Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Directed by Jon Favreau
After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.
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What critics compared Zathura: A Space Adventure to
This version of The Jungle Book is the work of filmmaker Jon Favreau, who has form for delivering great films for kids of all ages, from the Iron Man franchise to Zathura: A Space Adventure.
Despite his indie bona fides -- Favreau wrote and starred in the classic Swingers , and wrote/directed Made , another comic vehicle for him and his pal Vince Vaughn -- Favreau took to the mainstream at his earliest convenience, with family-centered films such as Elf and Zathura: A Space Adventure .
Director Jon Favreau ("Chef"), who started in indies with "Swingers," moved on to family fare with "Elf" and "Zathura: A Space Adventure," then jumped into the Marvel world with "Iron Man," has conquered the artificiality of CGI with a team of artists who have recreated an environment and its animals with startling realism.
Favreau has both Zathura and Cowboys and Aliens under his belt, so he knows how to combine adventure, humor, and danger, but will that enhance the story or hinder it?
Favreau, who before the first two Iron Man films directed the child-friendly Elf and Zathura , oversees a vast operation that combines digital animal and motion-capture input – muscles flex beneath hides and hairs stand on end.
Director Jon Favreau, combining the youthful excitement of “Zathura” with the blockbuster momentum of “Iron Man,” brings heart and soul to this rich adventure tale about a boy named Mowgli (Neel Sethi) raised as a “man cub” in the jungle.
Jon Favreau was a comedy director with only the kids’ movie flop Zathura on his action resume before he got a hold of Iron Man.
That film was a sequel to the original “Jumanji” (1995), starring Robin Williams and based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg (“Zathura: A Space Adventure” came in between).
The success means the inevitable sequel, and much as The Mummy Returns was fun but not as fun as the first film, so Jumanji: The Next Level doesn't quite have the same spark as Jake Kasdan's second entry into the four-film series (yes, we are counting stealth sequel Zathura).
While I’m partial to the more Amblin-horror approach of the original Jumanji and the semi spin-off Zathura, The Next Level gives me hope for the series’ current incarnation.