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DVD Review:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Martin Freeman and Mos Def
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE
Directed by: Garth Jennings Screenplay: Douglas Adams, Kaley Kirkpatrick
Cast: Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Runtime: 109 minutes
HIGHLIGHTS
Strangely enough, in the last DVD I reviewed, which happened to be the sad, sad The Pacifier with Vin Diesel, a trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy played. Let's see what I wrote: "As I settle down for some good family entertainment, I'm chagrined to find that it's nearly impossible to fast-forward through the trailers, which I've seen about a hundred times in theatres…[there are] two films that are so old that I think I saw them in my past life: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Ice Princess." (It feels a little strange to be paraphrasing my own quote, but I was really just rambling in that paragraph. And not to worry, this isn't some cosmic sign that means a review of Ice Princess is impending.) Yes, this film might be considered old, although it hit theatres earlier this year and was on our local Blockbuster shelf by September, but this has been the first chance that I've gotten to rent it. Because, you know, The Pacifier and Glitter really were more pressing matters.
Based on the infamous book by the late and great Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide is a sci-fi fantasy adventure that urges us to suspend our beliefs in all things logical and go with the comedic flow. This is only based on the first book of a series that centre on Arthur Dent and his alien friend, Ford Prefect, as they hitchhike from galaxy to galaxy, getting into wild and wacky adventures. Think Lord of the Rings, but with less brooding, no ring, and a bumbling protagonist as the inept hero. Arthur is the everyman, and even less so at times, and that's one of the key successes of the series.
Amazon puts the budget of the film around $50 million - which is really chump change compared to its contemporary Hollywood productions - but it only grossed about $51 million domestically (the film capped out at $92 million worldwide). At first glance, this might seem strange. The film is based on a revered novel that has managed to collect fans far and wide and of all ages. Douglas Adams is a genius, and arguably one of the most unsurpassed writers of 20th century fiction. And it stars a pretty capable cast of recognized actors and a whole bunch of Jim Henson company-produced alien puppets. What's not to love?
Alas, there is a lot to not love, according to Internet reviewers and fans. The problem with adapting a novel to the big screen is the likely chance that while translating words into images, some things have to give. Despite the fact that Adams jumped on board as a screenwriter and consultant, purists noted glaring omissions, rewrites, and character assassinations (as well as character absences - one of the characters from the book, also on board the ship, does not appear at all in the film). The Hitchhiker's Guide has already been made into a television series and a radio play, so there is plenty of ammunition to pick apart this latest version. Fortunately, I read the book a while ago and can hardly remember what I ate yesterday, so there will be considerably less spite.
Again, I can't fast-forward through the previews, so I have to sit through Flightplan, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia (again - but this time it's a full-length version, so it's less frustrating than watching a teaser), Dark Water, and "Lost: Season One" on DVD. It's around Dark Water that I realize that I actually can fast-forward through the trailers, but by this time I'm thinking too hard about whether I should reach for the remote, so I give up.
The menu for the DVD is colourful and fun - just like Happygrrls! But seriously, it's trippy in a 70s throwback kind of way. Before the movie starts, there is a THX promo. It's significantly louder on my television, for some reason, than what the rest of the film is going to sound like.
The Hitchhiker's Guide starts off with Arthur Dent, an average English man with a penchant for tea drinking. And by average, I mean Hollywood-stereotypically-British average; that is, nothing ever goes right for poor Arthur, but he takes it all in stride with some well-placed one-liners about his middling life. British actor Martin Freeman, who I at first thought was the guy from the BBC's "The Office" and got excited, plays Dent. But he's not in "The Office" at all. (Correction: Freeman does, in fact, appear in "The Office." So I'm not that senile after all.) And then I saw his credits over at the IMDB and thought he was the lead from Shaun of the Dead and got excited again, but that's a different actor as well. I really need to wear my glasses more often.
Freeman plays Arthur quite charmingly, and is capable of carrying the role without channeling the caricature school of acting. Since he prominently figures in most of the film, this is a good thing. The excellent Mos Def is equally charming as Ford Prefect, Arthur's best friend and secret undercover alien. As a staff writer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (think of The Guide as something like a mix between Fodor's and The Encyclopedia Britannica), Ford is privy to inside galactic information, so he's well aware that Earth is about to be demolished to make room for a hyperspace highway. He drags a confused Arthur around town, and then hitches a ride with a passing spaceship moments before Earth is blown up (see it: 14:18). The short sequence is a sight to behold and quite unexpected for those of us who are used to Independence Day and Armageddon-type d-day destructions. Then the credits roll.
It turns out that Ford has hitched a ride aboard a Vogon ship, which happens to be the same one responsible for the intergalactic highway planning. Obviously, the Vogons don't speak English, so the subtitles just say "harsh alien speech" whenever these giant blobby creatures appear on screen. Thankfully, we are spared a huge sci-fi gaffe not seen since Jar Jar Binks aggravated us with his blathering when Ford forces Arthur to use a Babel fish to translate the Vogon speech (sidebar: Babel Fish, a free online translating site established by the search engine Altavista, totally ripped off the name from the book). From here on out, it's unclear whether things are "translated" into English for Arthur's benefit or, as it is, everyone else just happens to speak English. But what is clear is that at least half of the creatures encountered on this magical and thrilling adventure have a British accent.
After much mayhem ensues with the Vogons (see it: Scene 6), Arthur slowly learns about the fate of Earth, Ford's true identity, and what The Hitchhiker's Guide is really like. The dynamic duo then jump on board another ship, this time helmed by the galactic president Zaphod Beebleborx (Sam Rockwell, who is almost unrecognizable in his previous role as the geeky millionaire who bedded Drew Barrymore and then shot her in a post-coital rage in Charlie's Angels). Zaphod is really stupid so that's the running gag, and pretty soon it becomes like watching an episode of "Joey." Also on board is Trillium (Zooey Deschanel, whose name I know although I have never seen any of her previous work), a big coincidence since Arthur had already met her at a party back on Earth. At the same party, Zaphod was also in attendance, and whisked her away in a most exciting manner while Arthur stared sadly into his dull tea. In a creepy turn of events, Arthur has a picture of Trillium on his cell phone, although he has not seen her since the party. Anyway, we can forgive Arthur's stalkerish tendencies because he's clearly in love, and that sets up an awkward and not fully fleshed out love triangle. Don't they have robots in space? Of course they do, and on this particular ship (which looks like a cheap version - if that's possible - of the 1970s Star Wars ship), they get Marvin (voiced by Alan Rickman), a Genuine People Personality robot that is perpetually depressed (see it: 28:47).
Now that the main characters have been established, the plot can commence. And it does…sort of. The pacing of the movie is fairly quick considering that the book is quite detailed in its imaginative explorations of all things made up, but at times it seems to lag. The love story between Arthur and Trillium seems rushed at best, and Deschanel, a lovely actress in her own right, is wooden and clumsy through most of her scenes with Freeman. The two actors are very cute together, but they don't fizzle on screen. And then there's Hamma Kavula (John Malkovich), the ex-galactic president who is creepy (see it: 49:15), mostly because he looks like Al Franken. The CGI effects on his scene alone are enough to justify the cheap spaceship sets. Although Hamma figures heavily in the book version, in this particular adaptation his storyline is a throwaway at best. And where's Ford in the second and third acts? More Mos Def, please.
As we spend more time with our hapless heroes, they grow on us; Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy, who has been in every British film ever, and always as an aging rock star) has a small role at the end of the film that is worth watching for his great comedic timing. But what is more intriguing is seeing Douglas Adams' vision morphing into 2-D on our screen. The little nuances that were crafted so carefully on paper come to life, sometimes missing its intended joke, and sometimes becoming the crux of the scene. I'll take the predictable and trite ending for a glimpse into his world.
Extras on the DVD seem a-plenty, but don't let the menu items fool you. There are three deleted scenes, all clocking in at less than one minute and not pivotal to anything in particular, and the "really" deleted scenes, which are two intentionally improvised scenes where the actors ham it up. There is also an additional Guide entry, which I watched five times and still can't decipher the mumbled narration (thanks, Stephen Fry), and a sing-along to the opening sequence's "So Long & Thanks For All the Fish!," as sung by your local neighbourhood dolphin. Audio commentary is provided by director Garth Jennings, producer Nick Goldsmith, and actors Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy (more Mos Def, please); there is an alternate audio commentary by executive producer Robbie Stamp and "Douglas Adams colleague" Sean Solle (I don't know if that's his official title because that would be weird, but that's how he's credited). Two audio commentaries seem like overkill at this point.
For the fun stuff, there's "Marvin's Hangman," which is an interactive version of Hangman with Marvin as the poor hanging robot (Marvin does talk whenever a letter is guessed, but the lines are sadly recycled from the film). Since there are only five tries and four-letter words to guess, making the odds very against anyone's favour, I gave up after two games. The "Making Of" featurette has cast and director interviews, and a short clip of Deschanel and Freeman's final screen test together, which is fun and goofy. Clocking in at 8:55 minutes, the featurette looks like a long commercial instead of an in-depth look at a film that has been in the works for almost twenty years - an inadequate ending, in my opinion, to an otherwise great story. ¤ C.Ho.
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY:
(out of 5)
