Hitchhiker's Guide movie review
Well, I saw HHGG last night, with my partner and A. and her husband and brother in law.The movie line was definitely geeky, to the point where A. and I were joking about how we were sure that everyone in it knew BASIC. There was a little group of geeks ahead of us cheerfully singing "Mai ai hee" and the Trogdor song, loudly and off-key. I am not sure whether to be comforted by evidence that there are nerdier people than myself on earth, or horrified that I fall into the same general category of fangeek as they do.
So, the movie. I am, I confess, a book-version purist in almost everything. I bitched when Jackson took out Sam's box of earth. I complained when they created Blakeney as a composite character for Master and Commander. I wailed when the previews for A Series Of Unfortunate Events were narrated in a style I felt was not "Snickety" enough and have refused to see the movie based on that alone, &etc. The following review contains spoilers in white text. Highlight to read them.
That said, I think that the movie was a real success in terms of portraying the Adams humor. I had read the negative spoilery review that came out before the movie, and was dreading the mangling of which he spoke. But it wasn't that bad. While I see many of the reviewer's points, I still managed to enjoy the dialogue and characters, and many of the new elements (the knitted Heart of Gold, the perspective gun, the ideaswatters, the Vogon bureaucracy) were great additions in the classic Adams style.
The Vogons, particularly, were amazing. Wonderfully realized, with the true evil and stupidity of the race pointed up admirably. Their ships, though not yellow, were fabulous. And the knitted set! All of us knitting freaks online are already geeking out talking about how we might get patterns.
I have nitpicks about book-vs.-movie stuff - wording changes that I felt ruined punch lines, the omission of Marvin's "I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side," the retention of the entire whale bit wholesale while other, better bits got left out, etc. - but really, I think that there is only one problem with this movie that kept me from loving it wholeheartedly.
Arthur and Trillian WTF. W. T. F. Seriously, folks, I can't get past this.
Dent does not get the girl. He is a complete loser, a kneebiter, and while he occasionally manages little triumphs, like a cup of real tea in a tealess universe, he does not get the girl. Zaphod gets the girl, at least temporarily. At no point does Arthur manage to engage Trillian's attention or affection in any way shape or form. *loud buzzer noise* NO. Just, no. Fenchurch, later on, yes. That's Arthur's singular triumph and reward. Also, he gets to fly. But Arthur/Trillian is a bad, bad idea, and I can't believe that they tried to float it by us. I think this may have taken the movie from a classic sideproduct in the Adams canon (not unlike the BBC miniseries, the BBC Hitchhiker's Guide radio drama, or the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide text adenture [Invisiclues hints here]) to being a regrettable misadaptation. It was ridiculous.
On the whole, the movie is definitely worth seeing, but it won't become part of my Geek Truth the way the LOTR movies did. I may even buy a copy, but it's just not going to be real to me the way I had hoped.
So, the movie. I am, I confess, a book-version purist in almost everything. I bitched when Jackson took out Sam's box of earth. I complained when they created Blakeney as a composite character for Master and Commander. I wailed when the previews for A Series Of Unfortunate Events were narrated in a style I felt was not "Snickety" enough and have refused to see the movie based on that alone, &etc. The following review contains spoilers in white text. Highlight to read them.
That said, I think that the movie was a real success in terms of portraying the Adams humor. I had read the negative spoilery review that came out before the movie, and was dreading the mangling of which he spoke. But it wasn't that bad. While I see many of the reviewer's points, I still managed to enjoy the dialogue and characters, and many of the new elements (the knitted Heart of Gold, the perspective gun, the ideaswatters, the Vogon bureaucracy) were great additions in the classic Adams style.
The Vogons, particularly, were amazing. Wonderfully realized, with the true evil and stupidity of the race pointed up admirably. Their ships, though not yellow, were fabulous. And the knitted set! All of us knitting freaks online are already geeking out talking about how we might get patterns.
I have nitpicks about book-vs.-movie stuff - wording changes that I felt ruined punch lines, the omission of Marvin's "I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side," the retention of the entire whale bit wholesale while other, better bits got left out, etc. - but really, I think that there is only one problem with this movie that kept me from loving it wholeheartedly.
Arthur and Trillian WTF. W. T. F. Seriously, folks, I can't get past this.
Dent does not get the girl. He is a complete loser, a kneebiter, and while he occasionally manages little triumphs, like a cup of real tea in a tealess universe, he does not get the girl. Zaphod gets the girl, at least temporarily. At no point does Arthur manage to engage Trillian's attention or affection in any way shape or form. *loud buzzer noise* NO. Just, no. Fenchurch, later on, yes. That's Arthur's singular triumph and reward. Also, he gets to fly. But Arthur/Trillian is a bad, bad idea, and I can't believe that they tried to float it by us. I think this may have taken the movie from a classic sideproduct in the Adams canon (not unlike the BBC miniseries, the BBC Hitchhiker's Guide radio drama, or the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide text adenture [Invisiclues hints here]) to being a regrettable misadaptation. It was ridiculous.
On the whole, the movie is definitely worth seeing, but it won't become part of my Geek Truth the way the LOTR movies did. I may even buy a copy, but it's just not going to be real to me the way I had hoped.
posted by The Stute Fish at 15:09
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