Are you kidding me? After 25 years of waiting, this is what they come up with? Giant fly swatters smacking Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod in the face while they scream "Waaaaa!"? Apparently the story had to be dumbed down for mainstream audiences: just replace the wit with slapstick. And how about the unnecessarily inflated love story between Arthur and Trillian? Good grief.
Some other notable failures: 1) the very flat deliveries of some of the actors (Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def). In fact, none of the actors seemed particularly adept at comedy (except MAYBE Martin Freeman), or to have bothered with any background reading to figure out how to deliver their lines. 2) the rearrangement of Zaphod's physique (WHY?! They managed to give Zaphod 2 heads and 3 arms 20 years ago on a low budget BBC show...but they can't pull it off now?!). 3) the pointlessness of the John Malkovich character. 4) the chopping of so much funny narration and dialogue to make room for the unnecessary detours (Humma Kavula, Vogosphere). 5) Sam Rockwell's annoying accent. 6) the film makers don't even seem to know that the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is at the end of TIME, not SPACE. 7) the rare presence of the Guide itself in the film. 8) And on and on.
It was even a little bit offensive that they had the BBC cameos (Marvin, Simon Jones, the music from the opening credits) in a shameless attempt to win over the more hardcore Hitchhiker fans. I have to admit, I fell for it. For at least 10 seconds of the movie I wasn't thinking, "Wow, this is not very good."
A couple things WERE good: the Vogons themselves, the Magrathean "factory floor." Marvin was passable.
Watch this movie and then go see the BBC version. If you still think getting whacked in the face after stepping on a rake is funny, or seeing someone slip on a banana peel leaves you in stitches, you'll probably like the movie version better.
Some other notable failures: 1) the very flat deliveries of some of the actors (Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def). In fact, none of the actors seemed particularly adept at comedy (except MAYBE Martin Freeman), or to have bothered with any background reading to figure out how to deliver their lines. 2) the rearrangement of Zaphod's physique (WHY?! They managed to give Zaphod 2 heads and 3 arms 20 years ago on a low budget BBC show...but they can't pull it off now?!). 3) the pointlessness of the John Malkovich character. 4) the chopping of so much funny narration and dialogue to make room for the unnecessary detours (Humma Kavula, Vogosphere). 5) Sam Rockwell's annoying accent. 6) the film makers don't even seem to know that the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is at the end of TIME, not SPACE. 7) the rare presence of the Guide itself in the film. 8) And on and on.
It was even a little bit offensive that they had the BBC cameos (Marvin, Simon Jones, the music from the opening credits) in a shameless attempt to win over the more hardcore Hitchhiker fans. I have to admit, I fell for it. For at least 10 seconds of the movie I wasn't thinking, "Wow, this is not very good."
A couple things WERE good: the Vogons themselves, the Magrathean "factory floor." Marvin was passable.
Watch this movie and then go see the BBC version. If you still think getting whacked in the face after stepping on a rake is funny, or seeing someone slip on a banana peel leaves you in stitches, you'll probably like the movie version better.