Z is for Zathura

September 2024 Movie Challenge-Day 26

Surprisingly, my options for re-watching Z movies was a little broader than the last few days, but the one that I hadn’t seen in the longest time was Zathura, so I fired up Netflix and pulled it up. Fortunately, this was another film I could easily watch with my kids, something that has generally been lacking this month with many of my picks.

Danny (Jonah Bobo), Walter (Josh Hutcherson), and the Astronaut (Dax Shepard) get ready to fight some Zorgons.

For anyone who has never seen the film, the basic way to describe it would be Jumanji in space. It follows the same basic premise and is an adaptation of another book by the same author Chris Van Allsburg who also wrote the beloved Christmas classic The Polar Express.

This time around the kids in question are brothers, Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny (Jonah Bobo) who are just a few years apart in age, but seem to be extremely different. Walter (the older brother) is sporty and we get to see him playing catch with their dad at the beginning of the film. Danny is billed as the smarter of the two brothers but clearly wants his brother’s attention, especially since their dad (Tim Robbins) is busy with his work. When dad heads out of the house and leaves their teenage sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart) in charge, the boys must entertain themselves.