There are many mysteries in “The Last Mimzy” that need to be solved.

What are the strange toys? What message did they bring with them? Why are there so many ideas that seem out of place?

“Mimzy” borrows ideas from multiple sources and pieces them together into a family film that is both compelling and boring all at the same time.

The movie brings together elements of science fiction, including references to “Through the Looking Glass” (which the name “Mimzy” is borrowed from) and paintings of Tibetan mandalas into one confusing 90-minute family adventure.

During a day at the beach Noah and Emily, played by Chris O̢۪Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, find a box of strange toys. These toys give the children special powers and dramatically higher intelligence, which confuses and frightens the adults around them.

One of the toys they found was “Mimzy,” an old, stuffed toy rabbit. “She teaches me things,” Emily said about Mimzy. Apparently, this rabbit has something to teach us all.

The movie opens with a woman telling a story of a futuristic world, where there is trouble with aliens and too much pollution. The entire opening scene could have been cut and the movie would make just as much sense.

Mimzy is a messenger from the future, and the future needs saving. Mimzy only communicates with Emily through a litany of adorable squeaks and purrs. Emily never lets Mimzy out of her sight.

The movie makes an attempt to promote a message of how disconnected modern humans are and how love is the most important thing. This includes showing scenes of people listening to iPods and absorbed in their laptop computers.

The mother, played by Joely Richardson, reacts as a mother should in every situation, despite the shortcomings of the movie. She throws away the toys when she decides they are the problem, and she worries as only a mother could.

Timothy Hutton, who plays the father, is the least memorable, being available only occasionally to participate in his dysfunctional family.

As the children̢۪s powers develop, they become more interesting to watch. The other characters are pushed to the background and forgotten, and the children do things like levitate, talk to spiders and win the science fair with the help of their powers.

The children are aided in finding the meaning of their new toys by Noah’s science teacher and the teacher’s crunchy-granola girlfriend.

“The Last Mimzy” is a cute movie for those under the age of 12. But for adults, it is a little difficult to watch, or believe for that matter— there are just too many different ideas to follow.