
An old and forgotten game develops magical powers in this fantasy for the whole family. Twelve-year-old Walter Budwing (Josh Hutcherson) and his younger brother, Danny (Jonah Bobo), figure they're going to be in for a boring time when their father (Tim Robbins), who was supposed to spend the day with them, is suddenly called away on business, and gives them strict orders not to leave the house. Walter, who doesn't have much use for Danny, is motivated by boredom more than any... (Full plot summary below)
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An old and forgotten game develops magical powers in this fantasy for the whole family. Twelve-year-old Walter Budwing (Josh Hutcherson) and his younger brother, Danny (Jonah Bobo), figure they're going to be in for a boring time when their father (Tim Robbins), who was supposed to spend the day with them, is suddenly called away on business, and gives them strict orders not to leave the house. Walter, who doesn't have much use for Danny, is motivated by boredom more than anything else when he agrees to play a board game Danny has found in the basement during a round of hide-and-seek. However, the boys quickly discover the space-themed game Zathura has some unusual qualities -- a roll of the dice unexpectedly launches the Budwing home into outer space, and Walter and Danny are suddenly fending off menacing robots, angry aliens, and showers of interstellar debris outside the Earth's atmosphere. As the boys try to figure out a way back home, they get some unexpected help from an earthling astronaut (Dax Shepard) who has also lost his way.
Leave your thoughts about Zathura: A Space Adventure.
| Miami HeraldPeter DebrugeA wild buckle-up-and-blast-off adventure that plunges every corner of kids' favorite subject. |
| Entertainment WeeklyScott BrownZathura is a rarity: a stellar fantasy that faces down childhood anxieties with feet-on-the-ground maturity. |
| L.A. WeeklyScott FoundasThe result is a glorious low-tech pleasure that may be the most lyrical, phantasmagoric boys' adventure story since Joe Dante's Explorers. |
| Seattle Post-IntelligencerWinda BenedettiJonah 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. |
| Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanThe result is an odd mix of honesty and hokum that pilots a course toward greatness before settling into a somewhat lower orbit. |
| San Francisco ChronicleRuthe SteinThe 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 LaceyZathura 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? |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliWill 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. |
| Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFavreau keeps the picture throttling forward with a carefree charm. |
| Portland OregonianM. E. RussellAlthough 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. |