This is a charming family adventure of two young squabbling brothers causing chaos whilst staying with their father (Tim Robbins.)
When they are left alone the younger one finds a board game called Zathura and ends up in a real life space adventure with meteor showers, heat attracted lizards, a rampaging robot and a rescued astronaut whilst their house floats in space and their sister is frozen.
The film is about co-operation. The siblings do better when they work together and the rescued astronaut is key in bringing them together. A young Kristen Stewart plays the older sister whose part is largely redundant and seems more livelier when she is actually frozen!
Director Jon Favreau brings a Spielberg like charm to the story and gets the best out of the two young actors and the special effects are very good. Co-writer David Koepp, famous for the Jurassic Park films, brings a familiar beat to his plotting. He really should trademark the predictability of his scripting with only the astronaut's unveiling at the end being a mild surprise.
Despite similarities to Jumanji, it is still a good film to watch as a family and younger children will find this enthralling.
When they are left alone the younger one finds a board game called Zathura and ends up in a real life space adventure with meteor showers, heat attracted lizards, a rampaging robot and a rescued astronaut whilst their house floats in space and their sister is frozen.
The film is about co-operation. The siblings do better when they work together and the rescued astronaut is key in bringing them together. A young Kristen Stewart plays the older sister whose part is largely redundant and seems more livelier when she is actually frozen!
Director Jon Favreau brings a Spielberg like charm to the story and gets the best out of the two young actors and the special effects are very good. Co-writer David Koepp, famous for the Jurassic Park films, brings a familiar beat to his plotting. He really should trademark the predictability of his scripting with only the astronaut's unveiling at the end being a mild surprise.
Despite similarities to Jumanji, it is still a good film to watch as a family and younger children will find this enthralling.