Special Coverage 2008 Fall Movie PreviewThe Must List2008 Fall TV PreviewSound Bites
  • --
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 124631__hgg_l
A MONSTER JOB Jeltz, Def, and Freeman
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Laurie Sparham

Credits

Release Date: Apr 29, 2005; Rated: PG; DVD Release Date: Sep 20, 2005; Genres: Comedy, Sci-fi; With: Martin Freeman; Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures

Equal parts space spoof, English satire, and action-adventure, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a sci-fi comedy based on Douglas Adams' best-selling novel, manages something remarkable — it mocks each genre equally. That whole plot about the placid Brit (Martin Freeman) who escapes the imminent destruction of Earth via spaceship in pursuit of life, the universe, and everything? It's really just an excuse for Mos Def and Sam Rockwell to act all silly. Even with its tacked-on (and tacky) ending — not from the book — Hitchhiker still gets the thumbs-up.

EXTRAS Parodies of deleted scenes (Freeman screaming ''Do panic, motherf---ers!'' is a classic) and a galactic version of hangman where depressed robot Marvin derides your every wrong guess keep the film's wry subversiveness going. The pair of commentary tracks are trivia-laden (read: dull), though director Garth Jennings does cheekily admit during the popular singing-dolphin montage, ''I quite like this bit because I didn't shoot any of the first five minutes of this film. The second-unit director did it.''


Posted Sep 16, 2005
 

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.
--
Change/Edit your grade
characters remaining