Finally saw it.... [Funk Babblings]

Tonight we finally saw the film I've waited 20 years for.

First, the previews were almost all wrong. All but Revenge of the Sith seem aimed directly at kids, rather than at the SF geeks going to this movie. And no Serenity trailer. The Chicken Little trailer (not the one Apple has) gets cleverness points for parodying the original HHGG teaser.

Anyway, the movie.... I was pleased that it started strong (I annoyed

nontacitare by reciting some of the lines as they were said), and was even willing to forgive the cutting short of a few jokes and the occasional English-to-American translation. (It's zed and bypass, not zee and expressway!) I wanted to burst into applause when the first banjo notes of "Journey of the Sorcerer" came along. But it kinda went downhill after that, though I still thought it was fun. The main problem for me was pacing - most of the film felt rushed, while the Vogsphere segment (and pretty much all the Vogon stuff) dragged.

Arthur and Ford worked, though Ford was inexplicably huggy early on. Arthur was too obsessed with Trillian from the start, and Trillian wasn't quite right, though not quite wrong either. I think part of Trillian's problem has always been Adams though; he had trouble getting her believable and consistent from the start.

While Alan Rickman was pretty good as Marvin, there were certain lines that just didn't sound right done by anyone but Stephen Moore.

I liked John Malkovich as Humma Kuvula, but the stuff about election politics didn't really seem to fit. Which brings us to Zaphod....
Zaphod was just plain annoying, not at all the Zaphod I know. But then I realized that he was a George W Bush parody, which at least gave me some reference if not enjoyment of the character. (Anyone else see it, or is it just me?)

Then we got the G'gugvant/Vl'hurg/dog scene alongside the credits at the end (with a justifiably different trigger phrase from Arthur)... and typically, they cut out two lines at the end of it for no readily apparent reason. sigh.

This is the kind of film I'll watch multiple times to catch all the in-jokes and background details. It's just disappointing that those are all that make it worth watching again. On the other hand, I think I enjoyed it a lot more than

nontacitare did.

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I didn't think it was a bad movie; it just wasn't very good. The best part by far was the Chicken Little trailer.

What I liked: The "So long, and thanks for all the fish" number was cute, if a little long.

Arthur was Arthur. Ford was Ford. And despite my initial misgivings, Marvin was Marvin.

The Slartibartfast sequence did the book justice.

I loved the scene where Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod go to Vogosphere to rescue Trillian, only to be told that they had to fill out forms to do that. Watching the trio race against time trying to figure out which form to use and which boxes to check before Trillian was eaten by a monster was the only part of the movie that approached British humor.

It was amusing when Zaphod aimed the point of view gun at Trillian, only to have her snap, "It won't work on me. I'm already a woman."

Towels became a recurring trope.

It ended on a sufficiently funny note.

And unlike

rfunk, I didn't find the homoerotic subtext of Ford's unrequited feelings for Arthur "inexplicable."

What I didn't like: There was not enough Ford Prefect.

The movie cut out both most of the funny parts of the book and most of the science fiction plot, in favor of a Hollywood romance between Arthur and Trillian.

Zaphod was not Zaphod. He was just annoying.

Trillian was not Trillian. She was just "the female."

There was too much Vogon stuff.

The mice plot was too rushed.

Certain husbands thought it would greatly enhance the audience's viewing enjoyment to helpfully recite every line in the movie that came from the book, just in case we were not familiar with the novel upon which the movie is based.

The moral of the movie: Buttons are not toys.

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Certain husbands thought it would greatly enhance the audience's viewing enjoyment to helpfully recite every line in the movie that came from the book, just in case we were not familiar with the novel upon which the movie is based.

Book? Nah, those were the lines that went all the way back to the radio series, which at this point I know better than the book.

Buttons may not be toys, but they can be fun.

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You are right. There wasn't enough Ford.

I loved the scene where Arthur, Ford, and Zaphod go to Vogosphere to rescue Trillian, only to be told that they had to fill out forms to do that. Watching the trio race against time trying to figure out which form to use and which boxes to check before Trillian was eaten by a monster was the only part of the movie that approached British humor.

I loved this part. It was my favorite of the new material. You are absolutely correct, it is very much British humor. It reminded me so much of Brazil.

I pretty much agree with your review. The beginning was good, although I thought the dolphin sequence was a bit long. I let out a squeal of glee when I heard "Journey of the Sourcerer". It's been too many years since I heard that song!

Yes, I agree that the pacing was off...the Vogon stuff was too long.

Wasn't there something in the book about Ford being emotional because he might die and he was far from his home planet? I'll have to go and check. That might explain his hugging.

I also found Zaphod annoying. But I also found him annoying in the TV series. I'm thinking that his character just doesn't translate easily to live action. And yes, I caught the Bush parody.

I missed having the bit about the jump to hyperspace being upleasantly like being drunk. They should have kept that.

I was also incessently quoting, though I did try to keep it under my breath. It would have been fun to see it with other fans who all quoted.

It took me years to get the "unpleasantly like being drunk" joke, and once I did I never really thought it worked well, so that's one I didn't miss.

It was almost criminal, however, to omit the "beware of the leopard" bit.

It took me years to get the "unpleasantly like being drunk" joke too, which I think is why, once I got it, I thought it was so funny.

Yes, I missed the beware of the leapard line, too. They would start a joke, and then leave out the last few lines. Argh! And then Trillian was about to be eaten by a Bugbladder Beast. If she'd only had a towel! It bothered me that they didn't do the whole long towel bit.

The omission of the guide entry on towels bothered me a bit too, particularly because they actually emphasized the towel more than any previous incarnation. The result was that it looked like a quirk of Ford's to be lampooned rather than accepted hitchhiker knowledge.

If Trillian had a towel she wouldn't have needed rescuing (so much for a degree in maths and another in astrophysics), removing all urgency from doing the Vogon forms.

At least the Vogons were afraid of Ford's towel.

Yes. It really grated on me that everyone had their towel, and towels were obviously important, and people even brought them to the theatre, but there was no towel entry!

I agree 100% on the Chicken Little trailer. I was impressed that they knew what they were doing enough to pump that one out to play before this particular movie.

Will I go see it? Probably not.

I had fun watching the movie, though. I generally ignored inconsistencies (already knowing that Adams had a tendancy to change stuff in the books and rearrange order every time he wrote a new script (be it for radio, video game, or BBC).

And some parts were just visually stunning, really.

Funk Babblings

Finally saw it....

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April