Don't Panic

I just recently finished reading And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer. The book is the sixth in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, originally penned by Douglas Adams. Unfortunately, Mr. Adams is no longer with us, but left behind notes for a possible new book. Mr. Colfer took on the challenge and turned out a pretty good book.

Now, I know this is a movie blog. I'm getting there... I'm getting there. In 2005, right before Mr. Adams passed away, a movie version of the first book was released. I figured since I finished the book yesterday and my entry that day was books that were adapted into movies, it would be perfect to do a review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Guide has been portrayed in so many mediums. It orignially started out as a radio program on the BBC. Then Adams started to write it as a book for the fans who couldn't listen to it each week. The book was the first to enjoy huge success. It was then turned into a play and eventually a TV show that covered the first two books of the series.

I was actually amazed that it wasn't until 2005 that a movie version was in the works, but I'm actually glad they waited. The TV had a wonderful charm with obvious and purposely cheesy effects. I love the show, but I'm glad that the movie has costumes that are a bit more believable and a Marvin (voice of Alan Rickman) that doesn't walk so stiffly.

At first, I was quite shocked at the casting decisions, Mos Def as Ford Prefect being the biggest one. Even though I love my Zooey Deschanel, too, I never really imagined Trillion as a brunette. (Though in And Another Thing..., Colfer describes Trillion as a brunette, probably due to this change in the movie.) However, I ended up loving the cast. Especially Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox. I think he did an absolutely fantastic job. He had his naivity, evil tendencies and ego-mania down perfectly. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Oh, and how they portrayed his second head was genius!

So, as I came to the conclusion yesterday, some movies can definitely do justice to the book. Sure, things were changed. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Hollywood needed a love story, so they had Arthur (Martin Freeman) and Trillion (Deschanel) get together at the end. If they had stuck around to do all the books, they would have had their love story once Fenchurch came along. (Besides, I think Deschanel would make a better Fenchurch than Trillion) But I can't fault them. They still turned out a great film.