Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) by Kai82 — 06 Oct 2020

I think that both the critics and fans of the movie have a point. On one hand it is a really faithful adaptation as they tried to get as much of the book content into the movie. On the other hand the humor, wordplay, satire and irony are far weaker than in the book.

However I admit that they used a lot of care for the sets, look of special effects and costumes. I read the book a few times and it is one of the all time classics but I have not read it in years. So I am not the ultimate authority in judging it adaptation-wise.

However there are tons of things I recognize. They added a few things and that is O.K. Even Douglas Adams made different alterations for different medias. I think they failed at delivering the humor. With better writing and timing it would be a masterpiece.

The actors are well chosen for me and I will praise Sam Rockwell for his portrait of Zaphod Beeblebrox, Mos Def as Ford Perfect and Zoey Deschanel as Trillian. I think that there was no bad acting in this movie.

In my circle of friends we discussed a lot about this and came to the conclusion that it is a hit and miss movie. Even I would have rated it higher after watching it but then after some though my ratings declined.

Overall it is watchable and entertaining but nowhere near as funny and ironic or iconic as the book. I would recommend the BBC production instead. It is really good and has critical and fan acclaim.