Genres

Visitors Review

derekjchiu 2012-05-21 18:50:23

Better than expected!

This movie was actually better than I expected, being a high schoolstudent. I expected this to be aimed more towards younger children inelementary, which it was, but this movie also keeps the older audienceglued to their seats! The movie itself had awesome graphics and akiller twist! A must see for anyone who loved Jumanji as well as forthose who've never seen Jumanji, even though they contain the samestoryline, they're both REALLY good movies! Both the main child actorswere really good and their bickering with each other was priceless. Butalso the sincerity between the two was very touching. The older actorsand actresses were also phenomenal! I couldn't have picked a bettercast for this movie. Go see it today!

2012-05-21 02:40:32

Another disappointing kids movie

I love a good kids film. Often I like them better than films aimed exclusively at adults. There is less objectionable material. Plots are not convoluted. Often there is genuine sentiment, and a moral to the story. What I do not enjoy is the increasing tendency of movies for kids to rely on kinetic energy (or wild special effects) as a substitute for good writing and acting. I think that is part of what happened with Zathura.Zathura is a movie like Jumanji -- where kids start playing a board game (called Zathura, naturally) and they enter an alternate reality -- the world of the game made real. They have to finish the game to get back to the normal world. The acting isn't very good. Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning have raised the bar so high now that what used to be a passable job of acting for a child now looks silly and amateurish. I got bored about halfway through and started fast forwarding furiously to the end. Zathura is supposed to have a "moral," but that aspect is so ham-handedly written and acted that it almost seems pasted on. The game involves a series of challenges and threats, as the children journey to outer space and confront robots and lizard aliens and friendly stranded astronouts. It is mostly a succession of strange things (involving expensive special effects photography) happening every time a kid takes a turn at the game. The kids then react badly (or badly act) in fright and stumble their way through until the game ends. I don't know why this movie was made. The only thing it has going for it is a lot of action whenever the game play results in peril. In between the peril, the dialogue is dull.There are so many great kids movies, or even mediocre kid's movies, better than this -- almost any of the animated classics directed by Hayao Miyazaki, or Secondhand Lions. I kind of enjoyed Holes, and The Sandlot, too. The old My Bodyguard. The Incredibles was very entertaining.I don't know how the kiddies reacted to Zathura, but it seems like a waste of time to me. You may find yourself wishing the kids did get pulled into the black hole, just to end the movie early.

dinky-4 2012-05-20 15:03:20

Half a classic

The first half of this movie qualifies as a worthy successor to thesublime "Jumanji." All those involved seem in full control of thematerial and tone, plot, and character remain in nearly perfect sync.As a result, this section ranks among the best American film-making of2005. (Which, alas, may not be saying all that much.) But beginningwith the scene in which the two brothers build a fire in the kitchen,the movie begins to slowly lose its grip and the second half -- thoughfar from being a disaster -- seems slightly disappointing. Part of theproblem may lie in the movie's attempts to resolve the rivalry betweenthe two brothers. This involves a rather bizarre plot twist. What'smore, the script never quite succeeds in having this resolution growinevitably out of the situation. Rather the resolution seems to besimply layered on top of the story in rather a clumsy fashion. Still,consider this review a recommendation for a movie that's better than alot of past Oscar nominees.

2012-05-20 11:16:58

Zathura Movie Review

This review is from: Zathura (Special Edition) (DVD) If you like Jumanjii you will like Zathura. This is a great family movie about kids who start a game that takes place in space. It isn't cheesy and is exciting the whole way through. I gave it 4 stars because there is some inappropriate language in a few scenes.

DrunkenMasterIV 2012-05-10 18:47:51

Father And Son Bonding Movie

I grabbed this movie at the library, and really didn't know much aboutit before watching it. I remembered the movie being compared toJumanji, and figured it might be a good film to watch with mytwelve-year-old son. I would like to thank everyone responsible for making this movie forgiving me one of the most enjoyable movie watching experiences I'veever had!It turns out my son is at the perfect age to watch this movie. He and Iwere on the edge of our seats, and he had a smile on his face theentire time. This film will hold the attention of your "tweens" eventhose with the touch of ADD that is all too common in our video game,microwave meal society. I know I'm not saying much about what happens in the movie, and that'sbecause the movie needs to be seen to be appreciated. It is partscience fiction, part morality play with just the right amount of humorand a few twists and turns. The suspense level in some of the scenes isbreathtaking, and other than one relatively minor expletive early inthe film (nothing my son hasn't heard,) it's very family friendly.Zathura is a DVD I'll definitely be buying. My son actually thanked mefor getting this "awesome" DVD for us to watch. Dads (and Moms) putZthura on your "must see" list.

juliemedina 2012-05-10 05:52:37

thinly disguised lesson in brotherly love

After a long day of listening to my boys fighting, I decided we allneeded to get out of the house and see a movie. I corralled my husband,my daughter and both of my sons into the car. I painstakingly made surethat my daughter sat between the two boys so that they could not killeach other on the drive to the theater. Sure enough, the driveconsisted of them reaching across their sister's lap to pinch and pokeeach other. By the time we reached the theater, all I could think aboutwas how great it was going to be to quietly watch a movie for twohours… Little did I know that Zathura is a thinly disguised lesson inbrotherly love. Throughout the first half to two-thirds of the movie,the audience is subjected to fight after fight between the twobrothers, Danny (played by Jonah Bobo) and Walter (played by JoshHutcherson). The resemblance to my two sons is uncanny. I believe Ieven heard the same words and pitch on the screen that I had beensubjected to earlier in the day—this was certainly not the relaxingexperience I had hoped for when deciding to go to a movie. By the endof the movie, the brothers learn that in order to survive and returnhome, they must learn to work together. The final scene shows thebrothers playing ball together and acting like best friends—yeah right.Zathura, directed by Jon Favreau, is almost an exact replication ofJumanji, released in 1995. The only difference is the age and gender ofthe participants and the location of the adventure. In Zathura, Dannyand Walter decide to play a board game that Danny finds hidden underthe stairs. When Danny hits the button to begin the game, meteorsbombard the living room, the house breaks away from earth and floatsthrough space. If I hadn't seen Jumanji first, this would have been agood movie. But after seeing Jumanji, this was just way toopredictable.As sappy and nauseating as the hour-and-a-half long sermon aboutgetting along with your brother was for me to watch, it seemed to havethe desired effect on my sons. As we drove home, my nine-year-old sonfell asleep with his head on his older brother's lap.My older son's response as he shrugged his shoulders for emphasis was,"He was hurting me with his head digging into my shoulder so I movedhim." I might have believed that response if his hand was notprotectively wrapped over his younger brothers shoulders. Even though Iknow that bonding will be short-lived, it is a moment that will go downin history for our family.

FlickMan 2012-05-05 01:26:56

Marvelous production, weak story line

I enjoyed "Zathura" despite its many flaws. The production isfirst-rate, and the retro look of the board game and the things itgenerates (robot, monsters, space ships) is wonderful. I especiallyenjoyed the robot - a malevolent Robbie on steroids - and thescimitar-wielding Zorgons. Unfortunately, the story line is thin, verging on nonsensical. The kidsare exposed to various perils AND GIVEN NO WAY TO COMBAT THEM.Occasionally, they are given a "way out" but fail to take it. The kids' acting is adequate, but no more. The teenage sister seems tobe in the movie only to look cute. And the "message" -- brothers shouldstick together -- is pretty simpleminded. Still, "Zathura" isreasonably entertaining. After a slow start it moves right along, andit offers kid-friendly adventure without being mind-numbingly dull forparents.

Dee 2012-05-04 12:06:58

For kids only

Unlike Jumanji, this is NOT for anyone smarter than a 5th grader. Theyuse typical kid shortcomings instead of writing a clever script. Muchof the story didn't make sense or was simply unbelievable. They seem tojust make stuff up to fit what they wanted - some things floated inspace including the sputum and the astronaut, but the kids were totallyunaffected by 0 gravity. The guy stuck in the game, the Zorgons wenever see, the robot repairing itself forever, all seemed like lazywriting and directing. The youngest kid screws up constantly and saysI'm sorry at least 40 times. I was so sick of this needy, whiny childthat I didn't care if they made it home or not. I'm sure there areparents who don't know how to discipline their kids so some will findthis believable. Those who feel parents should address rude andco-dependent behavior early, will lose patience with this mess of amovie driven by redundant bad behavior.

siderite 2012-05-02 03:20:19

Jumanji 2 this is NOT

This felt like a low budget filmed play. An entire movie that happensin a house with 6 actors (one of them being the robot) and some CGI.The story is planned as being a child story, therefore all thecharacters are ridiculously clichés that make irrational and absurdchoices.The father (played by Tim Robbins) is, of course, the best playedcharacter. It has a few scenes at the start and the end of the movie.Why Tim Robbins would play such a meaningless part is beyond me.The little male brother is a business manager in becoming. Obnoxious,spoiled, refusing to take responsibilities for his egotistic and stupidactions.The big brother acts in a way at the start and in a completelydifferent way in the end of the movie, thus invalidating the effectthat the whole experience should have had on him.The bitchy big sister plays a part almost as big (and intelligent) asthe robot. Even the zorgons are really dumb.In the end you feel like you've been watching a cheap remake of Jumanjiand you've been ripped off. This is not even a bad movie, as bad moviesget plenty of ridicule and talk. This doesn't even deserve mentioning.

tabuno 2012-05-01 15:12:28

An Above Average Children's Fantasy Movie

There is a simple message by the end of the movie, one that offers aclean and clear emotional punch with the twist at the end too. Thebantering between brothers is wonderfully presented in this movie andthe conflict of divorce and the emotional turmoil it can cause is wellon display, much more so than most movies of this genre. The action issometimes pretty intense and the children's response not alwaysconnecting with the audience, but the pacing and fascinating events areentertaining. The daughter's role seems neglected. And some of thescenes aren't completely believable in terms of fantasy and thesituation as if sometimes the boys don't have anything much to doexcept move about without explanation. Overall, though the movie iseffective in getting its point across, more so than most movies. Sevenout of Ten Stars.

2012-04-26 21:32:21

Family Friendly Film

This review is from: Zathura (Special Edition) (DVD) Another film that I could watch again because it has Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure, it's fun for the whole family, Action, and it gave me the rush that Jumanji did.

2012-04-26 15:34:20

Fantasy......

Movie was fantasy and adventure. But my expectations were higer than Jumanji but i still guess Jumanji was better. This movie is for kids n family, i enjoyed it. In short, movie was amusing.

Beatleboy 2012-04-24 07:58:42

Funny and Entertaining for the Whole Family

Let's get the bad out of the way...Perhaps it may be the fault of the theater or projectionist, but forthe entire first reel, I was distracted because I was able to see theboom microphones at the top of the image. Just about every scene wasdone this way. I lost count of the number of times it happened. Itcould be that the projector was not set properly. The image did bleedboth above and below the screen. I didn't really miss too much in reelone. Fortunately the meat of the film began with reel two. Anotherminor fault was with continuity. In one scene, the younger brotherhurts his elbow and it is bleeding. The next scene shows two bandagesthere. A few minutes later, there were no bandages. He was back to abloody elbow.And now on to the good stuff...Once I got past reel one, I was able to concentrate on the storyitself. There are a number of twists and turns throughout the film.Every turn on the Zathura game, brought another adventure for the twobrothers. Throughout the film they had to learn how to work together asa team. The brothers get a little help from an astronaut (arriving aspart of the game). They had an older sister, but her character waspretty useless to the story except for being used as another game gag.All in all, the film is well worth seeing for the whole family. I tendto be a clock watcher during films and I must say that I did not oncelook at my watch. There is enough action and humor written into thescript to keep anyone entertained throughout the film.

enderbc 2012-04-23 22:08:08

KIDS ONLY! (No adults allowed)

If you're watching this show looking for science fiction, don't bother.This is a story in the grand old Buck Rogers vein. It's for KIDS. inever watched the show as a critical adult trying to find flaws in itor worrying about suspension-of-belief. i watched it as i used to wheni was a kid, going to a Saturday afternoon matinée. Excited, thrilledat being in the theater... popcorn and pop in hand. Fidgeting in theseat until the lights dimmed. Then the anticipation... ready to enterinto the story. i wasn't disappointed. The movie captured myimagination from start to finish. My advice; this is for kids only. Ifyou're a grown-up, leave your adulthood at the door. If you enter intoit as a kid you'll experience the wonder, the suspense, the thrills,the chills. This movie will stay with me forever.

fwomp 2012-04-20 08:40:43

Jumanji Critics ...Go Take A Nap

Open up your imagination to the world of Zathura. Kids and adults alikewill revel in this great story about two young brothers who find an oldboard-style game called Zathura that literally launches them and theirhome into outer-space. Danny and Walter are the brothers and when theirfather leaves them alone with their teenage sister for a few minutes,worlds collide and their home becomes a space-bound asteroid, but notbecause of any interstellar cataclysm. It's all related to the gameZathura that the younger Danny finds and begins playing.Their father's beautiful arts and crafts style home is magicallytransported to the nether reaches of space and as the boys play thegame — in an attempt to get back to Earth — more and more bizarreoccurrences happen. A meteor shower pummels the house. A defectiverobot tries to kill the elder brother, Walter. Zorgons, weird,space-faring lizard-men, track their home because of the warmthradiating off it. A stranded spaceman joins the duo and has much morevested in the game than we could ever imagine. Walter and Danny'ssister goes into cryogenic sleep for "five turns" only to awaken in themidst of this spaceflight odyssey.Can the boys make it home? Will they be able to finish the game? Canthey put aside their sibling rivalries and become loving brothers? Whyis the stranded astronaut helping them? What will Dad say when he getshome and finds out there is no home?There's been a lot of controversial talk amongst film-o-philes aboutthis movie and JUMANJI. There's no doubt that there's an incrediblystrong similarity between the two (a house being overrun by animalsversus space creatures; a family in crisis that's forced to cometogether; a board game that recreates a fantasy; a happy ending thatgets fixed-up before adults arrive back in the picture; and so on).Regardless of those striking comparisons, Zathura is a really fun filmto watch. The two brothers are believable, and when they fight itreminded me of the great arguments I had with my brothers when I wasgrowing up.The amazingly beautiful arts and crafts home. It was painful watchingit get destroyed piece by piece. Sitting on a gimbal, too, it wassurprising (watching the special features on the DVD) to learn thatdirector Jon Favreau used minimal digital special effects and builtminiatures, etc. in order to get the desired effects for the film.The ridiculous nature of the story allowed me to suspend disbelief andjust go with it. We all know that fire doesn't burn in outer-space(they light a sofa on fire and kick it out the door), and that a personcould never survive fifteen years floating around in space in aspacesuit (the astronaut), but so what.I was also a tad surprised about the astronaut. I'd surmised quite abit about the movie as it continued (being able to guess pretty easilywhat was going to happen next and why) but when the true nature of thestranded astronaut came to light, I felt a bit choked-up (yeah, yeah, Iknow).So sit back and enjoy the film, and try not to get overly criticalabout its obvious relation to JUMANJI.

noxton-failed 2012-04-20 00:41:40

Take care of Zorgons

I find this movie kind of ridiculous. No one really wants to learn fromTV! And even as a naive Child you don't want to. Do not tread yourlittle brother like Walter did, you listen? And never ever wish thatyour bro would not even have been born! Maybe you gonna end up as anastronaut lost in space. The movie shows how not to do it, how not totread your brother or father and how you should never ever eat.Maybe I'm a little too sarcastic and it's a real good family movie withheart and a lot to learn from. But I got bad nightmares about theZorgons. They are really scary! Okay honestly I liked the movie. Ithink it has great and beautiful pictures, and if you watch it withyour kids, they probably will be excited. But one should not try tolearn from TV but just enjoy and laugh. I actually had a lot of funwith the film but watched just one single time.

2012-04-17 13:52:54

ZATHURA ROCKS

My kids LOVE!!!!! this movie. Except for a slightly scary part in the middle, my 6 year old twins have watched this movie over and over and over again for the past 2 weeks. My son is AOK with the ZORGON creatures, but my daughter has to leave the room for a short time when they appear. Otherwise, I would recommend watching this movie for yourself in order to better judge the reaction your own child will have to the ZORGON's. ENJOY

2012-04-17 07:08:26

Very enjoyable fantasy - good for adults and youth.

i know that Zathura may not be quite as good as Jumanji, but it is definitely worth watching. The kids are played so excellently and reminded me of my brother and I when we were kids.This is just plain good fun; Jon Favreau has done an excellent job of translating the book to the big screen.For those of you concerned about the language and your own kids....unless you keep them locked up in a closet everyday from the outside world then chances are that the use of the word "biyatch" is one of the least insulting things that your child has heard to date. Don't fool yourself - think about your own childhood; I know I never swore in front of my parents.

MovieManMenzel 2012-04-17 14:45:04

"Zathura" is a very exciting, fun film with terrific special effects that is much better than the trailer leads you believe.

Two Brothers, Danny (Jonah Bobo) and Walter (Josh Hutcherson) are leftalone in the house while their dad (Tim Robbins) goes to work. Walterand Danny get into a fight and Walter puts Danny in the basement. Thisis where Danny finds a board game called Zathura, which is a spaceadventure board game. It isn't long before Danny's curiosity takes overand insists that Danny should try to play Zathura. But one push of thebutton starts the game and this is no ordinary board game but an actualspace adventure game that cannot be stopped until either Danny orWalter win the game! A very fun and exciting adventure lies ahead…"Zathura" is one of those hidden gems that you would never think wasgood from reading about it and seeing the commercials and trailers forit. When I first saw the trailer, I said "oh gees give me a break!" andhad no desire to see the film what so ever probably because I reallydidn't care for "Jumanji" and "Zathura" seemed similar and was writtenby the same writer. But luckily I did go see it and in fact, reallyenjoyed the film.Now first things first, this is a big budget Hollywood family flick sodon't expect any amazing dialogue or acting! But what "Zathura" doesoffer is great special effects, a pretty exciting and interesting storyand decent acting. The movie actually blew me away with the specialeffects because I actually never heard about this film until a month orso ago so I was amazed the movie looked as good as it did because Ifigured this was a pretty low budget family flick. The whole spacesettings and the creatures and robots in outer space were very cool andlooked just as good as say "Jurassic Park." "Zathura" is basically a two men show, and by two men I mean the twobrothers Danny and Walter played by Jonah Bobo and Josh Hutcherson whoboth do very well in their roles.. Jonah Bobo was actually better thanJosh in my opinion but maybe it's because his character was morelikable then Josh's. In minor supporting roles we have Dax Shepard whodoes a decent job, Kristen Stewart who was decent as well but afterseeing her in "Speak" I believe she needs to keep to the independentroles because she's one of hell of an actress and lastly we have TimRobbins who like usual does a great job. Not much to complain aboutwith the acting, it's a little cheesy sometimes but hey it's a familyfilm and a Hollywood one at that so it's bound to be a little cheesy.Jon Favreau was the director of this film and I must say the man has aknack for directing films. Jon's first hit film was "Elf" which cameout in 2003. Again "Elf" was a huge surprise to me which I also reallyenjoyed. What I like about Favreau's direction is that he tends to makefilms that can appeal to both kids and adults. He's kind of like thelive version of Pixar. He picks good scripts and does one hell of a jobbringing them to life. I also like how "Zathura" was a lot differentfrom "Elf" and the fact that he nailed the film on the head. Sometimesdirectors tend to be one hit wonders or have problems changing thestory or the cast, not with Favreau he knows what he is doing and hewill be around for a long time as a director.So to sum it up, "Zathura" is a good family film that both children andadults alike can enjoy. The movie is definitely not for really littlekids I would say this movie is more suitable for kids ages 7 and up.The movie contains amazing special effects and very interesting andexciting story which is sure to amuse most who watch the film. Alsothis film is a lot better then its predecessor "Jumanji" and really isbetter than the trailers make you believe. I had a fun time when I sawthe film; it's a pretty unique family film that still has a good morallesson at the end. I recommend this film and will purchase the DVD whenit hits stores.MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Zathura" is an 8/10. It's abrainless but fun big budget family flick!

2012-04-17 06:13:11

Just like Jumanji!!!!

This review is from: Zathura (Special Edition) (DVD) My kids and I love this movie! We love Jumanji as well and I didn't know it was made by the same person! Two thumbs up!!