Caught the film entirely by accident on TV one day and discovered it to be a good fun adventurous yarn similar in style to Jumanji.
Effectively described as Jumanji in space, the basic premise is an all powerful all knowing board game that one has to play to the end in order to undo everything it does damage wise. In Zathura the game is discovered in the basement with no back story as to how it ended up there, whereas Jumanji had a back story and suggested its chain of events had been going on for well over a hundred years. However the books suggest Zathura was found in a park and it carries on from Jumanji, though the film presents this as an entirely standalone story.
The two lead boys, here a young Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo, carry the film between them easily, naturally and effortlessly. Character wise, Hutcherson and Bobo appear to both bond and wind each other up as brothers do but this relationship and their bickering and arguing becomes a key focal point later in the movie.
Effects wise, much of it works pretty well, though your suspension of disbelief will get shattered if you think too hard about what's going on in the plausibility stakes, especially once the kids open the front door while they're in space, but it's fair to say there is probably more to the powers of Zathura than is let on - possibly a forcefield of some sort that allows them to breathe and for gravity to apply? Wouldn't be unusual in the context of the film, after all Zathura can't be played to completion if its players can't breathe!
Is it better than Jumanji? In some ways, yes. In others, no. Jumanji was financially successful at the box office (and later rebooted) but received crap reviews, whereas Zathura flopped at the box office but received better reviews and will probably not get rebooted.
In summary, I liked this. More than I was probably expecting if truth be told. Very watchable, stands up to repeat viewing and has a genuinely likeable cast to tell its story. Very well recommended.
Effectively described as Jumanji in space, the basic premise is an all powerful all knowing board game that one has to play to the end in order to undo everything it does damage wise. In Zathura the game is discovered in the basement with no back story as to how it ended up there, whereas Jumanji had a back story and suggested its chain of events had been going on for well over a hundred years. However the books suggest Zathura was found in a park and it carries on from Jumanji, though the film presents this as an entirely standalone story.
The two lead boys, here a young Josh Hutcherson and Jonah Bobo, carry the film between them easily, naturally and effortlessly. Character wise, Hutcherson and Bobo appear to both bond and wind each other up as brothers do but this relationship and their bickering and arguing becomes a key focal point later in the movie.
Effects wise, much of it works pretty well, though your suspension of disbelief will get shattered if you think too hard about what's going on in the plausibility stakes, especially once the kids open the front door while they're in space, but it's fair to say there is probably more to the powers of Zathura than is let on - possibly a forcefield of some sort that allows them to breathe and for gravity to apply? Wouldn't be unusual in the context of the film, after all Zathura can't be played to completion if its players can't breathe!
Is it better than Jumanji? In some ways, yes. In others, no. Jumanji was financially successful at the box office (and later rebooted) but received crap reviews, whereas Zathura flopped at the box office but received better reviews and will probably not get rebooted.
In summary, I liked this. More than I was probably expecting if truth be told. Very watchable, stands up to repeat viewing and has a genuinely likeable cast to tell its story. Very well recommended.