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"THE LAST MIMZY" (2007) (Chris O'Neil, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None Minor Moderate *Moderate Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Moderate None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild None Mild Moderate Mild QUICK TAKE: Sci-fi: A brother and sister come into possession of magical items sent via time travel that might be future humankind's last chance at survival. PLOT: Noah Wilder (CHRIS O'NEIL) is an average 10-year-old boy with average grades at his Seattle school. With his father, David (TIMOTHY HUTTON), always busy working, Noah spends most of his time with his younger sister Emma (RHIANNON LEIGH WRYN) and their mother Jo (JOELY RICHARDSON). When the three head off to their lake vacation home, the siblings discover a strange box in the surf. Inside are various mysterious objects, as well as a stuffed bunny toy that "talks" in a somewhat gurgled fashion. Emma quickly adopts "Mimzy" as her own, but little do the kids know that those items have been sent from the future -- via a desperate scientist -- in a last ditch effort to save the future of humankind from their polluted world. For the kids, they're just fun, if unusual things that soon give them unique supernatural powers, a development that doesn't escape the notice of Jo or Noah's science teacher Larry White (RAINN WILSON) and his new-age fiancée, Naomi Schwartz (KATHRYN HAHN). Things get even more complicated when one of the items causes a massive blackout across half the state. That draws the attention of Homeland Security regional director Nathanial Broadman (MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN) who assigns his team to find the source of the outage, believing it could be terrorism based. Realizing they're in trouble but not understanding the ramifications of their actions, Noah and Emma try to figure out what to do with their magical find. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet many younger ones will, particularly if they're into sci-fi. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For some thematic elements, mild peril and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: CHRIS O'NEIL plays an average 10-year-old kid who thinks his life "sucks," but has a change of heart and abilities upon exposure to the futuristic objects. RHIANNON LEIGH WRYN plays his younger sister who similarly develops supernatural abilities and becomes quite attached to the Mimzy bunny doll. JOELY RICHARDSON plays their mother who becomes increasingly concerned about their behavioral changes. TIMOTHY HUTTON plays her husband, who's preoccupied with work and thus absent for much of the film until he realizes he has to try to figure out what's occurring. RAINN WILSON plays Noah's science teacher who realizes something strange is occurring when his dreams mesh with events surrounding the kids. KATHRYN HAHN plays his new-age fiancée who tries to convince him that the universe is speaking to him. MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN plays a Homeland Security regional director who takes the family into custody while trying to figure out what's going on. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated sci-fi flick. Profanity consists of a minor expletive, while some colorful phrases are uttered. An engaged couple shares the same bed (nothing happens), although the man is briefly seen in just a dress shirt and his leopard print briefs. Violence includes government agents raiding a family's home while holding automatic weapons, and that scene, some potential peril, and other material might be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers, but probably few others. Various thematic elements are also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of handheld camerawork in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE Emma puts her hand into a spinning vortex and it appears to become atomized, but still in the general shape of her hand. When she removes it from the vortex, it's back to normal. Emma places her arm into another vortex and it again atomizes (freaking out a babysitter), but the girl is okay. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Another student gives Noah the answers (on his cell phone) for an upcoming test, but while the other boy apparently uses them, Noah does not. Noah has something of the usual big brother looks down on younger sister attitude, asking her at one point, "What kind of mutant are you?" Noah has something of a bad attitude in one scene, saying that "school sucks," "life sucks" and "I suck." Some viewers might not like the supernatural material that occurs in the film (rocks that float and spin, magical powers that increase the kids' intelligence, a child that can float, having the power to unlock doors and transport objects from one place to another via mind control, etc.). Needing to escape to find more of their magic rocks, Noah and Emma steal a van, with Noah (10-years-old) driving. FRIGHTENING SCENES Younger kids may be susceptible to the following. An adult in the future begins telling the story of this film, saying that the soul of the world was sick and dying, resulting in a scientist making one last attempt to save humanity by sending the last Mimzy into the past (that might be unsettling for younger kids). A TV cooking program starts to show a crab being killed for food purposes, but we don't see the actual act (the squeamish might be unsettled). Emma puts her hand into a spinning vortex and it appears to become atomized, but still in the general shape of her hand. When she removes it from the vortex, it's back to normal. Noah and Emma both look at a large spider spinning its web, but neither are frightened (but those afraid of spiders might be). Larry shows his students a jar containing a dead, two-headed snake (potentially unsettling for those scared of snakes). There's some brief talk of space aliens between Emma and her babysitter (those nervous about that might be unsettled). Emma places her arm into another vortex and it again atomizes (freaking out a babysitter), but the girl is okay. A blue "generator" sucks up a small magical plate (prompting some alarm in Noah) and that causes the power to go out in the house, as well as the rest of the city (we hear half the state went out). Broadman's wife brings up the topic of terrorists when he gets a call to work in the middle of the night (she wonders why they'd attack Seattle -- when that isn't what's happened). Noah yells for his parents' help and they come running to find his sister floating in the room. The kids get upset when their spooked mom gathers all of the strange things (including the toy bunny) and throws them out. Emma prepares to put her head into the vortex to look around, and then does so as Noah holds onto her. She sees what looks like space aliens zap a scientist of the future (we don't see any weapon, just the man fall over), and when Noah pulls her back out, she's unconscious, thus causing him to scream to their parents for help (when they get there, she's regained consciousness). We later see that the aliens were just humans in protective environmental gear, but we don't know why they seemed to have harmed the scientist. FBI agents, armed with automatic weapons, suddenly rush into the family's home, grabbing all of them, and collecting evidence (they hold David back as he struggles to get to his family). They then take the family off to a government facility for questioning. Government agents take Mimzy the toy bunny off to be sliced, thus causing Emma alarm, but they only take a small sample for electron microscope testing. Needing to get around security cameras in the hallway, Noah uses his mind control to create and/or cause beetles to swarm up the wall and cover the camera's lens. Emma thinks Mimzy the bunny doll is going to die. Emma creates another vortex, but this time her hand gets stuck in it as it starts to lift off. She panics, and Larry, David, and Jo each try to run up and save her, but they bounce off some sort of force field around it. Noah then runs up, goes under the bottom edge of that force field, and saves his sister. An alien-looking "generator" starts to throb and then wiggle and move out of control as Noah tries to hold it while it's powering the above vortex. Later, David holds it while it continues to do the same. GUNS/WEAPONS FBI agents, armed with automatic weapons, suddenly rush into the family's home, grabbing all of them, and collecting evidence (they hold David back as he struggles to get to his family). IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "I'm freaked out," "Jeez," "Total choke," "You're such a wuss," "How lame," "What kind of mutant are you?" "School sucks," "Life sucks," "I suck," "Are you crazy?" "Sweet" (said in a drawn-out, exaggerated fashion), "Screw" (nonsexual), "I'm outta here, dude," "Lighten up" and "That is weird." After Emma learns that hamburgers come from cows, she spits out a mouthful of hamburger onto her plate. Needing to escape to find more of their magic rocks, Noah and Emma steal a van, with Noah (10-years-old) driving. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 damn and 2 uses of "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY We see that Larry and Naomi (his fiancée) live together. In one scene, he goes to the fridge wearing just a dress shirt, and when he bends over, we see the backside of his leopard print briefs (as does Naomi, who shows a little cleavage). While saying it's Easter vacation and they should celebrate, Larry does some kissing on Naomi. Naomi shows a little cleavage. Naomi shows a little cleavage in another scene. Jo shows a little cleavage. Larry and Naomi (engaged but not married) wake up in bed together, but nothing sexual occurs. A vision of the future shows humans taking off protective, environmental gear. We only see it coming off their heads, but a male and female figure then walk off into a blinding light, showing us just fuzzy, high contrast silhouettes of them doing so, and it could be taken that they're nude (but no details are seen if they are). SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES David is always working and busy, thus away from the family for various times. Jo is concerned about the sudden changes in her kids. The kids get upset when their spooked mom gathers all of the strange things (including the toy bunny) and throws them out. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Time travel. David is always working and busy, thus away from the family for various times. Some viewers might not like the supernatural material that occurs in the film (rocks that float and spin, magical powers that increase the kids' intelligence, a child that can float, having the power to unlock doors and transport objects from one place to another via mind control, etc.). We see that Larry and Naomi (his fiancée) live together. There's some brief talk of space aliens between Emma and her babysitter (those nervous about that might be unsettled). Larry talks about environmental and cultural pollution of humans' DNA. Broadman's wife brings up the topic of terrorists when he gets a call to work in the middle of the night (she wonders why they'd attack Seattle -- when that isn't what's happened). Broadman says they're taking the family in for questioning under the Patriot Act. Naomi telling Larry that the universe is speaking to him (through his dreams and interaction with Noah). VIOLENCE We briefly see boxing violence in a video game Noah is playing. In a brotherly fashion, Noah shoves Emma on the shoulder while both are seated on the sofa. Emma prepares to put her head into the vortex to look around, and then does so as Noah holds onto her. She sees what looks like space aliens zap a scientist of the future (we don't see any weapon, just the man fall over), and when Noah pulls her back out, she's unconscious, thus causing him to scream to their parents for help (when they get there, she's regained consciousness). We later see that the aliens were just humans in protective environmental gear, but we don't know why they seemed to have harmed the scientist. FBI agents, armed with automatic weapons, suddenly rush into the family's home, grabbing all of them, and collecting evidence (they hold David back as he struggles to get to his family). They then take the family off to a government facility for questioning. Reviewed March 18, 2007 / Posted March 23, 2007

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