H2G2: Is it worth the trip?

I can’t remember the last time I went to a movie theater to watch something I wanted to watch.  When you become a parent, you surrender your movie choices to your children — period. It’s the same with the TV remote  control although that war was fought more subtly and with far more skirmishes.  Since we haven’t had our cable TV subscription activated for the past three (3) weeks, my daughter’s ad-free mind has not demanded to watch any new movies. 

It was my chance and I took it.  The movie in question is the Hicthhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which was based on Douglas Adams’ book, one of the few I read in High School and thorougly enjoyed.  I think it was Dean who recommended it.  For some reason which I can’t recall, he had discovered a great library at the Union Church in Makati, filled with paperback novels donated, I suppose, by foreign parishoners who had relocated elsewhere.  There was a 10 book limit on loans and Dean invariably reached his limit. 

Needless to say, I enjoyed the book.  It was a page-turner, hilarious and perfect for someone with a short attention span (like me).  One should never read it in a library or in public places because you’re likely to laugh out loud at some of Adams’ passages. More importantly, the author doesn’t dwell on the details but moves his story at a frenetic pace.  In a span of 50 pages, he’s destroyed the earth, introduced you to the Guide, Vogons, Zaphod Beeblebrox and the Heart of Gold (the ship powered by the improbability drive).   And the books that followed (making up the 4-book trilogy) were similarly written and paced. 

So, more than twenty years since I read the book, I was skeptical if the movie could deliver.  After all, while the plot is movie-like and it’s easy to imagine Marvin the paranoid android and a two-headed Beeblebrox, I wondered if Adams’ carefully crafted jokes could translate well into film.  Sad to say, they didn’t.  I found myself laughing in some places where others weren’t.  It occured to me that the film would be no good for those who hadn’t read the book which probably explains the empty seats. 

While some story elements were clever adaptations  from the film (like the depiction of the improbability drive’s operation and the Guide itself),  the Douglas Adams set-ups just weren’t there and the  movie wasn’t nearly as sarcastic as the book.  Even Marvin the paranoid android (played by Alan Rickman) isn’t as amusing.  As a film (disregarding the book altogether), it’s pretty dry and unexciting.

Still, if you loved the series like I did, you should get out there and watch it.  It’s pretty good stuff.  Just don’t bring people who haven’t read the book.  They might change their opinion of you altogether.