Mimzy, le messager du futur

The Last Mimzy is a film that I hope represents the future of children's science fiction. It is a future without bone-crunching comic book super heroes or malevolent movie bad guys or self-absorbed parents - a film that respects a child's intelligence, not to mention a kid's need to dream like a kid. I suggest Mimzy for anyone who has children, is fond of children, knows of children, or wants to simply feel really, really good about a film without being pandered to or suffer that condescending 'tude from Hollywood filmmakers who think they can sneak into your brain without you noticing.

There's an honest, earnest dreamlike quality to the film, a low-key, homespun feel to these two normal kids with two normal parents, who stumble upon a strange box-like artifact bobbing in the Seattle surf.

Ten year old Noah (Chris O'Neil) and his younger sister, Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) bring the box home. It contains several toys, including a worn, plush bunny that emits a strangely soothing electronic chirp. Emma is immediately drawn to the stuffed animal, whose name, she declares, is "Mimzy." Noah is instead infatuated with a strange rectangle of sparkling glass that seems to have advanced mathematical and geometrical powers. And very soon thereafter, their lives begin to change.

In many ways, Mimzy is a clever, sci-fi tinged mystery thriller, and the toys are clues. The film manages to hold one's attention without resorting to pratfalls or, as mentioned, archetypal villains. There are, in fact, no real antagonists in this film. A few confused or misinformed adults hinder Noah and Emma's eventual challenge, but Mimzy seems to know its course. Even the inevitable government intervention (the movie's weakest device) provides little distraction. Yes, there are a few improbabilities, but kids won't notice. For the most part, the film remains delightfully unpredictable - so the less you know about it, the better.

You may observe a few thematic similarities to E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, but I can overlook these parallels. Steven Spielberg's E.T. is 25 years old after all, and Mimzy is based on a short sci-fi tale "Mimzy Were the Borogoves" published in 1943, long before E.T. ever phoned home.

Several references are made to Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" and Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) sings out the closing credits, with a casual reference to "the dark side of the moon." So any perceived trippiness you encounter isn't accidental. In fact, the word psychedelic seems occasionally appropriate, although it's marginal and kids won't be aware.

The Last Mimzy is an unapologetic New Age ode to, essentially, the evolution (and survival) of the human race - and I kind of like that. Despite our mounds of Styrofoam, our SUVs and our blithe 'excessism,' perhaps every so often we can still pull a rabbit out of our collective hat. This particular bunny's name is Mimzy.

If I were to come up with a one sentence of "The Last Mimzy" it would be: New age tree hugging proselytizing wrapped in a children's film.

Deploying a panoply of New Age pablums such as the interconnectedness of the universe and a kind of whitebread version of Far East mysticism, "The Last Mimzy" is nonetheless fun and stimulating to watch. Anything that can theoretically challenge the dumbing down of my children by the Disney Channel is, frankly, welcome.

My daughter, a very bright girl if I do say so, was mentally energized after seeing "The Last Mimzy" and couldn't stop talking about it. Five points minimum right there.

The visuals strike me vaguely as derivative of Bucky Fuller's concept of Synergistics or the Dymaxion, concepts which were precursors to his famous geodesic domes - the sum being greater than the parts basically.

At its best, this film engages the imagination of both adults and children. The premise--a bunny sent back in time to save all of humanity--on its surface seems very silly, but somehow it works. It works because we know intuitively that children are often the only ones with the innocence and purity and that certain clarity of intelligence to communicate seemingly impossible ideas - the faith of a child in action. The people of the future still understand this too.

I didn't find Mimzy's "New Agey" feel overdone and it worked cleverly for its intended premise.

One thing that was very wrong about the movie was the overt product placement of Intel in a particular scene Though I suspect Intel rarely gets a chance where product placement even makes sense in a movie it was really inappropriate.

Still, an extremely worthwhile film amid today's teen-oriented drivel.

I see it's getting some bad reviews, but I really liked The Last Mimzy. I don't know how much it is like the book, but I liked the ideas the film was based on, the graphics were nice, and it was a new twist on an old storyline (the kids did a really good job acting too). Some people complain it didn't have any action and they "fell asleep" - well it's not an action movie, and honestly if you fall asleep, either you're really overworked or you're just not into light mystery and philosophical ideas. It definitely has a "new age" touch, it's mysterious, and with a nice bit of surreal/sci-fi - if you liked movies the same pace and style as K-Pax (though this one is a bit more geared towards kids), then you'll probably like Mimzy. I wouldn't suggest really young kids for this one, they might not understand a lot of it - 10 and up would probably enjoy it more.

Also, the less you know about the movie, the more you'll like it. Don't spend a day reading reviews and looking at trailers. Grab your kids, go to the theater, and see it for yourself with a fresh mind. You'll probably enjoy it as much as I did. :)

The Last Mimzy doesn't pander needlessly to its core audience, but at the same time it also has a good accomplishment in that it also has an appeal to adults, or at least those that have passed that age of adolescence and look back on childhood with levels of nostalgia and relief that it's over. It delights as well as gives special meaning to putting a level of belief in what is unknown at a time when the rest of the world relies on hard facts and rigid control of personality. It also puts ET to a certain test: can the little creature from another world that needs to get home kind of story hold up to quasi (actually precise) psychedelia? Pink Floyd shirts and Roger Waters aside, this may even have a secret appeal to stoners just as much as your little boy or girl at the movie theater, who will obviously see it in a different life, that of light, efficient irreverence and lots of neat special effects.

'Mimzy' tells the story of a boy and a girl, Noah and Emma, both at least under the age of 10 but old enough to be articulate enough as well as appropriately secretive in the fantasy they hold paramount, who come upon a strange rock from the ocean. In it lies a bunch of fragments, and, oddly enough, a stuffed, fluffy, cute bunny named Mimzy, who Emma takes as her most important possession. Noah meanwhile becomes transfixed with the new powers that soon come to him via these rocks: he can hear the smallest insect, and is transfixed by obscure designs. This strikes up the attention of his parents as well as his science teacher (Rainn Wilson), who also knows of the symbols Noah makes up. But after a power outage- it also happens to be a generator that Noah conjures- gets the attention of the government, not sure what exactly is going on. Emma has a problem, however, in that Mimzy, her closest confidant and "teacher" is dying and needs to get back home. That's the basic story, anyway, as there are little ins and outs as the story goes on, including a great product placement for Sprite, and a montage-free example of each child's new abilities.

Some of this may be a little preposterous, even goofy, but Bob Shaye and his team bypass the obvious but still perilous pit-falls for filmmakers investing themselves into children's movies. No truly stupid gags, nothing with bodily excretions, none of that really, and if anything the humor, of a little wild and over-the-top in variety (some of which I was laughing at alone while the other kids were silent), is innocent and sort of knowing of the split of imagination between children and adults. The two kids are also very good at playing their parts, with Wryn as Emma very adept at being vulnerable and smart, and O'Neil being almost too close to looking like the boy Elliot in ET, however not without his own strengths. Shaye sometimes lets his control slip in just simple things like cinematography or making a fitting enough ending (too many futuristic hippies me thinks), and the goofiness does teeter on becoming a little too much. But I responded more to how the power of taking a long repeated idea, of kids becoming changed by outside forces in a very real world, and there being a sort of little twist to it all. It's not just about making friends and gaining in some alien intelligence, but in figuring the significance of the future, however weird it might be. It's definitely the finest children's movie, non-animated, to come out so far in 2007. 7.5/10

I have never read the book, which this movie is based upon, so I have no point-of-reference for comparison.

All in all I thought this movie was perfectly appropriate for families, although from reading reviewers comments on another website, you'd think 'The Last Mimzy' had some kind of subversive plot. One parent said it was 'liberal doctrine' and another focused on the fact that it shows people who actually believe in Eastern philosophies and practices. Wow! You mean there are other religions besides Christianity out there?! Then they must be liberal in nature and are trying to wreak havoc on the traditional, family-values we all hold so dear.

I am a Christian and had absolutely no problems with the ideas proposed by other points-of-view. Maybe you might have to walk out of the theater with some explanations of how other cultures see the world and their place in it, but that's part of the magic of this movie. 'The Last Mimzy' was by no means 'liberal doctrine' unless you think showing a different perspective as a threat.

Personally, the weakest parts of the movie for me was the uneven direction and the point where I asked "Why is Michael Clark Duncan in this film?" He didn't really add much to it. The kids were believable and Timothy Hutton did a decent job. The effects were all-in-all low-key, but necessary. Before you judge this film for showing the mysteries of Eastern beliefs, try watching it with an open mind. It didn't give me the same vibe as 'E.T.' or 'Close Encounters', but it did a good job as being an entertaining family film.