HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Last Mimzy, The Is anybody out there?
Year: 2007
Director: Bob Shaye
Stars: Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson, Chris O’Neil, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Rainn Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kathryn Hahn, Irene Snow
Genre: Science Fiction, AdventureBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 1 vote)
Review: A mysterious, alien artefact known as Mimzy travels across time to reach Earth kids, Noah (Chris O’Neil) and Emma Wilder (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn). Transforming itself into a cuddly bunny, Mimzy delights the children with strange toys and forms a telepathic bond with Emma. She finds herself developing superpowers, able to fly, teleport objects and open portals into another dimension, while Noah becomes a science whiz able to build amazing things Mimzy shows him in dreams. This disturbs their parents, David (Timothy Hutton) and Jo (Joely Richardson), but schoolteacher Larry White (Rainn Wilson), who somehow shares those dreams, and his New Age philosophizing fiancee, Naomi (Kathryn Hahn) come to believe child prodigy Emma has a special destiny. When the kids’ latest experiment accidentally causes a national blackout, FBI Director Nathaniel Broadman (Michael Clarke Duncan) hauls the family in as terror suspects. The government tries to solve the mystery of why Mimzy came here.

The Last Mimzy is another little gem in the recent spate of quality kids’ movies. Based on “Mimsy Were The Borogroves”, a short story by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym for husband and wife team: Henry Kutner and C.L. Moore), this was a pet project for Bob Shaye, co-founder of New Line Cinema, and one of only two films he has directed. Allusions to Lewis Carroll abound, from the use of fractal mathematics, doorways to other worlds, and Emma’s intriguing discovery that the real life Alice had her very own Mimzy. Genre fans might spot parallels with John Wyndham’s Chocky series, while the alien’s use of coded messages in dreams recalls Explorers (1985), and its psychic bond, gradual weakening and escape from authorities evoke E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982).

It lacks E.T.’s emotional punch, but proves more cerebral. Beyond gee-whiz effects there are genuine, science fiction ideas as the children tune into strange frequencies that allow them to communicate with flowers, insects and sea creatures, and come to see the world in abstract mathematical shapes. Beautifully put together, the film features radiant cinematography, inventive child’s eye-level camerawork, and eye-catching special effects that exude more warmth and creativity than many grownup science fiction movies.

Shaye bookends the movie with futuristic scenes that lend an epic sweep. It opens with a schoolteacher telling the story of a world, seemingly, beset by alien invaders, as the elders send Mimzy back in time. A climactic twist flips everything on its head, cleverly enhances the danger, and casts Emma as an even greater child saviour who births a utopia where children can fly and the world is all green fields and rainbow flowers. Precocious poppet Rhiannon Leigh Wryn flits impressively from lovable to spooky as the scene dictates. When she declares, with the sincerity of an innocent child, “I love the world. I don’t want it to die”, you really believe her. Also watch for the moment she freaks out the babysitter by opening a portal to another dimension.

The screenplay by Toby Emmerich and Bruce Joel Rubin (who scripted Ghost (1990)) shows an understanding of sibling relationships and crafts a metaphor for the transition from childhood to adolescence, but slackens towards the latter stages. Prior to the awesome coda, Shaye struggles to assemble a suitably dramatic climax. In a pleasant change, the grownups are neither idiots, nor neglectful parents. Timothy Hutton plays a caring, supportive dad from the get-go, and Rainn Wilson’s hip schoolteacher wows his kids with lessons on DNA, pollution and the environment, and encourages them to go out and make a difference. However, Michael Clarke Duncan’s anti-terrorist expert is weakly written. While not an out-and-out villain, his actions are too extreme to be excused with a simple apology. And isn’t it scary how the American government goes all-guns-blazing just to nab a couple of little kids?

These criticisms aside, The Last Mimzy comes highly recommended. It’s also the only kids’ film to close with a creepy song by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Cool.
Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

This review has been viewed 4206 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Mary Sibley
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: