The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Intergalactic planetary...
Planetary intergalactic

Last night decided to catch up with some friends that I've seen for a while, so we've decided to go and catch a flick at Westfield Chatswood. At first I thought is going to be just 4 of us, then suddenly turned to be 9!! I normally not good at organising group outings, so I just let the others do the tedious task. I didn't manage to grab a bite as I normally leave work at 6pm and we have decided to go for the 7pm session to see The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Well, the Hitchhiker's Guide is a familiar name to most of the pommies cuz it has been appeared as a radio series, a record album, a novel, a television series, a computer game, a stage show, a comic book and a towel. Everyone has bad mornings. You wake up late, you stub your toe, you burn the toast...but for a man named Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), this goes far beyond a bad day. When he learns that a friend of his is actually an alien with advanced knowledge of Earth's impending destruction, he is transported off the Earth seconds before it is exploded to make way for a new hyperspace motorway. And as if that's not enough, throw in being wanted by the police, Earth II, an insane electronic encyclopedia, no tea whatsoever, a chronically depressed robot (voice by Alan Rickman) and the search for the meaning of life, and you've got the greatest adventure off Earth. And to survive in the galaxy, you can never live without the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy of course, with the front cover saying "Don't Panic!".

To help audience to understand the movie, you will be imagining yourself in a lecture as they will flick back and forth between the galaxy guide with some flashy animations, and the movie itself. At times I found it annoying, when I am just not in the mood for a stupid narration style humour. Overall, I have to say, the movie isn't as funny (others might not agree) as I would have thought but there are few bits I did quite enjoy it for eg. a cult religious run by Humma Kavula (John Malkovich) where the sneezing blessing is a classic. The humour doesn't seem to have a good punch at it. They really trying hard to make the movie funny but somehow the humour is holding itself back and there's just no bits that's funny enough that I can tell my friends about. The movie I think is very casually done in a way. Well I know the CG is there, the sci fi is there, the humour is there, but there is just something is missing. Ending is quite a let down so to say. It is one of those comedy movies where some audience will laugh out so loud all by himself, but not the others, and me and my friend had to give each other a weird look and thought "WTF?" in our mind.

Story :

Popcorn Level :

TOTAL : 4.0/10

P/S: there is a short animation at the end credit after the music score. Even that I don't find it funny.