Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Following the storyline of the fast-paced "Jumanji" (1995), ten years after, we get this "Zathura, a Space Adventure". And it is impossible to not make comparisons. Two movies A very real game. And some characters forced to play to survive. If in the Robin Williams' film a whole jungle came out of the board, in this adaptation of the story of the same author who inspired "Jumanji", mixing with "The Goonies" (1985), we go to outer space, with all the meteorites, cryogenic cameras, lost astronauts and alien bugs that this entails.But unlike his older sister, successive runs are happening without much noise, without getting in almost no time to hook the viewer or make him feel some empathy towards the characters. Another weak point of this new incursion in too real games, the characters. While in "Jumanji" we had two adults who put some adventure and seriousness to the game, here the two young protagonists are limited to running, shouting, fighting, and in certain final moments to give us a moralistic mania about the relationship between two brothers.The right special effects to be a movie for children. The vision of space following the trail of any science fiction movie, achieved without further ado. The intervention of Tim Robbins, wasted, but of course, that could be expected. It seems that he is there to do a favor for the director, or for his children to see him in a film intended for all audiences.In short, this new version that we wanted to sell taking advantage of the charm that had "Jumanji" in its time, is a failed attempt to resuscitate the myth that this was, a simple entertainment only suitable for children. They will enjoy it.

I do remember watching this, though it must have been back in the time when I wasn't reviewing all the films that I have watched, which meant that this was one of the films that fell into the cracks. I vaguely remember my brother hiring it from the video shop and me watching it with half an eye, and then thinking that maybe this film wasn't all that bad so deciding to actually go and watch it again from the beginning. Well, I did just that, and I did it again quite recently so that I can now add this to the one thousand odd reviews of films that I have written and posted to date.To put it simply, and quite a few other people have mentioned this as well, this film is basically Jumanji in space. In a sense the spectacle isn't as great as what I remember from Jumanji, and the main characters are basically a couple of young brothers, though the sister does make an appearance near the end. The film is about two brothers who are always getting on each other's nerves, and unfortunately their father has to disappear off the work. However, while trapped in the cellar, one of the brothers finds a game and starts playing and this catapulting them into a science-fiction universe full of heat seeking, and human eating, Zorgons.What annoyed me a bit about the film was how nasty the brother's were to each other, and how the younger brother seemed to be getting the rough end of the stick. It felt as if the older brother was the favourite (and behaved like it), and it was the younger one who kept on getting told off. In fact the older one could be incredibly vicious and nasty at times. As such, I felt that the fate that he suffered in the alternate reality was actually quite fitting (which you eventually work out in the end).The film itself is okay, however not incredibly exhilarating. It is basically a kid's film, and like Jumanji, to escape the game they have to go through right to the end. However, what is noticeable is that there aren't actually any major adults in the film, with the exception of the astronaut (whose identity becomes apparent as the film comes to a close). Oh, and all of the action takes place in the house, it is just that the game lifts the house out of suburbia and throws it into the middle of an inhabited universe. It's a fun movie, but one not to take too seriously, and they could have eased off on the kids a bit as well.

ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE is nothing more than an outer space version of JUMANJI, with aliens and space stuff replacing jungle creatures. It's a film singularly devoid of imagination, despite the outlandish premise, and I can honestly said I had more fun with an ultra-low budget film like THE DAY TIME ENDED (in which a family's home is attacked by stop motion aliens) than this mega budget offering.The director behind this fare is Jon Favreau, who makes a typically soulless production that focuses on special effects over decent scripting or performances (anyone who's seen the first two IRON MAN films will be familiar with his work). A couple of annoying kids (including the eminently hateable Josh Hutcherson) play a board game that makes their house travel into the depths of outer space, where they embark on the usual CGI augmented adventures, i.e. lots of stuff is destroyed or blown up.Kristen Stewart (TWILIGHT) is cast as the older sister and, somewhat bizarrely, as the film's eye candy, parading around in skimpy underwear throughout, even though she would have only been 14 when this was filmed. Say what you will about the sexualisation of young actresses in Hollywood...A tired Tim Robbins takes the role of 'token Hollywood actor', but the emphasis is on the CGI throughout. Most of it isn't bad at all, but the structure of the narrative is such that the film's action is severely limited in scope and much of the running time has to rest on the shoulders of the two young actors, who just don't cut the mustard.

I remember watching this film and really enjoying it I was only around seven or eight and I really liked it. All my life I have been fond of Dax Sheppard & Josh Hutcherson and they both have roles in this movie. The plot of the whole film is good and entertaining it's an intense adventure and you don't want to take your eyes off the movie for a minute just in case you miss something. The story is different a lot like Jumanji but different. All though it will never ever be as good as Jumanji it has earned it's own rank up there in good adventure movies it's great for kids and adults both. It has humour and some emotional scenes in it. The film is just over all great fun for everyone it's enjoyable and not a waste of your time in the end it has a weird twist and does teach some lessons.