ZATHURA

RATING:

Starring: Tim Robbins, Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart. Written by: David Koepp, John Kamps, Eric Fogel. Directed by: Jon Favreau

Rated PG for fantasy action and peril, and some language.

Jumanji meets outer space – that’s what the new film Zathura is all about. Actually, it’s the follow-up to the 1995 film, starring Robin Williams, and based on the best selling novel by Chris Van Allsburg, who also wrote Jumanji and The Polar Express.

The film briefly stars Tim Robbins as the divorced father of three children, two boys and one girl. Tim is in the first 10 minutes of the film and the last 5 minutes, but there’s a reason for that – he’s not the main story. The prominent characters are the two brothers, played by Jonah Bobo (younger) and Josh Hutcherson, who also recently starred in Little Manhattan. Kristen Stewart, who was in Catch that Kid, plays their big sister.

After seeing Kristen in Catch that Kid, I did not recognize her in this role until after the film was over and I looked her up; she has turned into a very beautiful, young actress. And she is very good in this role as the big sister; and I’m not sure if any of you have had big sisters, but they don’t like to be disturbed when they’re in their room, especially if they’re sleeping.

A little sibling rivalry between the two boys ensues before Tim leaves for work; Jonah plays the whiny brother role great and Josh plays the older dominant brother role equally as good. After Tim leaves, Jonah hides in the dumbwaiter – a little pulley system in a person’s house (kind of like a miniature movable tray from the bottom level of the house to the upper levels of the house). Well, Josh finds him and sends him down in the basement; there, Jonah finds a game called Zathura. He brings it upstairs to play with Josh, but Josh doesn’t want to play it. Unfortunately for Josh, he’s kind of forced to because Zathura isn’t any ordinary game; once you start playing, there’s no stopping until it’s over.

The first spin comes up; the card reads ‘Meteor Shower, Take Evasive Action.’ No big deal, right? Well, that’s what the two boys thought, until the living room starts getting pelted with meteors, big and small. Oh, remember when I mentioned about not going into your big sister’s room – this was a good time to wake her up. But she’s not up for long; the next couple turns, makes her frozen.

Eventually, the house is floating in space, and is inhabited by an astronaut played by Dax Shepard. He tells the siblings about the game and how it won’t end until they finish the game. And that’s not good, because they’re soon attacked by alien monsters called Zorgons. Dax helps the kids fight off the aliens for enough time so they can continue the game. But when they realize when the house was under attack, the game fell onto the Zorgon’s ship.

After Dax’s unsuccessful mission to bring the game back, Jonah goes over to the ship to rescue the game. I’m not going to tell you if he got it back or not; but what I will tell you is he is spotted by the Zorgons and is forced back into the house. And that’s where I’ll leave the summery of the story.

That’s because I am not one to ruin movies – at least one’s that I really enjoyed. And that’s one thing I can say about this film – I really liked it. It’s definitely not just for kids, it’s for adults as well.

Director Jon Favreau took this movie beyond where Jumanji went; and if you go back and look at Jumanji now, it’s kind of stupid. But this is not a stupid movie. It is fun, funny, exciting and entertaining throughout. And yes, it’s almost two hours long, but it won’t seem like it for you or your kids. What makes it so good is the way the film is shot; you’ll feel like you’re in the house with the kids. And not only that, Stan Winston Studios created the Zorgon aliens for this movie – that’s got to tell you something – Jon Favreau knows who to call to get things right.

The kids are really good in this film; you really believe the sibling rivalry between Josh, Jonah, and Kristen, and the dialogue between the two brothers is how brothers talk. I know I had called my older sister a couple names, and boy did I pay for it. That’s what happens in this movie – you actually hear what really goes on in a household of fighting kids.

Zathura is a definite winner! It’s in theaters now, it’s rated PG.