 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Zathura: A Space Adventure
- Review Date: February 13, 2006
- PG
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
Sci-fi adventure for the elementary school set.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the movie begins with typical tensions, resentments, and competitions between two brothers, aged six and 10. Their father is divorced and their teenaged sister is distracted by her interest in boys and parties. The film includes scary music, scary sound effects (crashes, explosions, alien-monster growls), and some images of space-aliens and a big robot attacking the boys that might be frightening for younger viewers. Boys use some obnoxious language ("d--k," "screwed") and violence against the aliens to save themselves.
What's the story?
Six-year-old Danny (Jonah Bobo) is feeling rather shut out by his older brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson), who in turn feels besieged by the demands of a sibling who dotes on him. Older and wiser and increasingly impatient, 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). The boys find distraction in "Zathura," a circa-'50s board game they found in the basement when dad goes to the office and leaves them in the care of their teenaged sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart). The game essentially turns their house into a space ship, floating through the starry sky somewhere near Saturn, buffeted by the occasional meteor shower or malevolent alien. 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.
Is it any good?
ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE is a movie most likely to appeal to elementary-school boys. Like the game in Jumanji, another movie based on a children's book by Chris Van Allsburg (also the literary source for Polar Express), this one helps the siblings to work out their conflicts "metaphorically," here by encounters with hostile monsters, a deranged robot, and a "stranded astronaut" (Dax Shepard).
Their adventures are as episodic as the board game scenario suggests: each boy takes his turn. But as Jon Favreau's movie is most interested in the boys' relationship, Lisa is best described as plot device, convenient witness, and occasional instigator for their realizations and efforts. In this, she's aided by the astronaut, who shows up during Danny's turn (he's instructed to rescue this stranger and then attached to the astronaut, who identifies Danny as the one who "spun me"). This provides the younger boy with an eventual conflict, as the astronaut and Walter make different demands. Danny eventually comes to realize that Walter is his brother, no matter how ugly he's been to Danny in the past, and that makes him, as the astronaut observes, "all you have."
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about the relationship between the two brothers: how do they learn to appreciate and take care of one another? How do Lisa or their father fit into or affect the brothers' relationship? How does the absent mother (never seen on screen, though she arrives to pick them up in a car) figure into the family tensions?
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Adult
April 27, 2010
AGE
I think that this movie has just about as much violence as Jumanji, but it has much more crude language including "d*ck", "bee-otch", "a**" and multiple uses of "hell". I am actually kind of surprised that they put that in a movie meant for kids.
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Kid, 12 years old
January 31, 2010
AGE
A remake of Jumanji, just its in space.
A good movie. It has major name-calling from Walter and Josh. The plot is very clever, and there is a lot of good special affects.
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Kid, 12 years old
December 6, 2009
AGE
a good movie but lots of kids swearing and vilonce.
this movie was good but what made me dissapointed was that kids as young as 6 said the worst swears that have only heard mid teenagers say. Also there is lots of vilonce and peril. I would recomend this to kids 8-13. but if your child is JUST 8 years of age i would give a pause but not so much for the vilonce but for the language.
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Kid, 11 years old
July 8, 2011
AGE
Good movie some material not for young kids.
part of an episode from SpongeBob SquarePants is shown. Some scary parts little kids will get frighting.
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Teen, 13 years old
March 14, 2010
AGE
Uncensored: Off for 9 and under, Censored: Iffy for ages 9-10
I watched a good part of this movie on CN not too long ago. Judging mainly by the language, and also by the violence/scariness, I rate this movie off for ages 9 and under. If you watched a version on TV that bleeped the swearing, that version may be iffy for ages 9-10.
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Parent of 10 year old
May 21, 2010
AGE
NOT ok for kids 8 and up, in my opinion.
What are you thinking? This movie has OBSCENE language in it that children should not be hearing! I can understand that there are a FEW frequently-used curse words in our society today that can be over-looked in the right setting (say, a movie for educational purposes, which this movie is not). But when a big brother calls his younger brother a d-ck, and then orders a robot around saying bring me an orange juice, beot-h!...not acceptable. I am a public school teacher, and sometimes rely on sites such as these to help me make decisions on incentive movies. Thank the Lord I viewed this before I showed the students. Your site indicates that this movie is 'on' for 8 years old and up. No wonder children feel it is ok to use this kind of language in everyday life!
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Teen, 14 years old
April 18, 2010
AGE
Jumanji-ish sci-fi is iffy for kids; OK for preteens
It's obvious that Zathura: A Space Adventure copies off of 1995's Jumanji. But, in my opinion, Zathura was better. The special effects are (excuse the bad pun) out of this world, the acting is first-rate, and the adventure action is enough to make anyone thrilled. While the movie is definetly enjoyable, there is however some problems. There are tons of plot holes, nonsensical comic situations, and even some kid-unfriendly scenes. Most offending is when a 6-year old calls his brother a d**k. Your young one will probably not understand what it means, but it's there nonetheless. Also, there are some scary and gross-looking creatures, a mild (and fleeting) sex joke, and, as mentioned, some language. Overall, Zatura is an iffy choice for kids, but preteens should have no problem whatsoever.
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Kid, 10 years old
December 23, 2010
AGE
not brilliant, but alright
this film got boring over time but its still a classic
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Adult
June 1, 2010
AGE
Zathura...hmmm.
This movie is iffy for me for a few reasons: 1) The violence is kinda frightening at points and the monsters look very scary. 2) There's the apparent lack of any kind of supervision, these children are way to young to look after themselves. The older sister doesn't even check up on them. (I know, she's frozen for a portion of the movie, but that doesn't excuse the time when she's not) 3) There's language that's inappropriate for children to be saying or hearing.
For teens this movie would be ok, but by then it's too boring for them to be interested. I don't really know anyone who would watch this movie because: children clearly shouldn't and teens won't want to.
Oh and the only good role model in the movie is the astronaut, and we only get to see him for a short time...
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Kid, 8 years old
April 18, 2010
AGE
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| Topics: | adventures, book characters, space and aliens |
| Studio: | Sony Pictures |
| Director: | Jon Favreau |
| Cast: | Jonah Bobo, Josh Hutcherson, Tim Robbins |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 113 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | November 11, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | February 14, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | fantasy action and peril, and some language. |
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