Zathura

This weekend the weathermen told us to expect snow and sleet, so we rented a bunch of videos and bought some popcorn to settle in for the weekend. One of the videos we selected was "Zathura". If you watched, Donald Trump's "Apprentice", you would remember that one of the tasks the contestants had was to promote this movie when it first came out. One team kept getting the name wrong during their presentation and failed miserably! I had no interest in seeing this movie since it appeared to be a rip-off of "Jumanji". However, the video store in our small town was pretty much wiped out of good movies so we ended up with "Zathura".

Unlike "Jumanji", which starred Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst, the cast of "Zathura" was made up of unkown actors. Both movies are about kids playing an old board game that when played thrusts them into dangerous adventures. They must finish the game to stop the magical onslaught that happens with every move they make.

Although the movies were similar I found "Zathura" to be very entertaining and there was a moral to the story that made it a good family movie. The two young brothers, Walter and Danny, barely get along with each other at the beginning of the movie and their teenage sister totally ignores them. However, as they are thrust into their intergalactic adventure they learn to work as a team and grow closer together. This movie is rated PG which was refreshing, considering most of the movies today are full of sex, blood & guts and horror!

It turned out to be a good movie and I would recommend it. Yes it is a clone of "Jumanji", and even has a scene that will remind you of the "Wizard of Oz" with the house spinning through space, but "Zathura" was worth watching and kept us on the edge of our seats throughout the entire show. If I were asked to pick the best of the two, I would have to say "Jumanji" since I am a huge Robin Williams fan; but make sure you do see "Zathura", it's a good movie. Please leave your comments here.

P.S. It's Sunday morning and we haven't seen any snow or sleet yet...the weathermen got it wrong again -- but that's another story!