isn’t funny either, but seems a bit of an afterthought anyway. Mos Def as Ford Prefect is fine, but the character seems a little underwritten (and possibly retarded).
 | Two more highly important
minor characters. | When the film focuses on Arthur and Trillian it generates the emotional weight it needs to avoid being just a series of jokes about humorous alien races. Martin Freeman and Zooey Deschanel are perfectly cast; Freeman makes a great hapless hero and Deschanel is the perfect object of his affection who may not be too far out of his reach. As the last two humans (and possibly the only sane creatures) in the universe they really make the film. It’s a pity the universe isn’t funnier. When I’ve read the book an adaptation often seems like a filmed Classics Illustrated comic to me. Hitchhiker’s Guide is a bit of a sprint through the story, but not to the extent that it isn’t enjoyable. Despite the faults, the fact that the source material is so strong means that there’s far more good stuff here than in your average film.
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