Towels required
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Martin Freeman, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, Mos Def, League of Gentlemen

Rating: 4

YOU DON’T have to have read Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to know the meaning of life is 42. But if the ultimate question of life and the universe vexes you, you might need to nip out and see the film.

When Arthur’s (Freeman) morning tea vibrates off his kitchen table, he knows his day is off to a bad start. Walking outside, he discovers his house is in the path of a new highway and it has to be demolished.

It turns out Earth is also in the way of progress and will also be demolished. Fortunately, Arthur’s unusual friend Ford (Def) has a plan to escape before the Earth explodes. Ford’s obviously not of this planet. Arthur should have noticed when he saw Ford trying to introduce himself to a car thinking they were the dominant Earth species.

Armed only with towels, Arthur and Ford hitchhike a ride into space on a Vogon ship.

Once there, they dash from planet to planet searching for the meaning of their lives and trying to evade the ever-bureaucratic Vogons.

We learn that humans are the third most intelligent species on Earth, that space is very, very vast, and that towels are good for everything.

Of course, the film never lives up to the book, but Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy adds faces to the BBC radio show voices and makes words from the books come alive.

It has enough bells and whistles to satiate special effects fans, but not too many to cheapen the film.

Because it’s a British production, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has substance and more depth than if it had been made with US razzle-dazzle.

The characters are perfectly cast, from the non-descript Arthur, slightly odd Ford and the quite bizarre Zaphod, to the herd of Vogons voiced by the black-humoured chaps from League of Gentlemen.

Adults and children alike will get all sorts of things from this movie. It’s a little bit silly, a little bit funny, and a whole lot out there.


– LT Simone Heyer