Film Reviews

The Last Mimzy

• Rating:
• Director: Robert Shaye
• Starring: Chris O'Neil
• Details: US / 94mins (PG).

"Let's keep this secret, " Noah (O'Neil) tells his younger sister Emma (Leigh Wrynn) when they find a strange box full of weird toys on the beach near their parents' summerhouse. However, you can't keep something this magnificent quiet for very long. The box contains, among other things, a vintage toy rabbit called Mimzy and, after playing with the toys, Emma and Noah begin to develop otherworldly powers. Noah becomes a genius overnight, they hear and communicate with insects, they see things no one else can, and Emma, can not only crystallise her body, but is able to glimpse into a dystopian future. What does it all mean? As Michael Clarke Duncan's Homeland Security agent asks at one point: "Am I the only on who doesn't have a clue what's going on?" No, Michael - we're all in the same boat on this one. The Last Mimzy has to be the oddest kids movie released in a very long time but it's smarter than your average kids movie. It doesn't talk down to them, it doesn't tell them every five minutes what's happening, or what's going to happen next - and aren't magic and wonder what children love? The only thing that lets the movie down is the futuristic bookends which don't help in keeping with the mystery - because for a long time, we have no idea where this movie is going or how it's going to get there, and that's part of the fun. Oh, and the title stinks too.

Review by Gavin Burke