Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW
The Last Mimzy
MPA Rating:
for some thematic elements, mild peril and language.
for some thematic elements, mild peril and language.
Reviewed by: Maggie Hays
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Family |
| Genre: | Fantasy Adventure Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 30 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2007 |
| USA Release: |
March 23, 2007 (wide—3000 theaters) |
Relevant Issues
Why I stopped following Buddha and started following Jesus Christ? Answer
Ten Questions I’d Ask If I Could Interview Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) Today—Go
Can mysticism lead to God? Answer
Hares and rabbits in the Bible
Should Christians be concerned about the environment? Answer
What is man’s responsibility to the environment? Answer
Adventures in the rainforest! Learn about the Creator of the universe by exploring His marvelous creation. Fun for the whole family with games, activities, stories, answers to children’s questions, color pages, and more! One of the Web’s first and most popular Christian Web sites for children. Nonprofit, evangelical, nondenominational.
| Featuring | Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Rainn Wilson, Joely Richardson, Megan McKinnon, Marc Thomas Musso |
| Director |
Robert Shaye |
| Producer | Michael Phillips |
| Distributor |
“The future is trying to tell us something.”
Here we have two children—brother and sister—who discover a strange box. Its contents are mysterious, and they begin to play with them, producing extraordinary effects. The children, themselves, develop hyper-intelligence and abilities like levitation. This is a fantasy tale—a science fiction story without nasty aliens. Mimzy is a “stuffed” rabbit in the box, who talks to the little girl and teaches her things, making her aware of her mission to save a lot of people.
Looking at this from the perspective of a Christian Mom, here are the things I found objectionable:
The boy’s teacher lives with his fiance, and they are seen in bed together, though not being sexual. In fact, I assumed they were married until he introduces her to the children’s parents.
Also, the teacher and his fiance are into eastern mysticism, often referring to their trip to Tibet. She practices Eastern meditation, and they pull out several books on the subject. They feel the books contain the answer to what is happening with the children.
There are no Christian references in the movie. The children and parents are not seen praying, going to church, or referring to the Lord at all. In fearful times, the children do not turn to God for help or guidance or protection. The parents display concern about their children, but never turn to God for help. The only guidance in the movie seems to come from the teacher’s Eastern religion-based knowledge.
As for language, I think I heard one “damn.”
Now, from the perspective of a Christian Mom, here are the things I found positive about the movie:
“The Last Mimzy” is a clean, family-friendly film. There are no sex-scenes or words that will make you gasp. No gore, no killings.
Though it is a fantasy/sci-fi movie, no monsters pop out of anyone’s stomach. Children will find this movie fascinating, not frightening, though very young children may find the movie a little slow and boring at first.
The special effects are very well done and not overly-done.
The children in the story are very likeable and nice to each other. The parents are not portrayed as Mr. and Mrs. Doofus, but are intelligent and love and respect their children. The father takes a leave of absence from work to help his wife sort out what is going on with the children and their strange new abilities. The family does not disrespect one another.
Violence: None / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: None
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Positive
Positive—I really enjoyed this movie—the visual effects were great and the plot of the movie was cohesive and one of the better science fiction stories I’ve seen in years. There were only a couple of issues I had contention with—bad words were used a couple of times, and one of the characters is shown being into Buddhism/palm reading. In contrast, there is some great lines in the movie that could easily be tied into the Christian faith—for instance, one scene shows the dad reassuring his son that the boy doesn’t “suck” and that he is an awesome human being. This is something many children need to hear. In the end, the focus of the movie is really on the two children and the message from the future and not so much on its questionable aspects, so as long as younger children are helped to understand things such as palm-reading aren’t true, I would definitely recommend this movie.
Average / 4½
Average / 4½
Rachel J., age 18
Positive—As I watched “The Last Mimzy,” I first had to chuckle, as they seemed to show the teacher and his fiance as boobs for believing in Eastern religions. But as the movie continued my heart began to sink and I became more and more disturbed as I saw Eastern religions become a prevalent source of wisdom. However, I decided to stick it through to the end, because there seemed to be something more to the movie. At the beginning, there is a simple phrase that is easy to miss. It was along the lines of 'Where are you going for Easter vacation?' EASTER VACATION?!?! Didn’t these kids know they went to public school??? So, I had to think the filmmaker had more in mind than Eastern mysticism.
**SPOILER WARNING**
As it turns out, Eastern religion is completely debunked by science, the people from another planet are actually people from our future on Earth, and Mimzy is a robot. Mimzy was bringing the children a message that was misunderstood by everyone throughout history and spun into these other ideas about Nirvana and the looking glass. Then, there is the most important line in the movie. The little girl says the people in the future need them because something in them are BROKEN. Every event in the history of the world hinges on this brokenness. Remind you of anything?
And it goes beyond that. In the end the people of the future are made new. There is even an image of them shedding off their old selves! Then they reach their full potential as people and the entire world is made new. It has been a long time since I have seen a movie which can be used to represent what Christ came and died for as well as this one does. It is easy when watching this film to be blinded by hatred for other religions and for science, but look deeper and you can share a very truthful message with your kids.
Better than Average / 4
**SPOILER WARNING**
As it turns out, Eastern religion is completely debunked by science, the people from another planet are actually people from our future on Earth, and Mimzy is a robot. Mimzy was bringing the children a message that was misunderstood by everyone throughout history and spun into these other ideas about Nirvana and the looking glass. Then, there is the most important line in the movie. The little girl says the people in the future need them because something in them are BROKEN. Every event in the history of the world hinges on this brokenness. Remind you of anything?
And it goes beyond that. In the end the people of the future are made new. There is even an image of them shedding off their old selves! Then they reach their full potential as people and the entire world is made new. It has been a long time since I have seen a movie which can be used to represent what Christ came and died for as well as this one does. It is easy when watching this film to be blinded by hatred for other religions and for science, but look deeper and you can share a very truthful message with your kids.
Better than Average / 4
Steve, age 24
Positive—I’m big into sci-fi/fantasy stuff, so this movie is right up my alley. This movie is pure fantasy and is to be taken as that. It’s not to be taken literally. Yes, there is eastern religion and mysticism stuff, but I personally just add that into the fantasy. It’s sad that when a good, clean family movie like this one comes out, it’s almost immediately torn down by comments like “we have to protect our kids” or “they’re out to corrupt our kids, they must be stopped.” What exactly are we so desperately trying to protect our kids from? From having an imagination where they can fly or have super-human powers? What’s wrong with that? Kids should be able to get lost every once in awhile in their imagination where they’re part of a complete fantasy world. I think we as a society today get overly excited about the littlest things. I grew up with “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “Cinderella,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Lord of the Rings”, just about every sci-fi/fantasy story out there, and nobody thought anything about it. I knew the difference between what was real and what wasn’t. Kids today do to, but we aren’t giving them that credit. I loved all the fantasy stuff because I knew it wasn’t real. My favorite dreams were the ones where I was flying or could do incredible things, because I couldn’t do those in real life. Having an imagination like that helped me in the real world. Watching a good fantasy movie or reading a good sci-fi book before I got lost in the world of homework and chores helped me concentrate more on what was important. It cleared my mind. Kids’ imaginations today are so restricted that they have trouble concentrating. And people wonder why there are so many discipline problems in the classroom these days? Don’t get so excited the next time a kid thinks he’s superman! This movie is a great movie for kids with imaginations. There are a couple parts that could be a little scary for really little kids, but any kid that’s in school should like this movie. As for objectionable stuff, all I saw was that the teacher and his fiancée were living together. But that’s something that can be straightened up in about 10 minutes after the film is over; if the child even catches that they aren’t married.
Average / 4½
Average / 4½
Becky, age 18
Positive—This movie is not a movie about aliens, to quote the movie the people in the future are broken, they say we have what they need: Emma’s compassion and tears healed their brokenness their humanity and compassion are what the people lost in the future and it was killing them, they had bred out their compassion from their DNA through lack of using it. They weren’t using magic, they were using technology to send the items back and forth. The story shows that the eastern mysticism, alice in the looking glass were people misunderstanding and assigning magic to these ideas. Now if a person thinks sending back something technologicly in time to try to regain compassion is sinful then this movie isn’t for you. The movie shows that although advanced technology and intelligence can create marvelous things, if we lose our humanity and compassion for one another we become monsters. The movie actually states that eastern mysticism is a misunderstanding of a message that future people were trying to send. The movie is a parable. If you want a movie of everyday life most people will find it boring in my opinion. We love the movie, our grandkids and kids love the movie.
Excellent! / 5
Excellent! / 5
Anita, age 49
Neutral
Neutral—In regards to profanity or blatant “dangers,” this film is exceptionally clean. The problems/concerns I had were the subtle undertones. This movie has a definite agenda, and although its references to the dangers of the things around us which pollute our bodies (the air, the way our food is raised/grown/preserved, etc) and our minds (our very growing dependence upon technology) are pretty accurate, the rest of it is way off.
If this movie pretended to be a fairy tale, it would have sat a lot more comfortably with me. It doesn’t though. It takes itself seriously as a warning. A warning of where we are headed… And in recent years we, as humans, have grown more frequently unhealthy while the earth beneath our feet continues to deteriorate. All of this is true, BUT the foundation of this film is that of evolution. Evolving into higher beings who finally evolve enough to unlock the full potential of our mind. This isn’t some sweet fairy tale, this is a serious belief, believed by over half of the world. It isn’t make believe, it’s a philosophy, which may be sweet in a harmless story now, but one day our kids will be encountering countless people who believe that our minds are the most powerful, purist source of life. That way of thinking leaves no room (or reason) for God.
I thought the movie was sweet, I thought that it was an accurate look at the overuse of technology especially, in our culture. But it alarmed me on the levels I mentioned above.
We need to be aware of the possible affects our “pollutants” can have on the futures of our lives and the lives of our children. But without God as a part of the equation, it’s all pointless anyway. I didn’t expect this film to preach the Gospel, but we need to be cautioned at its heavy Evolutionary/New Age stances.
Offensive / 4
If this movie pretended to be a fairy tale, it would have sat a lot more comfortably with me. It doesn’t though. It takes itself seriously as a warning. A warning of where we are headed… And in recent years we, as humans, have grown more frequently unhealthy while the earth beneath our feet continues to deteriorate. All of this is true, BUT the foundation of this film is that of evolution. Evolving into higher beings who finally evolve enough to unlock the full potential of our mind. This isn’t some sweet fairy tale, this is a serious belief, believed by over half of the world. It isn’t make believe, it’s a philosophy, which may be sweet in a harmless story now, but one day our kids will be encountering countless people who believe that our minds are the most powerful, purist source of life. That way of thinking leaves no room (or reason) for God.
I thought the movie was sweet, I thought that it was an accurate look at the overuse of technology especially, in our culture. But it alarmed me on the levels I mentioned above.
We need to be aware of the possible affects our “pollutants” can have on the futures of our lives and the lives of our children. But without God as a part of the equation, it’s all pointless anyway. I didn’t expect this film to preach the Gospel, but we need to be cautioned at its heavy Evolutionary/New Age stances.
Offensive / 4
Misty Wagner, age 30
Neutral—I saw this movie yesterday with my son, I really wish that I had pre-seen it and not subjected him to it. Although this movie was very tame from the world’s stand point, I don’t want my son subjected to the magical/mystical world of aliens nor palm reading (witchcraft), which in the Bible—it is very specific about. I don’t like the fact that the movie portrays the way something other than God, can give you extrodinary powers and I really don’t like the fact that a non-marital relationship is taken to be so much of the norm, but again I do believe that is the acceptance of the world, however, as Christians I believe we need not compromise our beliefs for entertainment purposes.
Average / 3½
Average / 3½
Angela, age 37
Neutral—I took my boys (9 and 11) to see this movie. I had already read the review on this Web site before we went and so I talked to them about the content that it was going to contain. It kept both of their attention throughout the movie, but here are a few things that happened towards the end and after the movie was over. When the little girl was talking to Mimzy about the end of the world, my 11-year old blurted out (very loud) “What an evil rabbit.” There were a few chuckles throughout the theater, but as we were leaving people’s comments were generally positive about the overall movie experience, which was sad to hear.
My boys and I had an excellent conversation when the movie was over about the battle that we are in with spiritual forces in this world. I have been very active in teaching my boys about New Age, Buddhism, Occult etc. and the beliefs that are generated therefrom and how they are very real to many people in this world. After the movie was over, they both indicated that they really did not like it. We talked about how the people in this “other world” were saved by the tears of humanity and how that is a direct contradiction to what the Word of God tells us. We talked about how there is nothing good in this world that is not directly from God, that our humanness is evil through and through and that we will always be in battle with our human nature. I liked the fact that we saw the movie so that such an indepth conversation was had. And, I loved the fact that my boys saw the errors in the movie on their own. I believe it my job as a parent to teach them strongly about what is truth and what is not so that when they are approached by something that seems good but really isn’t they will be able to discern that.
If I am continually shielding them from things that I know are of the wrong view, how are they going to be able to discern on their own what is right and what is not when the time comes. I believe that a movie is a controlled environment to take them to to be able to show them how people are thinking in this world so that when the time comes when they will be tested in their faith, they will know the truth from a lie. Due to all of that, I am glad that we went to the movie.
Offensive / 4
My boys and I had an excellent conversation when the movie was over about the battle that we are in with spiritual forces in this world. I have been very active in teaching my boys about New Age, Buddhism, Occult etc. and the beliefs that are generated therefrom and how they are very real to many people in this world. After the movie was over, they both indicated that they really did not like it. We talked about how the people in this “other world” were saved by the tears of humanity and how that is a direct contradiction to what the Word of God tells us. We talked about how there is nothing good in this world that is not directly from God, that our humanness is evil through and through and that we will always be in battle with our human nature. I liked the fact that we saw the movie so that such an indepth conversation was had. And, I loved the fact that my boys saw the errors in the movie on their own. I believe it my job as a parent to teach them strongly about what is truth and what is not so that when they are approached by something that seems good but really isn’t they will be able to discern that.
If I am continually shielding them from things that I know are of the wrong view, how are they going to be able to discern on their own what is right and what is not when the time comes. I believe that a movie is a controlled environment to take them to to be able to show them how people are thinking in this world so that when the time comes when they will be tested in their faith, they will know the truth from a lie. Due to all of that, I am glad that we went to the movie.
Offensive / 4
Pamela A., age 40
Neutral—…a decent film, not unnecessarily bad, but not really great. Yes, eastern religion did play a role in the movie. However, my problem is not necessarily with the movie itself, but with the Christian reactions I’ve read in the reviews. We as Christians, need to realize that Hollywood does NOT hold the values that we hold, so when we see non-Christian content in a movie it should come as no surprise. We act as if Hollywood is trying to “corrupt” our children with eastern religion, there not trying to corrupt our children, Hollywood just doesn’t know any better. Christians today act surprised when non-Christians do and say things that contradict our beliefs. Non-Christians are living according to their nature, because it is in the nature of those who are not saved by Christ, to live by the nature of sin. We as Christians are no longer bound by our sinful nature, but by a heavenly nature. So when we witness these things in movies, we should not get angry at Hollywood, because they’re doing exactly what a non-Christian is supposed to do. People watch our reactions to the world around us, so we should show them Christ by not getting angered by the world, but by being understanding and showing compassion.
Average / 3
Average / 3
Andrew, age 18
Neutral—My wife and oldest daughter liked this movie, and me and my youngest daughter did not. I would not let your kids under 12 watch this movie unless you are watching it with them.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Shane Dodson, age 32
Negative
Negative—If you are like us, extremely conservative in our faith and politics, you will NOT enjoy this film. This movie force fed us 2 hours of “people are bad, and how they’ve destroyed ‘mother Earth,’” etc. You get the idea. This movie’s take on the creation of Adam and Eve is quite disgusting, as well. As if our children are not already being indoctrinated with the new age, environmentalist wacko theories during their school time, this movie now does it in the name of “entertainment.” My husband and I were totally fed up with this movie and its “people are bad, nature is good” themes. It was blatant and intrusive—not a few times, but throughout the movie. We were hoping for an entertaining, sci fi/fantasy film. Instead we got an “Al Gore wanna be for children” film. And to top it off, it wasn’t even entertaining in the least. Waste of money.
Extremely Offensive / 3
Extremely Offensive / 3
Marini Shull, age 49
Negative—I guess I must have seen a different movie than the rest of the reviewers. This movie is very offensive to me and my family. (1) Eastern religion was shown in a very positive light. (2) It talks about people from another planet. (3) At the end of the movie the little girl is described as the mother to all the other planets people. (4) The teacher and his girlfriend were living together. (5) The teacher’s girlfriend was also a palm reader. (5) The children got special powers from someone other than god. I want to end this review by saying this movie leads non-believers to think that other religions also lead to heaven, they don’t.
Extremely Offensive / 4
Extremely Offensive / 4
John Talley, age 43
Negative—I was also offended by the film. The quality of this film was superb, as was the science fiction aspect. Thus, leading to the extreme offense I felt. The underlying tones of Buddhism were very subtle and being fed to our children unaware. Although I agree with the comment posted by the first viewer about children are often unaware of such things, it is my place as a parent to protect them from being submerged in such lies. I am not a person who believes in censorship or even really feels a movie should be off limits because of language necessarily, but the infiltration of mystical beliefs to my children through a so-called children’s movie is appalling, and I want to the get the message out. Parents be careful what you let your children watch. Hollywood is out to corrupt them, and this is a prime example. I am just a mom who loves the Lord with all her heart, and this movie is filled with cultic symbols and beliefs. Something my children just don’t need to know about yet. Although it definitely opened the door for great conversation about the one true God and the false religions of the world.
Offensive / 5
Offensive / 5
Kendra Honea, age 32
Negative—My family and I went to see this movie thinking that it would be a good family movie, based on what the previews seem to indicate. What we didn’t realize is that this movie contains thematic elements that we find very offensive to our Christian faith. One scene depicts the main child star’s teacher at his apartment with his live-in girlfriend sitting and meditating before a buddhist statue and burning incense. I walked out halfway through the movie, because I felt very uncomfortable with where the story was heading, including multiple references to Eastern religions and mysticism. After the movie was over, my family agreed that we all intensely disliked this movie. I would not recommend this movie to any family or young children as it is blatantly contrary to the fundamental principles of the Christian faith.
Extremely Offensive / 3
Extremely Offensive / 3
Brian Kline, age 29
Negative—My family and I went to see this movie as soon as it was out, as it seemed like a cute family movie, the children were dying to see it, and there was no review on this site yet. I admit I had reservations about the theme to begin with, and it was only proved to be too accurate. While I can see how many people would describe it as a nice and innocent movie, I think there needs to be more caution in what our children view and protecting them from “worldly” views. The mysticism, the meditation, the constant references to Middle Eastern beliefs and complete lack of belief in God was all very disturbing. I was still hovering in my feelings about the movie until the end really tipped me over the edge into complete disillusionment and frankly revulsion of the entire film. Depicting a little girl as the Mother of their newly reborn future life, not to mention a “new” Adam and Eve is all very disturbing. And certainly innocent children may be unaware of these undertones, but I don’t believe they even need such things in their minds conscious or otherwise. My husband and I both left the movie with a sour taste in our mouths, and it was not helped by the fact that our children just love the movie. I really don’t believe we can be too careful about protecting our children’s innocence, purity, and Godly views of the world around us. Allowing them to be desensitized by such subtle themes in their TV and movie viewing is not going to help that. This film may have excellent filmmaking qualities, but PLEASE think twice and more before allowing your children to see this film.
Very Offensive / 5
Very Offensive / 5
Angela, age 32
Negative—I have just seen the film and then read the reviews. All of them contains some truth. This film fails for me on technical aspects. It does seem as if the makers of the film has had a strong social/religious motivation. They try to pull as many things as possible into this film : Hindu/bhuddisim, palm reading, mind powers, aliens and gaian philosophies abound. This leads to a muddling of the plot and gaping holes in the continuity lefted my children not understanding what exactly was supposed to happen. In the middle we see the benevolent future scientist shot by “aliens” only to later see him retrieve the last mimzy. Other questions also arise—but you have to see the film. Otherwise I will have to explain too much here. Basically the scriptwriter was clearly too focused on his agenda and not enough on the story. Ian Flemming (the creator of James Bond) said: The story should move quickly enough so that the inconsistencies are not noticed—or something to that effect. Sorry Mr/Ms Scriptwriter. Your story does not move fast enough. Technically / effects wise the film is very much run of the mill and none of the sets, camera angles, acting, design or otherwise was really outstanding. Sorry Mr Producer—you did not try hard enough. From a christian perspective I am bothered by the subtext as well as some of the visual symbolism and Imagery.
I feel that the future images are too scary for younger viewers. Furthermore there is the image of the evil warlike aliens removing their suits and becoming a beautiful couple (Adam and Eve) walking into a brave new garden like future. Here we literally see good being “born” from evil.
This film has some highlights as we see the usual absent father figure choosing to lay down his work and spend time with his family in a time of crises. At last someone in Hollywood has realized that there are men out there who cares for their families. So even though I criticized you earlier, thank you Mr/Ms Scriptwriter for standing up for the fathers. To misquote Lucy—a Wishy washy film that left us feeling confused and cheated. Rather get a DVD from the Pixar range and at least see how it should be done.
Average / 2
I feel that the future images are too scary for younger viewers. Furthermore there is the image of the evil warlike aliens removing their suits and becoming a beautiful couple (Adam and Eve) walking into a brave new garden like future. Here we literally see good being “born” from evil.
This film has some highlights as we see the usual absent father figure choosing to lay down his work and spend time with his family in a time of crises. At last someone in Hollywood has realized that there are men out there who cares for their families. So even though I criticized you earlier, thank you Mr/Ms Scriptwriter for standing up for the fathers. To misquote Lucy—a Wishy washy film that left us feeling confused and cheated. Rather get a DVD from the Pixar range and at least see how it should be done.
Average / 2
Lourens, age 40, South Africa
Negative—…This was the most blatant attempt to introduce children to the occult that I have ever witnessed. My family and I rented this movie without knowing the entire plot. We were thinking it was a fun, children’s story ala “ET”. How wrong we were! The bunny communicates to the children, but never adults. It tells them the future. The scene when the parents come into the children’s bedroom and the little girl is levitating above her bed was straight out of demon possession 101.
And did anyone notice the 2 children sit down in front of the rug in their bedroom that had a circle on it. Then the object they place in the circle makes a pentagram like image in the circle. Shortly after the girl places her face in “image” and she goes into convulsions! I am not making this up!…
Extremely Offensive / 4
And did anyone notice the 2 children sit down in front of the rug in their bedroom that had a circle on it. Then the object they place in the circle makes a pentagram like image in the circle. Shortly after the girl places her face in “image” and she goes into convulsions! I am not making this up!…
Extremely Offensive / 4
Brian C. Johnson, age 36
Negative—Intended or not, this movie was chock full of anti-Christian, anti-biblical messages, subtle though they were. Throughout the movie there is eastern mysticism, talk about aliens, how people are harming the Earth, and subtle references to the occult and “magic.” One of the main characters (little girl) speaks to a stuffed bunny rabbit through telepathy. She and her brother also used telekinesis to move objects. The really offensive part comes at the end when we find out that the little girl’s mission is the salvation of humanity by sending her “pure” genes to the future via some type of vortex to the future. A scene is shown where a young male and female shed their alien like suits and can live freely again without them because of the restoration that came through this “innocent” child. As they walk out into the “light” we see a silhouette of two naked bodies (reminiscent of Adam and Eve). They are in effect, the new Ad am and Eve, the new beginning of mankind.
The young girl (the savior) is also referred to as “The mother of us all.” So, instead of all being sinners, we have a pure little girl. Instead of Salvation through the true savior, the MAN Christ Jesus, we have salvation through a young GIRL; and instead of the true Adam and Eve, made in the image of God, we have the New Age Adam and Eve, made in the image of a human being. The whole movie smacks of Godless, humanistic, mystical, magical, New Agism. I felt like I was watching spiritual pornography.
Offensive / 3½
The young girl (the savior) is also referred to as “The mother of us all.” So, instead of all being sinners, we have a pure little girl. Instead of Salvation through the true savior, the MAN Christ Jesus, we have salvation through a young GIRL; and instead of the true Adam and Eve, made in the image of God, we have the New Age Adam and Eve, made in the image of a human being. The whole movie smacks of Godless, humanistic, mystical, magical, New Agism. I felt like I was watching spiritual pornography.
Offensive / 3½
Roland, age 38
Negative—I would not take a young child to see this movie. MY own sister, 10, had nightmares for days after seeing this. The movie is filled with Scientology undertones which can be difficult to explain to a young child. Some of the subliminal themes which do not coincide with biblical principles include:
1) the idolization of children—throughout the movie it is implied that children are born pure and innocent and are progressively corrupted by adults and their environment. the bible tells us that we are born into sin.
2) rebellion—throughout the film the children blatantly disregard the orders of the parents—not one of these cases is shown as having a negative consequence, in fact, every time a child disobeys it is shown to have been for the greater good.
3) parents as “stupid”—It would seem in this film that parents are portrayed as ignorant and incapable. My fear is that children will see this film and decide that they are capable of making better decisions for themselves than their parents would make for them. It seems to me that one of the themes of the movie was rationalizing with your child for every decision. There are times where it is appropriate to rationalize with children but not often.
The movie can be confusing for children asking questions about “the mother of us all” and whether or not they have special powers as portrayed in the movie. While this can be a wonderful opportunity to teach children about God the creator and our spiritual gifts as Christians—their impressionable minds may have been permanently indoctrinated with mysticism. At first glance the movie seems to be a decent family video but from a spiritual standpoint it is not worth risking the spiritual walk of your child. The idea that they could have special powers and be chosen as the mother of all living humans in the future is very enticing to young children. If not properly dealt with I think it could be sowing seeds for an unwanted harvest of spiritual confusion. I think it would be opening up a can of worms that children are not prepared to deal with.
Very Offensive / 3
1) the idolization of children—throughout the movie it is implied that children are born pure and innocent and are progressively corrupted by adults and their environment. the bible tells us that we are born into sin.
2) rebellion—throughout the film the children blatantly disregard the orders of the parents—not one of these cases is shown as having a negative consequence, in fact, every time a child disobeys it is shown to have been for the greater good.
3) parents as “stupid”—It would seem in this film that parents are portrayed as ignorant and incapable. My fear is that children will see this film and decide that they are capable of making better decisions for themselves than their parents would make for them. It seems to me that one of the themes of the movie was rationalizing with your child for every decision. There are times where it is appropriate to rationalize with children but not often.
The movie can be confusing for children asking questions about “the mother of us all” and whether or not they have special powers as portrayed in the movie. While this can be a wonderful opportunity to teach children about God the creator and our spiritual gifts as Christians—their impressionable minds may have been permanently indoctrinated with mysticism. At first glance the movie seems to be a decent family video but from a spiritual standpoint it is not worth risking the spiritual walk of your child. The idea that they could have special powers and be chosen as the mother of all living humans in the future is very enticing to young children. If not properly dealt with I think it could be sowing seeds for an unwanted harvest of spiritual confusion. I think it would be opening up a can of worms that children are not prepared to deal with.
Very Offensive / 3
Amanda J, age 19
Comments from young people
Negative—Do not watch this movie!! I watched much of it on DVD and I am glad that we did not go to the theater. I finally had to turn it off because it scared me so bad. There was a lot of magic and gets at times very scary. Aliens start shooting at the scientist which was very scary. When the rabbit goes back in time the scientist and his inventions are so so scary that I could not get it out of my head. I screamed and got my mom and I could not get the scientist out of my head. I am having a hard time getting over it. My mom could not even calm me down at first. I never usually am scared by normal movies. I wish that I would have never ever rented this movie.
Extremely Offensive / 4
Extremely Offensive / 4
Anna S., age 9
Comments from non-viewers
I have not viewed this movie, but I read a review about it having hinduism and mysticism…. I also read a few of your previous comments and the review from this site… We are fighting a battle against spiritual forces here, especially with our children, the worshiping a statue comment blew my mind, how impressionable our children are, why would we pay money for their minds to be altered with lies from the enemy. Let’s step up and give this movie the review it deserves… Our children rely on us to make the right choice. Choose not to take your children to see this. And for easter my child will not have a bunny named Mimzy, but an experience with JESUS her saviour!
Erica, age 29
My comments are not based on my own viewing of the movie, but the trailers I have seen and the comments I have read from others. To a Christian, this movie obviously has some particularly offensive materials. It is interesting that some people find these characteristics damaging while others do not. I would say that in viewing the movie, it would be best to keep in mind that each person’s heart is a garden, whether child or adult. EVERYTHING that comes through your eyes and ears is seed. Adults are just as affected by seeds as children (although they don’t always think so). A little seed will affect you, and a lot of seed will direct you. Since we are supposed to guard our gardens (and parents need to do this with their children until the children are able to assume that task themselves) it is in your best interest to decide whether the seeds of this movie will be edifying or detrimental to you as a believer. The difficulty in walking by faith is not usually that we don’t have enough faith, but that we allow too much other junk to influence us. Although a fan of sci-fi when young, I’ve determined that the impact of this type of seed is not worth the trouble I have to go through later to extract erroneous thinking which develops from it. I’d rather guard my garden from these particular weeds than let them in for the sake of entertainment.
Offensive / 4
Offensive / 4
Elizabeth MacKinney, age 39
Often in the movie they’re giving an indoc to some of the “eastern” beliefs along with their proper terminologies some of which are pivotal to the plot… mandalas, and special incarnations, palm reading, etc. Children don’t normally concern themselves with these issues, so as long as you’re ready to clear up any questions “just in case,” I’d still recommend this movie. It’s an original idea, well told, and it has great visuals. The underlying theme is to be environmentally aware and concerned so future generations can thrive. I’m not sure kids walk away feeling “green,” at least not my kids. The entire cast gives great performances and for a kids movie… it’s really enjoyable.
My Ratings: Average / 4