The Last Mimzy

AMG Review of The Last Mimzy

Heather Phares
All Music Guide

The soundtrack to The Last Mimzy, a film adaptation of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore's 1943 short science fiction story Mimsy Were the Borogroves, features a score by Howard Shore and "Hello (I Love You)," a song by Shore and Roger Waters. Appropriately for a film whose story involves two children, what appears to be a mysterious toy box, and an interstellar rescue mission, Shore's music has a twinkling wonderment and majestic scope that recalls the feeling of John Williams' score for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Tracks like "Whidbey Island," "Beach," and "The Mandala" balance innocence, mystery, and whimsy with an equal amount of restraint, as does the rest of the score; even pieces such as "The Tear" and "Help!" never overplay their emotional hands. The same can't quite be said of Waters' song, which sounds a bit like a descendent from The Wall's "Comfortably Numb." As a whole, however, The Last Mimzy is an admirably reflective, subtle piece of film music, especially considering that too many soundtracks to sci-fi and children's movies are excessive and obvious.