Okay, I'm not sure if Wendy or anyone else will remember this, but back in the day on The Apprentice (remember when everyone watched it?), one of the competitions was to create a giant diorama representing the house that's featured in Zathura, an action adventure for kids based on the idea of a board game coming to life. There was a blonde chick on one of the teams, and her job was to present the diorama to the movie's director, Jon Favreau (you may remember him from Swingers). During the entire presentation she referred to the movie as "Zenthura". Hahaha. Jon Favreau was obviously unimpressed because the girl couldn't even get the name of the movie right.

Flash forward a couple of years, and I finally got around to seeing the movie. I'm not sure why, but I'm a sucker for kids' movies lately. Maybe we're actually having a resurgence of good ones, like the old favorites from the '60s.

As I said, a board game comes to life when two brothers start playing it, and they must finish the game for their lives to return to normal. The house is hit by meteors, the brothers are attacked by a malfunctioning robot, and their sister is put into a cryogenic sleep chamber, and that's all in the first few turns they take.

This movie is a lot less gimmicky to me than Jumanji, and it's generally more warm-hearted too. This isn't just an adventure for the boys. They are brothers who fight constantly (which was annoying at the beginning of the movie, but necessary for character development), and their relationship with each other is tested and explored in ways I didn't see coming, surprisingly enough. And Favreau maneuvers the camera pleasantly to capture the excitement and overall look of the film perfectly. The script has some pretty clever jokes, too, which appeal to an older audience.

And on a side note, the house that this movie takes place in is pretty much my dream home when it comes to decoration style.

I'm very glad I finally saw this movie. It's got heart, adventure, and good pacing, not to mention Bridge to Terabithia's star, Josh Hutcherson as the older brother. He seems to be doing pretty well in the acting field these days. Anyway, I definitely recommend Zathura!