The first time I watched Zathura was catching it mid-way through whilst channel hoping and saying this stinks of Jumanji. Jumanji being better than Zathura... I was at the age to find Jumanji a fascinating concept, board games plus CGI junk. I mean, STAMPEDE stuff. It was mind blowing as a kid, as I remember. It was compounded in my memory as one of those films that was on at least once a year - bank holiday like Mary Poppins, Annie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Wizard of Oz, charlie and the Chocolate factory, The Little shop of Horrors and Die hard etc (repetition is the key it seems - Jumanji was one of those movies). I haven't really seen it since to cast a critical eye over it and I kinda don't want to. I'm happy that it was a thing I felt as a younger me and don't really wanna mess with that. Zathura I didn't see until a few years ago. I would have love to have seen it as a younger me. Or at least known what my younger self would have thought about it. But, and my opinion only is, it's no Jumanji. Zathura was fun. But, It it was the wrong time of life I watched it - Jumanji had already imprinted itself on me. I have no quarms with Zathura at all. It's just not an instant classic/PTSD/Stockholm syndrome movies.