Mimzy, le messager du futur

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.

Between all the dark and negative movies these days, this movie was really enjoyable for the family.

A nice and simple to follow sci-fi story that is pleasant to watch even for the smaller ones in the family.

No curse words, no dead bodies, no drugs... easy to enjoy.

The siblings Noah (Chris O'Neal) and Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) travel with their mother Jo (Joely Richardson) from Seattle to the family cottage in Whidbey Island to spend a couple of days while their workaholic father David Wilder (Timothy Hutton) is working. They find a box of toys from the future in the water and bring it home, and Emma finds a stuffed rabbit called Mimzy, and stones and a weird object, but they hide their findings from their parents. Mimzy talks telepathically to Emma and the siblings develop special abilities, increasing their intelligences to the level of genius. Their father becomes very proud when Noah presents a magnificent design in the fair of science and technology, and his teacher Larry White (Rainn Wilson) and his mystic wife Naomi Schwartz (Kathryn Hahn) become interested in the boy when he draws a mandala. When Noah accidentally assembles the objects and activates a powerful generator creating a blackout in the state, the FBI arrests the family trying to disclose the mystery. But Emma unravels the importance to send Mimzy back to the future.

"The Last Mimzy" is a delightful and refreshing sci-fi story and a great family entertainment. Seven years old Rhiannon Leigh Wryn and thirteen years old Chris O'Neal are excellent in the lead roles of smart siblings but the adult support cast have many disappointing lines and attitudes. The screenplay discloses since the very beginning that Mimzy was sent from the future to save the human race, therefore there is no surprise or twist in the end. I did not have a great expectation in this adventure, and I had a wonderful surprise. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Mimzy, A Chave do Universo" ("Mimzy, The Key of the Universe")

There are not many movies you can take the whole family to see these days. Our ten year old son really wanted to see The Last Mimzy so we went to a sneak screening last Saturday night. I was very pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the film as much as I did. My wife liked it even better. Our two other kids (daughter 12, youngest son 7) along with our son had a great time.

Kids will really be able to identify with the brother and sister in the movie. They seemed very real. The kids' lives at school and their relationships with their parents and teacher seemed true. This is a story about a regular family with all the ups and downs of everyday regular life.

Then, the story takes off. I don't want to give away anything about the plot because the surprises that gently unfold are what you and your family will enjoy about the movie. There are elements of science fiction and fantasy with nothing extremely intense to scare the kids. It's an interesting story told well with characters you care about. The visual effects are well done.

I liked that the movie does not talk down to kids to get its ideas across. My wife and I also liked that the language and situations were truly appropriate for a family film. My kids all want to see the movie again and the movie is definitely good enough to see a second time.

I took my daughter to a screening and was very surprised at how good this movie was. My 13 year old could not decide whether she liked this movie or the Bridge to Terabithia better. There was never a dull moment. We were both very entertained. It was definitely worth the price of admission. The younger kids (10 and under) did not seem to enjoy it as much as the adults and teens though. If you are planning on seeing this, stay away from trailers. You'll have a much better experience the less you know about it. During the last 10 minutes, the reel or film broke. You should have heard the uproar that caused. Everyone in the theater waited impatiently while the projectionist repaired the film. I'll probably go see this again when it does open.