Well directed, acted, and written, and is bolstered by a light tone which emphasizes wonder and amazement over shock and awe.
Zathura (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:146
Fresh:111
Rotten:35
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Dazzling special effects for the kids + well-crafted storytelling for the 'rents = cinematic satisfaction for the whole family.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for fantasy action and peril, and some language.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:Nov 11, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $28,045,540
Synopsis: Actor-turned-director Jon Favreau (SWINGERS, ELF) delivers another work of intelligent, charming family fare with this space adventure, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg (JUMANJI). Older... Actor-turned-director Jon Favreau (SWINGERS, ELF) delivers another work of intelligent, charming family fare with this space adventure, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg (JUMANJI). Older brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and the younger Danny (Jonah Bobo) are constantly at war with one another, bickering over the mediating voice of their long-suffering father (Tim Robbins). When he has to go to the office to replace some papers the boys destroyed in their crossfire, he leaves them in the dubious care of older sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart), who is sleeping upstairs. When Danny discovers an old board game called Zathura stored in the basement, his excitement is lost on Walter, who has no time for such old, boring toys. Soon, however, the game becomes impossible to ignore, as the boys are transported into space, and one of them must win in order to make it home again. Each turn brings a new, often dangerous, surprise, and the boys are faced with a murderous robot, an explosive meteor shower, and lizard-like aliens, while poor Lisa is cryogenically frozen early in the game. The adventure yields some heartwarming, family-friendly life lessons, and Dax Shepard (IDIOCRACY) is unusually subdued in his role as a stranded astronaut. [More]
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robbins, Peter Billingsley, Derek Mears
Director: Jon Favreau
Director: Jon Favreau
Producer: Ted Field, Scott Kroopf
Composer: John Debney
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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Reviews for Zathura
Favreau is one of those rare directors who remembers his own childhood and can actually re-create what kids might want to see in a film.
Not without its flaws, but overall surreal fun. Slightly above average. (Might be a bit too scary for little kids.)
Most of the film's 101 minutes is an onslaught of explosions, attacks, escapes and infighting.
Favreau continues to show a real flair for concocting worlds that persuasively blend the real and the fantastic ...
Highlights those things that seem to be important to the author: imagination, creativity and family.
Zathura is welcome late-year fun for all ages -- a pleasant contrast to the nauseating dreck that normally masquerades as family-friendly science fiction. (Clockstoppers, Thunderbirds… need I go on?).
After watching the kids play Zathura in Zathura -- a crackling family adventure in which sibling rivalries play out against a backdrop of Robbie-like robot assaults and devouring gila monsters -- all I can say is, let me at it.
Director Jon Favreau creates a childlike world for the movie. Mostly everything is shown through the eyes of the boys.
Zathura is a rousing tale with an agreeable balance of fear and teachable moments, the kind of adventure story that seems old-fashioned these days.
Tagged as a "new adventure from the world of Jumanji," Zathura certainly keeps to the same venturesome spirit as the original. But the sequel still seems to be a bit of a retread.
Zathura is a rarity: a stellar fantasy that faces down childhood anxieties with feet-on-the-ground maturity.
Some pals and I subscribe to the popular theory that any movie is automatically worth watching if it contains (a) jet packs or (b) a giant robot. Zathura has both.
The performances, lavish special effects, the setting and Favreau’s pacing combine in a winning adventure.
even with all the peril danger and turmoil the game causes, we secretly with that we could open a box from our basement and enter into an adventure like this... at least I do
a big concept, but not an original one. It is, in point of fact, pretty much a rehashing of a much better film, JUMANJI, which was also based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg.
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