Saw Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this evening. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. You know it’s bad when the high point is spotting the old Marvin robot (from the BBC TV series) queuing in the Vogon office. And to those who say that it’s what Douglas would have wanted – yes, I agree, it’s full of things that exemplify his weakest tendencies. Douglas’s strength was satirical dialog, skewering pompous bureaucratic gobbledygook and content-free marketing pablum with equal energy. However, he was also a geek, always fascinated with shiny toys – even if he didn’t know how to use them properly. Giving Douglas a large SFX budget was like giving a bipolar wine-taster the keys to the cellar. He was (admirably) obsessed with the environment, and endangered species; his book Last Chance To See is wonderful. But that doesn’t mean turning HHGTTG into a “green” manifesto. It’s a comedy, dammit! (But I noticed that hardly anyone in the cinema was laughing – including me.)
And whoever wrote that stupid theme song should be forcibly re-educated and compelled to take up a new line of work.