Rick and I were in the mood to see a movie last weekend and decided to go see The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  He thought the previews looked interesting enough to go see it and I had read the book many moons ago and was hoping the movie would be a good representation of that experience.

I began reading the Hitchhiker’s series in the mid- to late-eighties.  I thought The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was hysterical — plenty of adult humor (mature, not x-rated), the dry wit and sarcasm Douglas Adams was so adept with, and a very interesting and entertaining view of the universe at large and life in general.

Having so thoroughly enjoyed the first book, I followed that by reading The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and finally Mostly Harmless.

Adams’ writing was unique and entertaining, his storytelling was intelligent and his sense of humor was frighteningly similar to my own in some respects.  As he was involved in the making of the movie, my hope was that he was able to keep the movie as close to the book as possible — meaning it would be rather enjoyable.

But I’ve learned to be realistic in these cases and did not go to the theater with high expectations.  That was a good thing.

Despite his involvement with the making of the movie, I found it terribly disappointing.  As Rick pointed out afterward, it was a movie for children more than adults, something I too had noticed and found to be a complete betrayal of the written work (and original audio work) it was based on.  All of the adult humor was gone, replaced with silly slapstick antics and lame one-liners and child-centric humor, which grade school children could have come up with.  It was like a Disney film gone wrong.

The special effects were fantastic, however, so there was at least that small part of it that was worthwhile.

The entire story was intact.  That made the movie tolerable.  The overall feel of the original humor was there as well, meaning the movie was funny and entertaining, but overall it was an obtuse and bizarre attempt to duplicate on the big screen what Adams had accomplished with the original radio broadcasts and books.

Is this movie worth seeing?  For fans of the original works, that’s a resounding “yes” followed by the cautionary statement that you will be disappointed.  For non-fans, it’s hard to say.  You may well be entertained by the movie or find it to be an insufferable mess.  There is plenty of eye candy to keep you occupied, most of which will be diminished in translation to a small screen — so it is worth seeing at the theater for that alone.

But I cannot in all sincerity recommend it to anyone except existing fans of the original works.  Anyone else will have to make up their own mind about seeing it or not.

If you do see it, remember to bring a towel.