taleya | (no subject)

OK, I did it.. Despite my trepidations and the deep feeling I had that it would be liking watching my pet kitten get anally raped....I watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie.

I shall put this up with a waffle icon as soon as I can find where I put the bloody waffle icons the gorgeous

madscot made for me....

Ok. There are two ways to look at this film. One is rather nice, the other...not so nice.

Just to explain. I grew up on Hitch Hikers. It's one of the many BBC Series that were the staple viewing diet of my childhood. And more. I remember taping the Radio Plays as a kid (And still have them!) I grew up reading the books - hell, every book I own is an original cover, I went out and bought Mostly Harmless at a gift shop in Sorrento as soon as it came out on paperback (I was 13!). The first ever hormonal stirring of "oh...oh... i like that...I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it" was courtesy of David Dixon. (Shut up, I was five. And those eyes still do it for me)

Bear all this in mind. I'm bearing this in mind as I write this, but I know it will still colour my perceptions.

What did I think of it? It struck me as, if anything, the kindest thing I can say in relation to the whole Hitchikers universe, as a childs version. Packaged up, dumbed down, and aimed at kids. A fun romp. It's definitely Adams, oh hell it's loaded with Pure Adams, but it's a kid's version. (I'm not slamming him at all. Eh, I didn't like Dirk Gently, different fish for different bears, and all that) And while it may be a great intro for kids, as a 27 year old adult with all that blabbering I stuck in the introductory paragraph in my mind....I was disappointed. Very disappointed.

It's an explosion of hollywood, with a loose, jumbled plotline trying to follow the original, failing miserably and stuffing a few romantic subplots in for reasons that completely escape me. And Mos Def? You are not Ford Prefect.

The new take on Trillian was rather good - Adams himself has stated he's not good at writing female characters. I'm guessing his co-writer expanded that bit, or he's definitely beefed up on it (Mostly Harmless and the Quandry/Quintessential Phases suggest slightly the latter with Tricia, but Trillian still got raw'ed.) But Trillian/Arthur? She wants excitement. She wants to explore. to escape a dull life. He just wants somewhere quiet and a good cup of tea. He likes mediocre.

Zaphod on crack? ok, that DID crack me up. Rockwell did a fucking good job there. I liked that.

One thing? Ok, i'm a sad sad fangirl, but THE THEME Yes, I squealed quite loudly when the original radio theme got played :D In fact I'm quite sure I scared the shit out of the rats. I got terribly excited at just hearing strains that hinted at it, then went nuts when it started in full. And I grinned at the original Marvin in the queue, and Simon Jones got due applause and hoots of "BRING BACK THE REAL ARTHUR!"

But apart from that? From a Hitchikers point of view, it was something to look at, then delete off my hard disk.

BUT

From another point of view - Take away the HitchHikers element - it was very much like Galaxy Quest. I love that farking movie. Fun Romp takes on a whole new dimension when you're not looking at it with 27 years of mythos behind it. It was insane, gloriously insane, pure Adams and a great watch. I might get it cheap on rental and pull it out when I need a good laugh, much like I did with Galaxy Quest.

Would I write about it if I'd never been exposed to the original media? If I'd never read the books? Seen the series? No more than I would write Blazing Saddles fanfiction - in fact, less likely.

Soooooooo, I have an interesting little dichotomy in my brain. Realistically? I think I'll burn my downloaded copy, stick it in my DVD case and not look at it for four years. Unless I'm drunk.

Disagreements? Thrown items? Flames? Flame away, I have a soggy Ford I can roll all over >:D