'The Last Mimzy' is an enjoyable family sci-fi film that almost captures the warm glow 'ET' give me. Many films aimed at kids today seem determined to focus on bland, repetitive topics such as school and romance so it makes a pleasant change to find a rather intelligent children's sci-fi film, especially since most sci-fi films aimed at the family/children date back to the Seventies and Eighties ('DARYL', 'ET', 'The Witch Mountain' films, 'Flight of the Navigator', etc as examples).
This film centres on siblings, six-year-old Emma and ten-year-old Noah, who find a strange box of toys on a beach. Emma discovers one of the toys, a stuffed rabbit named Mimzy, can communicated telepathically to her while the other toys gift the children with strange new abilities such as telekinesis and heightened intelligence. But the children soon draw the attention of both the adults around them and the FBI, who threaten to destroy their plans to send Mimzy back to where it belongs.
This is a film where most definitely the child actors, Chris O'Neil as Noah and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn as Emma, carry the story almost on their own and they certainly rise to the occasion. They give very solid performances, despite their age and inexperience, and as such their characters come across as being realistically portrayed and who the audience can empathise with. Their sibling relationship is shown in a realistic fashion, without being cutesy or something that escaped from 'The Waltons'. The adult actors, including Joely Richardson and Timothy Hutton as the children's parents and Timothy Hutton as Noah's teacher, give good supporting depictions.
This plot is involving and exciting, if perhaps a bit too complicated for the under eights, and- through the eyes of children-- explores topics such as the importance of caring for the planet, why not everything different is a threat and that sometimes children are far more intuitive than adults. While I see some people like to look for political agendas in 'The Last Mimzy' (these are probably the kind of paranoid folk who seem politics in everything), the story is told in an honest, well-paced manner without being preachy or blatant.
'The Last Mimzy' is one for the family who is sick of films dumbing down to kids and re-hashing repetitive, predictable plots. It is an intelligent film that offers the chance to discuss important issues with children while also entertaining. It's also a good film for the budding young sci-fi fan who isn't quite ready for some of the 'Star Trek' episodes.
This film centres on siblings, six-year-old Emma and ten-year-old Noah, who find a strange box of toys on a beach. Emma discovers one of the toys, a stuffed rabbit named Mimzy, can communicated telepathically to her while the other toys gift the children with strange new abilities such as telekinesis and heightened intelligence. But the children soon draw the attention of both the adults around them and the FBI, who threaten to destroy their plans to send Mimzy back to where it belongs.
This is a film where most definitely the child actors, Chris O'Neil as Noah and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn as Emma, carry the story almost on their own and they certainly rise to the occasion. They give very solid performances, despite their age and inexperience, and as such their characters come across as being realistically portrayed and who the audience can empathise with. Their sibling relationship is shown in a realistic fashion, without being cutesy or something that escaped from 'The Waltons'. The adult actors, including Joely Richardson and Timothy Hutton as the children's parents and Timothy Hutton as Noah's teacher, give good supporting depictions.
This plot is involving and exciting, if perhaps a bit too complicated for the under eights, and- through the eyes of children-- explores topics such as the importance of caring for the planet, why not everything different is a threat and that sometimes children are far more intuitive than adults. While I see some people like to look for political agendas in 'The Last Mimzy' (these are probably the kind of paranoid folk who seem politics in everything), the story is told in an honest, well-paced manner without being preachy or blatant.
'The Last Mimzy' is one for the family who is sick of films dumbing down to kids and re-hashing repetitive, predictable plots. It is an intelligent film that offers the chance to discuss important issues with children while also entertaining. It's also a good film for the budding young sci-fi fan who isn't quite ready for some of the 'Star Trek' episodes.