Hey City Zen!

Of course I went to see the end of the Star Wars Saga. But I am not totally crazy. To make sure all the manichean lightness of being did not make me go evangelical or something, I made a double feature out of it, and followed the force wars with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I must admit that I was never a real huge fan of the Douglas Adams' original book. It is full of memorable, witty and wonderful snippets. But the writing and the story as a whole don't quite congeal as a masterpiece. The movie is a lot like that, but who needs a masterpiece when we have an improbability engine? The sheer ironic lunacy of it all was just what the doctor ordered. It is not everyday one gets to see a humpback whale crash into a planet, or even a depressed robot.

Meanwhile, in a very different galaxy, I have to say that I actually enjoyed watching Darth Vader come through as the born-again evil sith. More so because Hayden Christensen is so joyfully bad:

"...that Jedi master of woodenness: Hayden Christensen, the flatliner to end all flatliners. As an actor Christensen must show the terrible embryo of future wickedness within himself. And how does he do this? By tilting his head down, looking up through lowered brows and giving the unmistakable impression that he is very, very cross. If Princess Diana had gone to the Dark Side, she would have looked a lot like this." Peter Bradshaw in The guardian. (Obrigado Dr. Evil)

I also truly enjoyed the CGI odyssey. I totally succumbed to what the movie is all about: a sensorial ride followed by consumption of mass quantities of merchandise. I was able to give my son all the nifty little toys I wished I had during the first go round of this campy saga in the late 70's. Yes, lightsaber and all. It took me almost 30 years and a family to get the toys I always wanted. I am sure it is not a coincidence that Lucas waited all this long for this prequel set of episodes. I can't be the only dad indulging this toy fantasy...The force is with the Empire of Lucas^TM (Obrigado 2 Dr. Evil)

Interestingly, both movies are a throwback to the 1970s. I wonder if those who did not experience the European bureaucracy of those days, especially the British kind, can completely appreciate the hitchhiker's guide? Oh well, who cares, hop on the beam and have some fun. From Malcovich channeling Elton John to Deep Thought, unless you have absolutely no patience for nihilistic irony, you are bound to have a laugh -- and it will only cost you the movie ticket.