Sci-fi adventure has salty language, peril, violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
some
Minor language, including kids' use of "d---k," "screwed," "ass," and "bee-yatch." An astronaut makes reference to passing through a "time sphincter." A teen girl develops a crush on an older astronaut; when it's revealed that the astronaut comes from the future and is her younger brother, she remarks, "And I wanted to ... " without articulating the clear sexual insinuation.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Spaceships are armed with guns and futuristic missiles; lizardish space aliens are menacing; crazed robot attacks boys; meteors and space weapons blow up the boys' house/spaceship. Frequent explosions, peril. Three siblings are constantly fighting -- a teen sister punches her younger brother in the face; two brothers are constantly chasing each other, tackling each other, calling each other names.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Teenaged sister wears a tight top in preparation for her night out; she develops a crush on a character who turns out to be her younger brother at a later age and remarks, "And I wanted to ... " when she discovers the truth.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Movie attempts to address sibling rivalry: Despite how the two brothers are constantly at each other's throats, they learn they should treat each other much better and look out for each other.
Positive Role Models
very little
The two brothers learn to appreciate and look out for each other. The teen girl is a stereotype: She sleeps in and refuses to be woken up by anyone else in her family, is boy-crazy, sullen, and doesn't undergo any significant character development over the course of the movie.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Zathura; A Space Adventure is a 2005 movie in which an old board game found in the basement of a newly occupied house leads to fierce space battles and extreme peril from lizard-like aliens with a taste for human flesh. The movie begins with typical tensions, resentments, and competitions between two brothers, age 6 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. The teen girl develops a crush on an older astronaut; when he's revealed to be her brother from the future, her first response is, "And I wanted to ... ." The movie does attempt to address sibling rivalries, the self-esteem issues that can develop, and the importance of two brothers learning to look out for each other. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Trying to find something new to watch that we hadn’t seen before and this was streaming on HBO max. It said PG, so figured it couldn’t be that bad. Within the first 10-15 minutes the 6-year-old character calls his brother a d*ck. Tells him to shut up. The 10 year old mentions he has a girlfriend. The sister tells her dad she’s going to a party to “hook up.” And using the Lord’s name in vain. Turned it off. If you’re concerned about good role models, just skip this one. Am kinda disappointed because the common sense reviews didn’t mention all of this.
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. My expectations were low, but I really enjoyed it. It gets a little scary/suspenseful for sensitive viewers (my 9yos were covering their eyes) but my 11 year old was all in. Funny, had some real moments (frustrated dad with squabbling siblings), and a good story.
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 his dad (Tim Robbins), who's working overtime to pay for two homes and is recently divorced. The boys find distraction in Zathura, a circa-1950s board game they find 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 spaceship, 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 each other.
ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE is a movie most likely to appeal to older kids. 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 is 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."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the relationship between the two brothers. How do they learn to appreciate and take care of each other?
What are some of the ways in which sibling rivalry is shown? Does it seem like an accurate reflection of how it is when two brothers are constantly at war?
While some of the violence is sci-fi-related, some of it is rooted in the rivalries between the siblings. How was the violence different, and how did the violence in both serve to either heighten the action or intensify the relationships between the siblings?
MPAA explanation:
fantasy action and peril, and some language.
Last updated:
August 30, 2024
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