Mimzy, le messager du futur

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.

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 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.

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.

I took my two nephews (13 & 15) to an advance screening just now and we all liked the movie. Although, to enjoy it requires a very high level of "suspension of disbelief". A lot of things do not make sense, circumstances that would never happen and some things that just go nowhere in the movie all led to us making fun of the movie afterward. BUT, we all still enjoyed the movie and thought it was good. It is pretty much a high grade B movie. I went after reading the comments on here and was a little cautious because all of the first comments were horrible and then the latest ones were all perfect so I figured "people" were fluffing the votes to get people to go see it because of it's release next weekend and that is why I am posting this. You might want to wait for DVD or go to a twilight viewing(we paid $4 each), but I would not have been mad if I had paid full price. Sorry for the uneven review (kind of like the movie itself), it is my first.