The Last Mimzy

I did go to the theater by myself yesterday to see The Last Mimzy. I’m glad I only paid matinee price. It’s definitely for children. I probably would have loved it as a child. I could compare it to a wild adventure like Disney’s Flight of the Navigator. But without the cool space ship and Jim Henson’s muppet aliens.

The premise is that our future is in trouble. So, an old scientist sends back through time a box of high tech toys for gifted children to find. They’re our future’s last chance. Why? That’s never really explained. But hence, it’s called the Last Mimzy. Mimzy being the artificially intelligent stuffed bunny that only little Emma can understand.

The actors were all great. The two children (Chris O’Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) are extremely cute and did a great job of acting like child geniuses. The parents (Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson) had smaller roles, but Rainn Wilson did have a wonderful role as Noah’s science teacher. As well as his eccentric fiancé, played by Kathryn Hahn.

But many times the story falls more into the realm of impossible fantasy instead of science fiction. Noah can control the movement of bugs my making strange sounds with his voice. Strange, but I could let that one slide. But at the end of the movie, the government watches some strange stuff happen. (Trying not to give spoilers, but it’s a kid’s movie. You pretty much know what’s going to happen.) The government, instead of asking a million questions and taking the children to do experiments on them, they just leave. Saying barely a word. Come on. Time travel is more likely than the government leaving them alone.

It’s definitely a movie for children, but it is entertaining enough that you won’t want to gouge out your eyes if your kids beg you to see it.
*Note: I did want to gouge out my eyes while watching The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, for which I had free passes.