As expected, the Boy and I watched The Last Mimzy today. The source story is very different from the movie. Spoilers ahead…
Where the Padgett story had a future scientist just randomly throw toys in a box, the movie’s scientist puts things with a purpose in the time machine. What was a bigger difference in my mind, though, was the shift from a science fiction story into a fantasy story. The source tale used an admittedly flimsy device of accelerated human evolution via the morphology of young brains as its plot device. But the movie uses some claptrap about Tibetan mandalas being the map of the universe, if we’d all just get along, kumbaya. Why is science not considered worthy of being a plot device, but meditation is? Seriously, lottery numbers in dreams? *sigh*
I don’t know why the story wasn’t deemed interesting enough without casting the future as being a land in peril, but the movie was a fun enough diversion regardless. Alex enjoyed it, but I think he was just wrapped up in the special effects.