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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Well, I went to this one yesterday afternoon. I found it to be quite entertaining. There were a few things that were annoying to me, but overall, I enjoyed it. I have not read the book, so I can not nit-pick any small details that were left out, or exaggerated, or anything along that line. So... that may be a good thing for me. If you're familiar with the book, then you know what to expect of the movie's plotline. If not, here's a small summary for ya. The story follows a British man, Arthur Dent, and his adventures. Following a crazy morning of lying in front of a bulldozer to protest the destruction of his house, finding out his best friend is an alien, and being airlifted by an alien spacecraft to avoid being blown up with the rest of the planet Earth, he ventures all over the galaxy, rescues his love interest, gets answers to his questions from an interactive encyclopedia, finds out the ultimate answer of life, and has lunch at the end of the galaxy. Not neccessarily in that order.

Visuals: I give visuals a 4. There were some very cool special effects in the movie and most of them were believable. I really liked how the Hitchhiker's Guide consisted of a bunch of Flash animations. Good stuff. There were only a few moments where I was thinking "Oh, that's a special effect and you can tell."

Sound: This gets a 4 also. You definitely have to watch this movie in a surround sound setting. There's one point that sticks out in my mind as awesome. There's something falling, and as the characters are walking away from the camera, you hear the falling object crash behind you. Great stuff. Very subtle, but great none-the-less.

Story: I give this a 4 also. Since I've never read the book, I can't base my judgement on details that were left out. I've read reviews that say the movie sucked because "such-and-such" was left out, or that "so-and-so" wasn't cast right, or what have you. Well, I enjoyed the casting with one exception. That being the President of the Galaxy. He was very annoying to me and there were aspects about him that I didn't understand. Well, he was supposed to be annoying, so that's ok. They cast the part correctly then, right?

Entertainment Value: Overall, a 4. As you can see this movie is above average in my opinion. It isn't an "OH MY GOSH I'M GONNA RUSH OUT AND BUY THAT THE DAY IT COMES OUT" kind of movie, but I wasn't sorry for spending the money to see it in the theater. Well worth it.

posted by stuelu @ 10:22 AM