Books and novels that are turned into feature films are not unlike comic books that get turned into feature films. They both have hardcore fans who are very particular about their favorite characters, storylines, and the like and they both are either ripped to pieces by filmmakers or they capture the spirit of the book/comic with unspeakable ease. Hitchhiker's is very faithful to the books... I think. I don't really know as I’ve never read any of the novels or even heard of the franchise before this film began production but that doesn't mean it's a particularly great film.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the tale of one Arthur Dent (Stephen Fry), an average British guy who's house is about to be demolished to make room for a freeway (or something). Just as Arthur thinks his day couldn't get any worse, his best friend, Ford Prefect (Mos Def), comes up to him and tells him he's really an alien and that Earth is going to be destroyed in about 12 minutes. 12 minutes later, the earth is destroyed by a race of Muppets... er, aliens named the Vogons. They're big ugly turd looking monsters with British accents. Ford and Arthur escape the destruction by "hitchhiking" (via Ford's glowing thumb) a ride from the self-kidnapped (yeah, you read that right. some guy kidnapped himself), President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell, clearly having a lot of fun in the role), an humanoid looking alien with two heads (one pops out sporadically from his neck). Also on board the ship are Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), a human who briefly bonded with Arthur on earth before being kidnapped month's prior by Zaphod posing as an earthling and Marvin, an depressive android with a big head (Warwick Davis is in the suit and the voice is of Alan Rickman).

Now up until this point I found the film very enjoyable. It was quirky, cute, and clever and well, I just really liked it a lot. I even loved the opening sequence with the dolphins. Then after we're onboard Zaphod's ship for awhile, the movie just slows down a lot and gets really, REALLY WEIRD. It's hard to even describe what the film is actually about at that point. We start getting all these sequences of other species questioning the meaning of the galaxy, the narrator (who is the voice of the "guide") pops up from time to time to tell us facts from the guide, which range from amusing to annoying to downright weird. Trillian gets kidnapped and the gang has to rescue her, then they all get separated and, you know the rest.

Let's start with what I liked about the film. I liked the fact that a good majority of the f/x in the film are done the old-fashioned way. I.E. lots and lots of puppets and men in suits. I like that. It adds a certain level of realism that you only get from things that are clearly in the room with the actors. I liked the quirky dialogue between all the characters and I liked the idea of earth being just a little spec that can be pushed aside for the greater good of the universe (or an intergalactic highway. same difference). But as much as I liked those aspects of the film, it didn't really outweigh the bad stuff. All in all, the film is just rather slow and boring at times. You're never really quite sure where the story is going and it feels directionless. Every kind of trap or peril the main characters get into never feels threatening because someone just pushes a button or pulls a lever and everything is safe again (or back to "normality" as they say in the film). The final "fight scene" is a HUGE snore and it's only funny if you think the Marvin character is a hoot. He's not. I mean, he's cute and all and it sounds like a good, funny idea on paper but onscreen, he just comes across as a big complaining piece of junk.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reminds me of a lot of those 80's cult classic movies that people seem to love so much. You know the ones. The ones that everybody seemed to like when they were younger that you never saw and then once you do see it you go, “that’s it? What's the big deal about that? It's okay but I don't see what the big deal was". I think if you're a fan of the material, you'll be in love though. It has a very "fanboy" feel to it like if you know the stuff, you'll get every reference. This movie reminds me of how I think people felt when the first X-Men film was released. I loved the film and found it akin to hearing god speak (at the time anyway) and people dug it casually but I know a lot of people who never heard of the property going, “well, that was okay I guess but what was the big deal about it?". All in all Hitchhiker's is an imaginative yawner. It's got a lot of good ideas but it's not entertaining enough to really be a great movie. It's a rental in my opinion. A good rental, but a rental nonetheless.