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Before the movie there was a talk from the promoters saying that in the early 80’s some guys almost made a HHGTTG movie and at the last minute changed their minds and shot ‘Ghostbusters’ instead. Considering how crap things could have turned out, we are really really lucky they waited. This movie totally kicks butt. Like the books and the TV show, the plot is slightly different from the original radio series but nothing is terribly out-of-place and if you’re a fan of the books like me you’re not going to be annoyed. In fact, if you think of it as a new take on an old story rather than a straght translation to film you will definitely get it.

Zooey Deschanel, as expected, was a total babe, and the romantic subplot with Arthur was kinda cute and English-ish. Arthur and Zaphod suffered a bit though. I think Martin Freeman’s acting style was captured better on The Office, since you miss the little awkward nuances when there’s special effects going on all around him - and Zaphod was portrayed as a drunken idiot with a bad American accent instead of the laid-back narcissist he deserves to be. Despite this, no one was completely crap, and the relatively well-preserved comic timing meant that everyone had at least one funny line.

For all the great stuff the filmmakers have done though, I wasn’t much impressed by the storytelling - the second half of the movie seemed rushed, as if they were trying to get through the rest of the plot by cutting out the fun things that get you there, which was really frustrating since the movie ran a lean 110 minutes or so. I understand why the plot was simplified, and it was done interestingly and respectfully, but it still could have been done without making every scene an action scene. Oh, and Slartibartfast was likeable, but nowhere near godly enough. Tut tut.

I don’t know about a series of sequels - it may depend on how well this movie does - but The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy at least works as a tribute to the late Douglas Adams and something for the fans to remember the series by. I’m giving it four stars for old times’ sake.

And for Zooey, of course. Mmmm… Zooey.