Ultimately Unfulfilling
Written: May 07 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great acting by the child stars.
Cons: Thin plot, lackluster performance by Hutton.
The Bottom Line: The Last Mimzy was quite quaint, but ultimately unfulfilling; I wanted more than the movie had to offer.
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| vemartin's Full Review: The Last Mimzy |
Magic; I mean the real stuff and not the slight-of-hand craft practiced by earth bound magicians has always been the subject of wonder. Children, as the ledged goes, believe in true magic, adults do not. The 2007 movie The Last Mimzy would proffer a rather thoughtful explanation having to do with brain cells or the lack thereof in human adults verses children. I don’t know if I buy it, but I have to keep reminding myself that it’s just a movie.
My 12-year-old daughter friend asked me to take them to see this perky little film this past Sunday and since I heard quite a lot about it on NPR and other venues I decided to give it a look. From the expanded coverage I had heard I expected more than what I got, but what I got was filled with whimsy and just enough awe to catch and keep the imaginations of little folks, though my daughter enjoyed The Bridge to Tarabifia more.
Directed by Robert Shaye (Book of Love), The Last Mimzy chronicles the adventures of brother and sister, Noah (Chris O’Neil) and Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) Wilder slightly before and after they find a mysterious box on the beach on Whidbey Island in the state of Washington. The Wilder’s live a typical upper-middle class existence: mother Jo Wilder portrayed by Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck, The Patriot, The Affair of the Necklace) is a housewife. Meanwhile, dad David Wilder portrayed by Timothy Hutton (Taps, Turk 182!, Kinsey) is the busy always at work but loveable, attentive father.
Mom and the two children trek off to the family’s cottage on Whidbey Island where they find a box with arcane marking on the beach. In the magical box are all sorts of magical stuff that appear from it depths, including several spinning rocks, and glowing crystal rectangle (it appears to be a lump of coal to adults) and a toy rabbit called Mimzy. Mimzy, who only talks to Emma, was sent back from the future from a human civilization that is in peril because toxins and pollutants have compromised human DNA. The humans in the future have sent out dozens of Mimzy’s in the hope that one will bring back pure DNA; Emma’s Mimzy is the last one, hence the title of the movie.
After both children start exhibiting unusual abilities Noah’s science teacher Larry portrayed by Rainn Wilson (The Office, Six Feet Under), takes an interest in the boy. Helped by his fiancé, Naomi (Crossing Jordan) the two try to help Jo and David understand what is happening to their children, but of course the children never really come clean with their parents and mayhem ensues.
For the most part The Last Mimzy played it safe, never really exploring the world of the future or magic in any depth. It played it safe in the present as well never really explaining how the box and resulting Mimzy’s came into being and how they bestowed the power they did upon the children. Was it magic or micro-miniaturized chips (nano-technology) that allowed the children to speak with spiders, move things with their minds, and float? Those questions were not really answered to my satisfaction. There were other missteps as well, but the forgoing are the most glaring.
For the most part the acting was on cue, but Joely Richardson’s Jo was a little too shallow for my liking, while Hutton phoned in David’s performance. The children were the real stars and they turned in fine performances. And oh yes there was Michael Clark Duncan (The Green Mile, The Scorpion King, Spider-Man), who portrays Nathanial Broadman and agent from the Department of Homeland Security. His performance was cursory at best, but he plays the tough guy rather well.
When the closing credits rolled, the movie had taken a predictable turn: all was well and human evolution had progressed to the point where speech was no longer necessary, human flight was the norm and Emma was the mother of all. Quite quaint, but ultimately unfulfilling; I wanted more than The Last Mimzy had to offer, and as it turns out my daughter left filling unfulfilled as well; she did not like the movie as much as she liked The Bridge to Tarabifia, despite the fact that no one died (her words not mine).
Reviewer’s Note: I would not ordinarily use this space to make a commentary about race, and the lack of color in children’s films, but but enough is enough. The Last Mimzy is just the latest in a long line of movie aimed at children in which Caucasian children are the hero’s. It follows closely on the heels of The Bridge to Tarabifia, The Chronicles of Narnia, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Jumanji , Finding Neverland, and the Harry Potter series, just to name a few, in which children of color—any color—are either missing or just a footnote.
Most might question my motives for bring this up, stating that the movies are innocent fun for children. They obviously are not raising children of color who ask why they never see anyone like themselves depicted in these movies, and why children of color are never portrayed as intelligent and meaningful. After a while it starts taking a psychological toll on the child, who starts to question the worthiness and usefulness of their particular hue of skin; yes I have three of my four daughters express a desire to be Caucasian at some point in their young lives.
We The People of The United States of America are increasing more and more diverse, and I don’t think it is asking too much for that diversity to start to be depicted on the silver screen, and the small screen for that matter. Hollywood needs to do better and we need to do better in demanding that our growing diversity as a nation be represented much more fairly. The hero’s in our children stories—or our grown up stories for that matter—need not always be Caucasian to be creditable or profitable.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Sneak Preview at My Local Theater
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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Epinions.com ID:
vemartin
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Member: Vincent
Location: Aurora, IL
Reviews written: 1367
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...A Great Empire cannot be Conquered from Without until it first Destroys itself From Within...
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