Zathura

Zathura (Director: Jon Favreau)
















Swingers actor Jon Favreau has actually started to carve a niche for himself as a director. The fun Made kicked it off, and in 2003 he made megahit Elf, which is either really funny or terrible depending on how big a Will Ferrell fan you run into. Based on the 2002 Chris Van Allsburg sequel to Jumanji, the screenplay comes courtesy of star writer David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, to name just a few) and kid-friendly writer John Kamps (The Borrowers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie). This movie opens on November 11.

This is the third Van Allsburg to be adapted into a movie (after Jumanji and The Polar Express), and admittedly, that's a tough task, considering that these are children's stories with an emphasis on tour-de-force illustrations rather than tons of character development and fleshed-out scenarios. I think The Polar Express turned out well, especially in IMAX, but Jumanji was not the best of movies, although there was some fun to be had. Jumanji also changed the main characters, two brothers, to be brother and sister and with different names, so this new movie lacks a little continuity--it's all the movie Jumanji's fault.

This is the continuation, the unchanged characters, of Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny Budwing (Jonah Bobo). After their father (Tim Robbins) leaves the house and leaves sleeping older sister Lisa (Panic Room's Kristen Stewart) in charge, the brothers get into a fight and it leads to the younger Danny being sent down a dumbwaiter into the creepy basement below. There awaits Zathura, a board game that once you begin playing, you have to finish or else. Bloodthirsty aliens, malfunctioning robots, meteors, a stranded astronaut (Dax Shepard), and many other obstacles await as the two brothers' spaceships on the board try to find their way to the center and the ultimate end.

I can tell this is going to be a huge hit. It's got the perfect formula for being a family holiday blockbuster, one that will have a full week before Harry Potter hits to make some good coin, and something that will likely last through Christmas alongside the other big family movies coming out in the next two months. It has danger, excitement, coolness, all on a grand scale, one that I think will be attractive to all ages. I found myself quite involved.