After the Robot has been stomping and destroying everything in its path the whole movie to get to Walter, Walter using the REPROGRAM card to get the Robot repaired and actually hunt the Zorgons as it was made to do is a satisfying payoff to that.
Lisa hurling the piano down the stairs at the Zorgon sneaking up on Walter and Danny is also a cheer-worthy moment.
The Astronaut both for general coolness and his emotional context.
Lisa isn't in the film much, but gets some appreciation for a few hilarious lines and some Big Sister Instinct moments. When people highlight how Kristen Stewart is actually a good actress and shouldn't be judged solely by Twilight, this and Panic Room are often deemed the highlights of her pre-2020s career.
Fan Nickname: "Zenthura," for those who watched the episode of The Apprentice where one of the candidates repeatedly referred to the film by that name in an all-important presentation to Jon Favreau himself.
Fridge Horror: The fact that you can just wish someone out of existence with a shooting star. Are there any limits to what one is allowed to wish for?
Lisa does a lot of hysterical screaming for a good portion of her scenes, which are much funnier to watch now that Kristen Stewart has gained a reputation for never showing emotion.
Walter, played as a child by Josh Hutcherson, is effectively the spiritual counterpart of Jumanji's Alan Parish, played as an adult by Robin Williams. One year later, the pair would play father and son.
Danny's love of video games and the fact that he only pulls out the Zathura board game because Walter is hogging the TV, in light of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle showing the Jumanji board game turning into a video game and main character Spencer being a gamer.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: A common complaint was that it's too similar to Jumanji. Understandable, given both films are adaptations of Chris Van Allsburg picture books that follow the same continuity (while the films if they do is presented as being very vague).
Danny. Stuck with an ass of an older brother and actually got wished away in another timeline. Danny might be more of a straight up Woobie because he's such a nice kid most of the time, even if he did cause the trouble in the first place (at least in Walter's mind).
Walter: Stuck with an (apparent) brat of a younger brother. Plus, it's obvious his parents being divorced has hit him hard.
And let's not forget, "YOU GUYS ACTUALLY SET THE HOUSE ON FIRE?!"
Kirsten Stewart's expressionlessness has drawn jokes of "Her face is still frozen from Zathura." due to her character Lisa being frozen for most of the film.
Also, the fact that a "frozen Kirsten Stewart" prop exists has drawn all kinds of awkward and uncomfortable reactions on the internet.
No Yay: Lisa crushing on The Astronaut. Not just because of their age difference (he's an adult, she's a teen) but because they're siblings; he is actually Walter from an alternate timeline.
The Problem with Licensed Games: Far from the worst example, but the PS2 and Xbox adaptations of the movie leave a lot to be desired, and tend to be called So Okay, It's Average at best. It admirably takes a few liberties from the movie so that it's not too constrained in scope, but there's still a fair amount of Fake Difficulty and the PS2 version in particular suffers from horrible frame rate issues.
She Really Can Act: Kristen Stewart as Lisa. It was made before the movies were released, but for those only familiar with her role in Twilight, seeing her actually defend her brothers and herself as well (as well as averting Dull Surprise) is quite refreshing to watch.
Spiritual Successor: The movie, to Jumanji, as it's also about the characters playing a board game that comes to life.
Squick: The reveal that Lisa's been crushing on an older version of her brother Walter from an alternate timeline. Lisa's appropriate reaction In-Universe.
Tear Jerker: The astronaut's confession that he's played the game before, with his own brother fifteen years ago. He admits that they had already been fighting a lot and that each turn of the game made it worse. When he got the shooting star card, he was so mad that he wished his brother had never been born. Danny's reaction is especially poignant since he'd had his life in Walter's hands mere moments ago. The astronaut continues, saying that the instant he made the wish, he felt terrible, and he wanted to continue in the hope of getting another shooting star and wishing his brother back, but the game wouldn't let him since it wasn't his turn.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: For some, the brothers' constant arguing throughout the movie. If said arguing doesn't make you concerned on principle, that their relationship is that sour, you might not care by the end.
Visual Effects of Awesome: In contrast to its predecessor, Zathura uses primarily practical effects. The space ships, aliens and robot were built by Stan Winston, all of which look great even a decade later.
