The Hitchiker's Guide to British Humor

An education in imagination, from the Vogon planet, where original thought is punished by giant fly swatters to the head, to the computer that takes seven and a half million years to decide that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42, "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy," though a little slow at times, is a Briticised, Terry Gilliamesque yarn with a happy, geocentric ending. Isn't Earth always picked on, destroyed, or targetted, then figured out to be the source of all goodness in the universe and warned never to hurt some sea mammal again? Such is the case. Live action is combined with narration over animation, to preserve writing, and given a decent pace, captivating book purists and newbies (like myself) alike.

Certain things are downplayed, having either been done or become outdated, like British frustration with micromanaged government (well treated in "Brazil"), the incompentance of greedy men (which destroyed the earth in the first place), and the overall questioning of the existence of God -- and then, since He doesn't exist, the overall critique of His work in creating the universe.

The most important part of the film was done quite well, and saved it for me, the CGI!!! Computer Generated Imagery!!! Was it believable? Yes. The lips of the Vogons, the tour of the planet building factory, Humma Kavula's feet, all believable, all downplayed - properly - to the story, which, I contend, was the reason Star Wars hit a home run in the first place. Amazing things have to happen in CGI, then the characters must carry on like it's all normal. At least one character must do so while another character reflects the audience's awe. Then he rejoins his petty concerns, furling us back into the plot. CGI is like chocolate, and plot is the coffee that washes it down. Or CGI, humor, sex, love, and character are all like liquid sugar, and plot is meat. Something like all that. Anyways, good film. Go see it.