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Zathura
Sony Pictures Entertainment


6.2

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for fantasy action and peril, and some language

Starring Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robbins, Frank Oz, John Alexander, and Derek Mears

Based on the best-selling book by the acclaimed children's writer Chris Van Allsburg ("The Polar Express," "Jumanji"), Zathura is a heart-racing sci-fi adventure about two squabbling brothers who are propelled into deepest, darkest space while playing a mysterious game they discovered in the basement of their old house. (Sony Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Adventure \| Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	David Koepp John Kamps Chris Van Allsburg (book)
DIRECTED BY:	Jon Favreau
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 14, 2006 Video: February 14, 2006 Theatrical: November 11, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	113 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

Zathura is a rarity: a stellar fantasy that faces down childhood anxieties with feet-on-the-ground maturity.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The result is a glorious low-tech pleasure that may be the most lyrical, phantasmagoric boys' adventure story since Joe Dante's Explorers.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

A wild buckle-up-and-blast-off adventure that plunges every corner of kids' favorite subject.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Cool!

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Although the drama suffers from the episodic story structure, Zathura feels less like "Jumanji" and more like a really great episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" TV series.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Favreau keeps the picture throttling forward with a carefree charm.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Winda Benedetti

Jonah Bobo and Josh Hutcherson -- may have delivered their parts just a wee too convincingly. Their squabbling is so pitch perfect that most adult viewers likely will want to reach through the screen and start crackin' some heads.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

The movie harks back to a time before state-of-the-art technology when writers and directors had to rely mostly on imagination.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Zathura involves a lot of yelling, a lot of explosions and a lot of flying objects -- but what else would you expect from a movie that is, honestly for a change, intended for 10-year-old boys?

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Jon Favreau, the actor-director who made the delightful family film "Elf," has a firm grip and a light touch with this material about bickering brothers who find a board game that zaps the family home into hyperspace.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Will work better for younger viewers than older ones. There's not much plot to absorb and there's plenty of action, so this is the kind of spectacle that will appeal to those without long attention spans.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The result is an odd mix of honesty and hokum that pilots a course toward greatness before settling into a somewhat lower orbit.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It works gloriously as space opera.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This handmade feel gives Zathura an appealing, childlike sense of wonder, an element too often forgotten in movies with many times the budget and technological resources.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

In the enchanted limbo between waking and sleeping, Zathura feels both real and unreal, like a dream you could shake off at any moment.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Neither pandering nor dull, Zathura plays exactly like a no-limits replica of the kind of space adventure that imaginative kids left to their own devices might enact.

The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore

Favreau again delivers that rare beast -- a family film that even childless adults can enjoy.

Variety Justin Chang

Its unwieldy title notwithstanding, Zathura: A Space Adventure is arguably the best adaptation of a Chris Van Allsburg book to date.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Flawless comic timing and vivid imagination power this rollicking sequel to "Jumanji."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

A low-key, warm-without-being-schmaltzy childhood adventure story that will engage younger viewers without driving their parents too crazy.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Jon Favreau's adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's kid-lit adventure of the same name, more than fills the bill - though it's unlikely to draw anyone over the age of 11 (not counting baby-sitters).

Premiere Ryan Devlin

There's nary a smidgen of adult humor, so parents might find things a bit on the dull side at times, but in the end they will likely thank Favreau in droves for making a film that is at least certain not to give them a headache.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Director Jon Favreau, who dipped profitably into family entertainment with 2003's "Elf," effectively recreates the illustrative universe of a good children's book, but he's stuck with a story that noisily grinds its gears.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

The movie has a lot of the elements that might make it thrilling and it's visually arresting, but it's missing the emotional connection necessary to make it interesting.

Village Voice Peter L'Official

One thing: Perhaps my studio-cynic hackles are raised imprudently, but either Favreau reimagined the boys' teenage sister to read as matinee sex bomb, Tootsie Rolling around in pink boxers for half the film, or children's books have become a lot hotter since I put down Seuss and Sendak for Encyclopedia Brown.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

It's a tick better than the movie version of "Jumanji," if that's any help. If you liked the book, you'll find the film of "Zathura" faithful in most respects, though not so much amplified as padded.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Basically "Jumanji" in outer space -- and even without Robin Williams, this is still a singularly loud, charmless and overbearing family movie that could use a hit or two of Ritalin.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film's Buck Rogers-style graphics are cool, but the shrilly squabbling brothers -- realistic though they may be -- are insufferable, the story's your-turn/my-turn structure is tedious, and its relentlessly reiterated message about brotherly love and cooperation is really grating.

USA Today Mike Clark

Tim Robbins plays the working dad, and the movie misses him once he bails out early.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Rarely is a movie audience asked to put up with so much noise for such a thankless payoff.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Elliott W gave it a7:
Not bad at all. A very original and clever idea. I've never seen Jumanji though, so I'm not sure how similar they are.

Louis's brother gave it a1:
You're absolutely right Ken, Jumaji was really good at this. Zathura is just a pitiful copy. Plus, the music at the end drove me crazy!

Ken G gave it a2:
"Jumanji" knew how to do this right. This movie didn't have a clue.

John C. gave it an8:
My boys (6, 9, 11) loved it, both my wife and I enjoyed it. Solid family movie, in spite of teenage Lisa being tweaked to give Dad a special reason to watch.

Pat C. gave it a0:
The dialogue is so atrociously written, the interplay so out of joint, and the musical scoring so ham-handed as to extinguish any spark of originality. It's worse than bad, it's nothing.

[Anonymous] gave it a7:
Overall, a nice family movie. If you like Jumanji, you'll like this. The effects were good, but i was surprised to learn most of them were practical, not digital, because Jon Favreau wanted the actors to have an interactive environment so they could give their best performances. Shows there's hope for family films yet. Wish there were more ship battles, those were cool.

Kourosh A. gave it a7:
Some very cool effects in this movie. I particularly liked the part where the house was gettng torpedoed by aliens.The only somewhat annoying theme of the movie I guess would be te constant fighting of the two brothers.

Zathura Sony Pictures Entertainment

Zathura
Sony Pictures Entertainment