Much of the pleasure of Jon Favreau's adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's "Zathura" comes from its utter simplicity and directness of purpose. The film has a single elaborate set, no more than a half-dozen speaking parts and a zippy plot full of quickly resolved conflicts and easily articulated themes. Sometimes, though, a few special effects, a nimble directing touch and a heartwarming message about family and brotherhood is more satisfying that epic scale and logic-defying twists.

Like Van Allsburg's "Jumanji," "Zathura" is about an old-fashioned board game that comes to life and pulls its players into an adventure that requires the kind of imagination that video games often sap. Six-year-old Danny (Jonah Bobo) and 10-year-old Walter (Josh Hutcherson) are competitive and bickering brothers, both hungry for their father's (Tim Robbins) love and attention in the aftermath of a recent divorce.

"There are some days, boys, where you've got to grow up all at once," Dad instructs his boys before heading off to work and leaving them under the apathetic and sleepy watch of petulant teen Lisa, who's already frustrated about her father's lack of trust ("God, we never should have rented 'thirteen,'" she whines in one of the film's funniest lines).

Mostly fending for themselves, the boys begin playing Zathura, a dusty old wind-up tin contraption. It doesn't take long before meteors start shooting through the living room, the house blasts off into space and gigantic robots begin rampaging through the house. Can the siblings come together -- with the assistance of a friendly astronaut (Dax Shepard) -- to fight off the evil Zorgons and get the house back to earth in one piece?

Adapted by David Koepp, "Zathura" is as contained as Joe Johnson's "Jumanji" adaptation was out-of-control and excessive. While that 1995 film went haywire with Robin Williams and a legion of CGI animals running amok through the streets of Keene, New Hampshire, "Zathura" goes for an intimacy that could have been claustrophobic in lesser hands. Favreau keeps the computer effects to a minimum, relying heavily on the well-designed house set, creative use of miniatures and creature work by Stan Winston to make a tiny world. "Zathura" is resolutely retro and if the marauding machines and men-in-lizard-suits feel like they're straight out of a '50s horror or sci-fi movie, it's no accident.

Koepp's script is probably a little too bound by the take-a-turn-something-wacky-happens structure of the game and the device of having the children scurry back to the board in panic whenever they're in jeopardy is both repetitive and creatively limiting. That doesn't take away from Favreau's utter confidence in the film's action sequences, much less the work done by editor Dan Lebental and composer John Debney to smooth over any lapses in narrative pace. Gradually working his way to a younger and younger demographic from "Made" to "Elf" to "Zathura," Favreau injects plenty of heart when he isn't aiming for laughter or excitement.

There's something nearly Spielberg-ian about Favreau's use of his young leads, a recognition that showing the amazement and wonderment of a child is often a worthy alternative to showing the audience something impressive and hoping they react in the same way. Much of the movie's perspective is through the eyes of leads and both Hutcherson and Bobo given natural, unforced performances. Their fighting grows a bit annoying as the film stretches through its 113-minute running time, but it's authentic.

Kids, particularly boys, will enjoy "Zathura" and adults will be plenty entertained if they go along. The question of whether or not Favreau's movie will hold up for adult viewers without anklebiters is a bit more vague. There are a few knowing jokes, a somewhat disturbing third act incest subplot and the aura of loving nostalgia. For some older viewers that will be enough.