Once their father (Tim Robbins) is gone , two little boys encounter a space travel board game called ¨Zathura¨ , when they start playing , they learn dangerous secrets . The two brothers soon discover that by playing it , the game transport them outland and is then unleashed weird events when a robot (voice by Frank Oz) is back to life and bombastic space aircrafts show up . Meanwhile , the sister (Kristen Stewart) is frozen and subsequently comes in an astronaut (Dax Shepard) . The fantastic game with a space travel indicator ejects carts, captioning the following ones : ¨Shooting star with possibility to make a wishes, Visited by Zorbons, Stranded astronaut, Reprogram, Hit time warp, Flunk space travel and finally Game over¨.
The movie begins with a real sense of surprise and fantasy , the kids are involved with meteors , destructive robots , huge planets , time warp , fantastic monstrous beings and winding up into an amazing black hole . The film displays a plethora of engaging spectacular sequences with stunning array of technical effects . However , the story doesn't seem to have of thinking , except perhaps that one shouldn't play with ancient board games . This is a space ¨Jumanji¨ style movie with phantasmagoria of well made digital FX , and it results to be the movie's main reason . Original and sensitive musical score including enjoyable chorus by John Debney (Sin City , Passion of the Christ) and colorful cinematography by Guillermo Navarro (Guillermo del Toro's usual cameraman) . The picture moves in fits and starts with phenomenal production values and intelligently executed by director John Favreau . He's a cool actor (Wimbledon , Break-up , Daredevil , The replacements) and occasionally director (Elf , Made and in post-production: Iron man) . Rating : Acceptable and passable , the picture appeal to kids and juvenile people.
