Lost in space
Zathura, a retread of Jumanji, feels like a film that isn't trying very hard, with unremarkable performances and little that dazzles.
By STEVE PERSALL
Published November 10, 2005
In space, no one can hear you yawn. At least that's what the creators of Zathura should hope.
Zathura is a clunky retread of Jumanji, a movie that was okay a decade ago, when a computer-generated rhino charging through a suburban home was a special effects breakthrough. Both stories are lifted from writings by Chris Van Allsburg, proving even authors of skimpy picture books rehash themselves. Zathura will become as forgettable as Jumanji, but a lot faster.
This time, a board game magically whisks siblings into outer space, where they're threatened by robots, aliens, meteor showers and gravity belts. Director Jon Favreau (Elf) makes the special effects more interesting than the kids by going old-school, using miniature models of planets and spaceships and creature costumes rather than drawing them on computers. The look of Zathura is occasionally impressive; the feel of Favreau's movie is decidedly less.
The children are straight from central casting: Danny (Jonah Bobo) is the younger brother too timidly uncoordinated to play catch with his father (Tim Robbins), the obligatory workaholic parent. Slightly older brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) resents any attention Danny receives. Their teenage sister, Lisa (Kristen Stewart), resents them both. While Dad makes a trip to the office, Danny discovers a musty board game in the basement to begin their adventure.
The problem with Zathura is that Favreau can't decide whether Danny, Walter and Lisa are actually in outer space, or if all this action is the result of their collaborative imaginations. The latter would be more interesting. What child hasn't turned a cardboard box or overturned chair into a spaceship? Inserting a few hints about what's fueling their mass fantasy - a grumpy neighbor, scary trees or whatever - would make Van Allsburg's theme clearer, and the impossible seem more possible.
Without that juvenile perspective, the dangers don't have any excuse for being so unexceptional. The robot does the same thing that rhino did 10 years ago. The lone alien we see is ordinarily scaly. Everything is a watered-down version of what movies have shown before, but we're not steered toward believing that's the kids' version. It just looks like the filmmakers aren't trying hard.
The performances are unremarkable. Bobo whines constantly, his arguing with Hutcherson is a redundant joke and Stewart's best moments occur when she's cryogenically frozen. Robbins is a nonfactor after the first 20 minutes (or before, considering the predictable nature of his role). Dax Shepard plays an astronaut guide summoned by the game, but he's a bland adventurer.
Even if Favreau made the connection between what's happening and what the children imagine, the revelations of the astronaut's connection to the domestic situation would fall flat. Maybe even flatter, since that would constitute an awareness none of the children seem capable of possessing. Zathura isn't campy enough or dazzling enough to make anything make sense.
A sneak preview audience didn't seem impressed, either. The only thing that audibly stirred children was a cameo appearance on TV by SpongeBob SquarePants. If Zathura were actually a board game, it would be Chutes and Ladders, without the ladders.
ZathuraGrade: C-
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robbins
Screenplay: David Koepp, John Kamps, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg
Rating: PG; mild sci-fi violence, brief crude language
Running time: 103 min.