Despite my earlier prediction, Jen and I went to the new Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy this weekend.
Being a huge Hitchhiker addict since way back, I can confidently say it was: Good.
The intro dolphin song was a wonderfully amusing touch that stuck in my head all the way through. The screenplay adaption was 80% spot on the story I could in-fact recite from heart. I suspect this is because Adams had plenty of practice (original movie, radio show). As with any Hitchhikers retelling, the divergence from the original book was both interesting and consistent with the overall HH storyline.
Two things told me I spent too much time with this storyline as a child:
- Thinking how brilliantly Zaphod’s 2nd head and 3rd arm was handled.
- The glee that came over me when I noticed the original Marvin and Arthur (Simon Jones).
On the way out of the theater, I was pondering the giant human-powered computer similarity between Hitchhikers and the Matrix.
Jen just reminded me in the movie, the plans were “in the cellar”, not “on display on the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard” as in the book. Belgium. That’s one of the best lines.