Zathura

A simple game turns into a space adventure.

Herald rating: ***

From the makers of Jumanji, the mid-90s children's classic, comes Zathura, an action-packed sci-fi film with a very similar plot, and also based on a book by Chris Van Allsburg.

Directed by actor-turned-director Jon Favreau, the film is about two brothers, Walter (Hutcherson) and Danny (Bobo).

Walter thinks his younger brother is a nuisance, and Danny feels that he can't do anything as well as his older brother. Both boys feel that their father (Tim Robbins), who is separated from their mother, doesn't spend enough time playing with them.

But all differences have to be put aside when Walter finds a board game, called Zathura, lying forgotten under the basement stairs.

Zathura is the name of the planet which needs to be reached to win the game, but when Walter starts playing it's obvious this is no ordinary game. Before you know it, the house has been hit by a meteor shower and is ripped off its foundations to float in space.

Danny and Walter have no choice but to continue playing the game to get home. Along the way they freeze their older sister, meet a space traveller, and come into contact with man-eating lizards called Zorgons. But slowly they develop a new appreciation of each other and their individual abilities.

Zathura is a combination of practical (done in camera) and computer-generated effects. The mixture works surprisingly well and is reminiscent of old TV series such as Battlestar Galactica.

Although this is basically a children's movie, it's full-on and suspenseful and will keep the whole family engaged. Parents whose children are afraid of large, scary, drooling lizards with sharp teeth, may need to have a few distraction techniques up their sleeves.

There's little effort to disguise the fact this is the same plot as Jumanji. But Jumanji is years old so probably only the parents are going to feel they have seen this film before. The kids, particularly likely young lads, will find this an entertaining blast of an adventure.

CAST: Tim Robbins, Frank Oz, Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo
DIRECTOR: Jon Favreau
RUNNING TIME: 99 mins
RATING: PG, some scenes may scare very young children
SCREENING: Hoyts and Village cinemas