Director:
Jon Favreau
Writers:
David Koepp & John Kamps
(Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg
Cast:
1. Jonah Bobo ………. Danny
Josh Hutcherson ………. Walter
Dax Shepard ………. Astronaut
Kristen Stewart ………. Lisa
Tim Robbins ………. Dad
Frank Oz ………. Robot (voice)
Relase date: February 14th
Colombia Pictures presents a Radar Pictures/Teitler Film/Michael De Luca production.
Running Time: Approximately 101 Minutes.
Rated: PG for some fantasy violence and peril, and some laguage
The Movie
When I first saw the poster for Zathura, I thought what I think everybody thought: “Oh, Jumanji in space.
That description is fairly accurate. Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express) wrote Zathura as follow up to Jumanji. Zathura was the game on the other side of Jumanji. The movie, Zathura, doesn’t bother with this thing, instead turning Zathura into an old thyme-y style tin wind-up game. So, it exists in this weird world between sequel, remake and other. Eventually, it was just decided that they’d market the thing as “hailing from the world of Jumanji.’
All that being said, it would be a much better movie without the existence of Jumanji out there mucking up it’s justification. As it stands, however, it is not only better than Jumanji, but by far the best of the three Chris Van Allsburg movies.
Granted, that might not be saying much. But let me go over wat makes this movie better than Jumanji.
First and foremost, let’s look at what each movie stresses. Jumanji focused first on CGI effects, then on the Robin Williams, neither of which were very compelling. Zathura focuses on the kids, brothers Danny and Walter. The child actors are great here, they have good chemistry and really sell the movie.
Actually, all of the actors work really well together. I was even surprised by Dax Shepherd. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a “good actor,” but he knows how to make use of what he has (namely, deadpan timing, and hipster charisma). As an aside, Dax looks like the love child of the guy from “Scrubs” and Luke Wilson. It’s creepy. I’m just saying.
Zathura is also way more comprehensible than Jumanji. Things are consistent, actions make sense. This is due in part to the simple nature of Zathura. There are only 5 characters, and one location (though that location does move).
What else makes the Z movie better than the J movie? PHYSICAL EFFECTS. Wirework, practical explosions, real fire, miniatures, kids doing stunts, actual destruction on the set. The kids get to react to real things. They don’t have to pretend that a tennis ball on a stick is a robot of a dinosaur pirate. It makes it real for the actors, and thus real for the audience.
Plus the movie HAS A ROBOT AND DINOSAUR SPACE PIRATES! How can you go wrong?
5 NOTES ABOUT ZATHURA:
1. The movie, in the proud tradition of E.T., does contain some naughty language. One brother calls the other a dick. The terms biatch is used once. It might freak out some of the fascist parents out there, so just a warning.
2. A similar warning: at one point the older brother briefly uses a hair-spray blowtorch. Blink and you might miss it. (You will miss it if you watch the UK movie). The Astronaut also uses lighter fluid to set the father’s nap couch ablaze. (But hey parents, if your kids are pyros and you leave lighter fluid lying around, can you really blame the movie?)
3. The set for the house is bloody gorgeous. My wife covets this fake house. It makes it all the more traumatic when meteors crash through it, and harpoons smash through it and robots bash through it.
4. Tim Robbins plays the dad. This was the first film he made after winning the Oscar.
5. The movie features some bad physics. This is forgivable though, as the movie has a throw-back Buck Rogers style to it. If you buy the magic that puts a house into space, little things like the interior of the house containing “earth gravity” and “air” aren’t really that big of a deal right?
6. Guillermo Navarro worked on this movie. He is a badass.
Score: 7.5/10
The DVD
The Audio and The Visual:
Looks pretty, sounds good, nuff said.
The Box
No chapter list. Boo. Just a coupon for Stuart Little 3, which is a traditionally animated movie. What? You can’t change media from one sequel to the next! That is madness!
Special Features
JAM-FREAKING-PACKED!
We’ve got commentary by Favreau and Ralphie from A Christmas Story. No seriously. Peter Billingsley was a producer on the flick. We’ve got 6 making of feature-ettes that each clock in around 20 minutes. They highlight the miniatures, the effects, the cast, the transition from book to screen, and author Chris Van Allsburg.
The different sections of the DVD are all tied together to fit with each other and the theme of the movie.
It’s really all you can ask for from the movie. They is even an Easter Egg in the main menu, albeit a relatively useless one.
The one complaint that I have is this: The scene selection feature is terrible. There are too many bells and whistles here. Loading times slow things up. It makes things difficult for one to, say, start on a robot heavy chapter to appease one’s robot crazy 2 year old daughter.
I’m just saying.
For that, DVD, I am giving you a
7.5/10
