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Zathura
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Entertainment

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 24 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Adventure | Fantasy
Written by:
David Koepp
John Kamps
Chris Van Allsburg (book)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 11, 2005
DVD: February 14, 2006
Running Time: 113 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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)
Also On Metacritic
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Peter Debruge
A wild buckle-up-and-blast-off adventure that plunges every corner of kids' favorite subject.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Favreau keeps the picture throttling forward with a carefree charm.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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?
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore
Favreau again delivers that rare beast -- a family film that even childless adults can enjoy.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
Its unwieldy title notwithstanding, Zathura: A Space Adventure is arguably the best adaptation of a Chris Van Allsburg book to date.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Flawless comic timing and vivid imagination power this rollicking sequel to "Jumanji."
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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).
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Tim Robbins plays the working dad, and the movie misses him once he bails out early.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Rarely is a movie audience asked to put up with so much noise for such a thankless payoff.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 24 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.
