![]() Their adventures are as episodic as the board game scenario suggests: each boy takes his turn, picking up cards that say he’s “promoted to star ship captain” or has been “caught cheating,” which means “automatic ejection.” At first they play against one another, and soon they come to see they must coordinate in order to get back to earth, as they’re promised that “pieces reset at the end of each game.” The boys find themselves battling a large, very aggressive robot (it sets upon them, muttering, “Alien life form, must destroy!”), and the reptilian Zorgons, nasty, organized, and fond of eating meat (leading the boys to understand that they are, in fact, “meat”).Īs they’re scrabbling to fight off these sequential imminent disasters, the brothers don’t realize that they set off some other mechanism that turns Lisa’s bedroom into a deep freeze - she remains literally immobilized for the most of the film’s running time. Once they begin the game, the rules assert, Danny and Walter are unable to stop until they “finish,” meaning that they need to find the reason they’re playing, and, of course, reconcile with one another. David Koepp and John Kamps’ screenplay focuses on the brothers’ relationship, as this is worked out “metaphorically” through encounters with hostile monsters, a deranged robot, and a “stranded astronaut” (Dax Shepard). The board game, called “Zathura,” echoes the game in Jumanji, another movie based on a children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg (also the literary source for Polar Express). ![]() Her resentment of the assignment could not be more visible, as she heads back to bed as soon as dad’s out the door her punishment for this irresponsibility is equally overt, and not a little uncomfortable. When dad has to go to the office, he leaves them in the care of their teenaged sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart), still asleep in the afternoon as she’s looking forward to a night out. The boys seek their own distractions, Walter settling into a chair by the tv, and Danny eventually finding a circa-’50s board game in the basement, a game just begging to be played. Though dad wants to do the right thing, he’s also distracted by an auto ad campaign deadline (his refrain: “I gotta work for an hour”). Each son vies for dad’s attention in his own way, Danny acquiescent and eager, Walter affecting cynicism and haranguing Danny for his missed plays. The film opens as dad’s playing catch with the boys - one at a time, as the other watches from the porch. Walter just wants to be left alone, especially as he’s also feeling abandoned by dad (Tim Robbins), working overtime to pay for two homes (he’s recently divorced) and feeling guilty about doing exactly that. Older and wiser and increasingly impatient. Danny’s feeling rather shut out by Walter, who in turn feels besieged by the demands of a sibling who dotes on him. For indeed, this is a tale of brotherly bonding. That he’s accompanied by his 10-year-old brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) complicates and helps to complete the voyage. ![]() This would be the bare-bones premise of Zathura: A Space Adventure, in which young Danny (Jonah Bobo) essentially turns his house into a space ship, floating through the starry sky somewhere near Saturn, buffeted by the occasional meteor shower or malevolent alien. ![]() Space ships are cool, especially when you’re six. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |