BLAST OFF

REVIEWED - ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE: IF YOU liked Jumanji then you'll love Zathura. So what, I hear you say. Well, if, like me, you absolutely loathed Jumanji then you might still get on passably well with this unofficial follow up. Both films are based on books by Chris Van Allsburg. Both tell the story of children who are magically transported into the fantastic world of an ancient board game. Zathura is, however, altogether less pompous, overblown and Robin Williamsy than the 1995 film, writes Donald Clarke

Directed with great restraint by Jon Favreau, whose Elf was a big hit two Christmases ago, this warm family adventure manages the tricky business of travelling the universe while remaining almost totally housebound. It plays, thus, a little like an adventure dreamed up by a child on a rainy day with all the imagined creatures given digital substance for our benefit. The child behind me wept hysterically during the frightening bits and then declared it better than any Harry Potter. Strong praise.

Tim Robbins plays the father of three children who, like so many young people in Little Spielbergia, are not coping all that well with their parents' separation. Lisa (Kristen Stewart), the eldest, lives life in a permanent sulk. "We should never have rented Thirteen!" she shouts at her caring dad - the possessor of an Amnesty International coffee mug - when he expresses concern at her bolshie manner. Meanwhile, Danny (Jonah Bobo), a sweet-natured child, cannot understand why his more athletic elder brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) suddenly seems to hate his guts.

When dad slips out to a meeting, Danny stumbles upon a cardboard box bearing the legend Zathura: A Space Adventure. He begins playing the game within and finds his house launched into outer space. Further disputes follow, but, after a bizarre revelation that might as easily have sprung from Borges as Van Allsburg, a reconciliation is achieved.

The effects are fun without being overly flashy, the fine juvenile performances never stray into cuteness, and the moral lesson - something about love and tolerance, I think - is not laboured.

Zathura deserves to hang around past half-term.