A child harmlessly turns the key and watches as his speedometer rings up four million space miles. His rocket ship game piece moves accordingly on the board. A card pops out.
"Meteor Shower: Take Evasive Action."
Soon enough, meteors are falling in his house and the game has begun.
This may seem like a scene from the 1995 film "Jumanji," as it follows the idea of a board game shifting into reality. But instead of suburbia becoming an African jungle the board game takes its players to outer space. Instead of Robin Williams there's Rob Shepard, and instead of "Jumanji" you have "Zathura."
Despite the loss of Williams and an original concept, Jon Favreau's directing makes "Zathura" memorable regardless of its rehashed theme.
Danny and Walter are your typical feuding siblings. Regrettably, the audience is reminded of this much too often. Walter, the older of the two, blames Danny for their parents splitting up for a reason that is never explained.
While their father is called away for a couple of hours, Danny finds the board game Zathura and begins to play, not knowing that once you start to play you cannot stop until a player reaches Zathura.
This turns out to be a huge mistake because the board game comes to life.
Jon Favreau, coming off his highly successful film "Elf" two years ago, tries to repeat his holiday magic by creating the film version of the book "Zathura" by Chris Van Allsburg, who also wrote "Jumnaji" and "Polar Express."
Other than the plot and author, there is no connection between "Zathura" and its predecessor. The elements that made "Jumnaji" so successful, such as the talent of the ensemble cast, "Zathura" lacks.
The best actor involved in the film is Tim Robbins, who plays the father. However, his appearance is more like a cameo than a lead, and the makers of "Zathura" milked it for every penny. Once he does leave, the audience is left to suffer through the dialogue of two young actors as they argue over the simplest things. These childish disputes grow old even before Robbins' character departs from the storyline.
Lisa (Kristen Stewart of "Catch That Kid" and "Panic Room"), the older sister, is so irritating to watch that it's pleasing to see her get frozen for half the movie.
MTV's Dax Shepard ("Without a Paddle" and "Punk'd") plays the spaceman that Danny rescues. With the departure of Robbins, he is forced to be the parent of the film and fails horribly. Viewers still have the image of Shepard as an MTV poster child, not a caring father figure.
The film is funny at times, but most of the jokes are for the younger audience members who will probably flock to this film.
If you loved "Jumnaji" and other kid's adventure films, then you will enjoy this film regardless of its weaknesses. Even for the adult members of the audience, the movie can be enjoyable for those unafraid to let their inner child out for an evening.
