LAST MIMZY, THE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Two ten year olds, Noah (Chris O'Neil) and his sister Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) discover a mysterious box containing strange devices they mistake for toys while on vacation. As they play with the 'toys', they start to display higher and higher intelligence levels. Noah and Emma's parents (Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson) are unaware that anything unusual is occurring until Noah's science teacher (Rainn Wilson) alerts them. Emma tells her mother that one of the toys, a stuffed toy rabbit, is called Mimzy and that Mimzy teaches her things. When a blackout shuts down the city, the government traces the source of the power surge to Emma's family's house. A scientific scan shows that Mimzy is part high level electronic and part organic, but no-one knows exactly what is happening.

Review by Robert Newton:
New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye's first film as a director in 17 years, an adaptation of Lewis Padgett's whimsical Jabberwocky inspired short story, is a smart and curious amalgam of good ideas, even if it is a little unfocused as a story. It's about two kids who find a cache of toys that were sent from the future to save mankind, and it is quite a bit of fun.

It suggests, by virtue of imbuing the kids with supernatural mind powers, that children can be empowered and aren't simple toddlers who can get their parents to buy anything you flash in front of them (though even this big kid wants a Mimzy rabbit to talk to).

Visually fun and always thoughtful, this New Age fantasy makes a mark, even if it has to struggle a bit to be understood. Pink Floyd fans will dig the great new single "Hello I Love You" from Roger Waters on the soundtrack.

Published October 11, 2007