The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Dude, Where's My Spaceship?

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a schizophrenic film. It has some cerebral jokes full of dry British wit and sarcasm. However, the overwhelming majority of the film is just puerile, sterilized Hollywood tripe. Did you want to see goofy slapstick? Come on down! We've got faces being slapped and spaceships landing on crabs! Would you like a side of people making goofy faces? Maybe this would have entertained me when I was a toddler, but not now. Did you want the trite, formulaic Hollywood romance? Well, you got it! Arthur and the girl he blew it with are a lock from the start. Did you want phony looking CG effects? Hang on, because we've got a ton of them! Did you want a pointless feel-good ending? Well, you have that one, too! Would you like to see yet another rapper in place of an actual actor? Here's Mos Def! (Buy his new album!)

That's not to say the film is all tepid. There are a few good bits directly lifted from the books or radio show, and there are even a few original bits that are funny. Marvin's costume is nice, if more than a little reminiscent of the iMac, and they even have a great cameo by the original Marvin from the BBC's version of Hitchhiker's Guide. Furthermore, Jim Henson's Creature Shop does their usual stellar job on the aliens.

Unfortunately, despite the good things here, there are more serious problems than Hollywood clichés. The script is always in danger of falling apart, and there are some badly miscast characters.