Mimic

Rating:
Summary: Good movie that has some great moments.
Review: This movie was sorta wierd. First, the acting was good. Mira Survino and the others did a fine job. The story's mood is right for its plot. It usually dark and gloomy. There is alot of blood in some parts but if you know what this movie is about, you'd expect it. Its aa good horror/action movie. It kinda grossed me out though :-) Alot of bugs and slimy things everywhere. Over all...good movie. END

Rating:
Summary: Mimic
Review: Mexican director Guillermo del Toro has made his American film debut an exciting, old-fashioned monster movie that unapologetically harkens back to the "giant bug" epics of the 1950s. Genetic engineer Sorvino is part of a team of scientists who concoct a designer predator to combat a virulent disease carried by New York City cockroaches; unfortunately, after three years the cure proves much worse than the affliction. The film's first half lags slightly, but leads to a slam-bang suspense finale in the bowels of the city subway system. Impressive special effects and an exceptionally sneaky performance from Charles Dutton. Director: Guillermo del Toro. Cast: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, Charles Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini, F. Murray Abraham. Rated R for violence, gore, and profanity. 105 minutes.

Rating:
Summary: Life finds a way, sometimes you wish it couldn't!
Review: I'm fussy about the horror/sci-fi I watch but "Mimic" I actually quite liked.

The plot it not overly complex, a scientist finds a cure for a terrible disease but at a cost that no one is aware they are going to have to pay at some point in time.

Enter a couple of years later two scientists (one who found the cure and her husband), a shoe cleaner/cobbler and his autistic grandson who live near a train station where the horror that is lurking in the form of insects that can mimic human form are hiding out, a world weary security guard and the usual monster insect fodder (people in lay man's terms!) and you have a surprisingly intelligent film.

A bit on the gruesome side at times but quite suspenseful and it certainly makes you jump when you least expect it. The scene in the old train carriage is quite heart stopping and the boy actor who plays the autistic child is especially good with his savant ability to know people by the sound of their footsteps along with the size and make of shoe they wear.

It gets a solid four out five and is definitely a film you'd watch with your pals unless you are very brave and totally scare proof which by the way I am not!

Rating:
Summary: Evolution has a way of keeping things alive.
Review: Probably the one thing that shocked me the most about Mimic (1997) was learning that New York City has a cockroach problem. I mean, I've been to NYC and it seemed really clean to me, but then again my eyesight isn't what it used to be probably because I spent a lot of time staring at the sun as a child. Mimic, the first mainstream film directed by Guillermo del Toro, who later did Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004), stars Mira Sorvino (yowsa), Jeremy Northam, along with co-stars Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton, and F. Murray Abraham (am I the only one that finds the use of an initial in place of a first name annoying?)

As the film begins, we quickly learn, through some deft directing, of an incurable, often fatal, sickness running rampant in New York City that seems only to effect children (won't somebody think of the children?!) Anyway, after determining that it's the cockroaches that are acting as carriers for the disease, Dr. Peter Mann (Northam), from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), calls in entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (Sorvino) to help deal with the problem. The solution? A genetically enhanced super roach engineered to not only emit secretions that increase the metabolism of the common roaches, thereby causing them to starve to death, but also designed to have a limited life span. The cure works, killing off the pesky varmints, and thus eliminating the transmission element of the disease, and saving an entire generation of children. Doctors Mann and Tyler are heroes, saviors of the wee ones (the children, not the roaches) and soon after develop a romantic relationship. Everything seems hunky dory, that is until three years later, when it's discovered that the super roaches, who weren't supposed to live beyond their specified genetic programming, have since evolved into something much worse than anyone could have ever imagined...

I really enjoyed this film, despite a few minor points. The story, developed by Toro and Matthew Robbins, along with un-credited writers John Sayles and Matt Greenberg, from a short story by Donald A. Wollheim, is exceptionally strong for the most part, creating a fun and engaging plot ripe with tension-filled twists, turns, and a healthy dose of scares. I did find the symbolism within the story, with regards to religion (the super roaches being called 'The Judas' breed, and Sorvino's self-infliction of a wound on her hand with a cross to draw blood and lure the creatures away) to be overly obvious, but not so much to take away from the overall enjoyment to be had here. I was surprised at a few points, one in particular dealing with the two boys who would collect bug samples for Sorvino's character, often traveling in less than hospitable places. See the film and you'll understand what I mean. The characters were well developed, with maybe the exception of Brolin and Abraham's roles. I do really like F. Murray Abraham, as he's an excellent actor, but he seems relegated to a very minor role here, as a former teacher of Sorvino's character, one she visits, perhaps seeking absolution, after her creation goes terribly awry. I felt Brolin's character, as a police detective seemed a bit pointless given his brevity on screen. Charles S. Dutton was a very good choice in his role as a cop working within the transit system, becoming involved in the hunt, soon becoming the hunted, of the overdeveloped creatures, but this is the sort of role I've seen him in many times before, as the blue collar everyman who steps up. I think he's shown that he's much more than that in other roles, but seems to fall back in these types of roles a little too often, in my opinion. As far as Sorvino, well, she really manages to carry the film well, infusing a lot of humanity within her character, presenting a sense of realism so often missing in films like this. Plus, she's a scrumptious babe, and extremely easy on the eyes, and I admired here willingness to get completely dirty and funkified for this film, crawling around in filth during her underground scenes. As for Jeremy Northam's performance, I just didn't care for it all that much. He's a handsome man, but his character seemed to alternate between being annoying and being somewhat useful, more often former than the latter. Toro's direction is wonderful, and much more than I expected in a picture like this. Despite a few 'in your face' scares, common to slasher type films, the tension was extremely well developed here, as was the atmosphere, especially while the characters were within the dank, dark, slimy, grimy sewers and derelict subway passages. There is a good amount of grossness within this film, so if you have a problem with great gobs of greasy, grimy guts and exceptionally large roaches, you should probably avoid this film. The special effects were superb, and extremely realistic. I loved the element of the film that related to the title, and the relationship to the creature's evolution. Is there a level of predictability here? Sure, but the movie did such a good job keeping me engaged throughout, I had little time to focus on who I thought would buy the farm, and who would survive until the end.

The wide screen print here looks really good, although I thought the audio was a bit soft at times, but English subtitles are available. Special features are sparse, listing only a theatrical trailer. One thing I didn't like was the way the film automatically starts playing once the disc is inserted into the DVD player, skipping the main menu, displaying it only after the film ends or if the viewer selects the menu option during play. The popularity of Mimic was enough to spawn two sequels, both direct to video, Mimic 2 and Mimic: Sentinel aka Mimic 3, neither of which are half as entertaining as the original.

Cookieman108

Rating:
Summary: The Scariest Movie about Giant Bugs Ever.
Review: This is an excellent monster movie, pure and simple. It is not really campy or funny, but it manages to do something that few monster movies do nowadays; it scares you. Yup. The atmosphere for this movie is great and the movie is very unpredictable. It seems if Del Toro took quite a bit of care to avoid cliches, and he definitely succeeds. If you want a monster movie that is actually scary, pick up Mimic. If seeing a giant roach killing a child does not shake you up a little bit, watch this on a rainy night.

I give "Mimic" a 4.5 out of 5(rounds up).

Rating:
Summary: Decidely Nasty Insects with Funny Shoes...
Review: A nasty disease is ravaging the children of Manhattan. The only way to combat it anyone can think of it is to eradicate the local cockroach population that is acting as carriers. Enter insect specialist Dr Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) who fiddles around with the cockroach gene to produce an aggressive new strain, the Judas Breed, that preys on normal cockroaches. The idea is that it will die out after one generation as all females Judases released are sterile. But that doesn't seem to work and three years later something nasty seems to be lurking around the subway system. Some street kids bring Tyler an alarming specimen in an old Corn flakes Box. And Chuy an autistic little boy starts to notice people with "funny, funny shoes".

It's a splendid little horror movie, one of the best of the 1990s, particularly liable to freak you out if you don't like creepy crawlies. The first hour is the best while there is still an air of mystery about these strange bugs and there are some beautifully clever scary scenes such as that where Chuy goes exploring or where Tyler is groping for a dropped torch. It has its faults. The last half hour or so, once the protagonists know what they are up against, where it just turns into a chase movie, is rather less effective. The opening title sequence is a quite shameless rip-off of `Se7en'. And the story surely doesn't surely make a whole not of biological sense. For it to be possible in evolutionary terms, a single Judas bug generation can't be much more than a few minutes long. In which case its hugely implausible that, as Tyler decides, there's only a single fertile male in circulation at a given time killing whom off will solve the problem. But not to worry. This remains a cracking good scary movie.



Rating:
Summary: Roachboy
Review: Seven years before Guillermo Del Toro gave us "Hellboy" he gained himself a beachhead on the American horror movie front with "Mimic", 105 minutes of chilly, goopy, genuinely creepy high-tension nastiness that does what most New York apartment dwellers don't wanna do: checks behind the fridge.

Ever heard that expression, "for every one you see there's 100 more"? If you've lived in New York City you have: whether you live in a luxury high-rise with a doorman or a Bowery flophouse with communal toilets, you're going to deal with roaches. The city is infested. And for every one you see---every crawling, skulking, mottled brown little soldier trundling out from under the fridge---you can bet the little guy has one hundred buddies just waiting for the lights to go out.

Click-clock-click.

"Mimic" plunges right in to its icky little tub of spooky goo with what has to be the world's Worst Scientific Idea ever: in order to combat the virulent child-killing Strickler's Disease, which is spread by a New York cockroach plague, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (played with panache and conviction by Mira Sorvino)and some research pals from the CDC engineer a special hybrid bug.

Named the "Judas Bug", this little devil is a special combination of Mantid and Cockroach. Its modus operandi? It's awfully good at mimicrcy: drop it off in a cockroach hive, and it will draw the Strickler-infected roaches and poison them. Problem solved, New York's children saved.

Or are they? Cut to three years later: New Yorkers are disappearing in droves, and mysterious, shrouded figures are lurking around the subways and back alleys. Oh, and they like to make funny noises as they stalk their victims, noises like "click-clock-click". Sorvino gets back into the action when one of the Night Terrors comes clicking around her lab when she discovers a new specimen of super-sized mantid in the New York subway system, and things don't let up from there.

Let's cut right to Mimic's stylish, sleazy, richly atmospheric buggy heart: Guillermo Del Toro ("Cronos", "The Devil's Backbone", "Blade II") is a consummately gifted director with a fine sense of style, and "Mimic" gets its hands dirty from the start, delivering on the spooky, buggy fun, serving up gorgeous camera angles and a knack for the perfectly creepy shot. the sequence where a mildly autistic boy encounters the shrouded lurkers in a decrepit church, for instance, is one of the more genuinely horrific scenes ever committed to film. And best of all, "Mimic" has no bones about shredding cute little kids if it needs to---how often do you get that in a film these days?

The acting is all first rate, from a competent job by Sorvino to nice turns by Charles Dutton and the Giancarlo Giannini, and even a nice hot slice of gratuitous F. Murray Abraham, who classes things up a bit. But style and ghoulishly good atmosphere are the real stars of this spookshow, and Del Toro delivers the goods in creepy-crawly spades. All of the set pieces, particularly the climactic scene in the subway, are beautifully designed, and add to the film's sleazy, rotten, infested atmosphere.

For a nice paranoid jaunt into the crawling darkness, you can do far worse than "Mimic": just take along a super-sized can of Raid.

Click-clock-click.

Rating:
Summary: We get rid of cockroaches, and we still lose
Review: Guillermo del Toro (Blade II, Hellboy, and The Devils Backbone) brings us this Sci-Fi horror, and another one of his interesting stories. Disease breaks out killing kids, and it spreads through cockroaches. How do you rid the world of cockroaches (the age old question)? You develop a super bug that will kill them all.

The problem remains as the bug is supposed to die on it's own after six months. The scientists forgot something; it is a super bug, which evolves so it can mimic predators for survival. Mira Sorvino plays the scientist who helps develop this super bug, and needs to find a way to kill it. There is great character development in this movie, especially w/the kid who knows everything about shoes and his father.

Charles S. Dutton also makes an appearance as a police officer that has to accompany the scientific exploration deep into the city. They need to see how serious this problem is; too bad for Mr. Dutton, as he gets it the worst in this movie.

I remember liking this movie a lot more when it first came out. It is still good, along the lines of The Faculty, and Phantoms. However, it is not quit as good as Deep Rising, or Tremors. I would definitely recommend renting before buying, though if you are a horror, or Sci-Fi movie collector, then it may be OK to buy before viewing.

Grade: B


Rating:
Summary: Of Bugs And Men...
Review: A terrible epidemic sweeps NYC, causing children to die slow, painful deaths. It is discovered that the disease is carried by the cities billions of cockroaches, running rampant, and traveling through the sewers. Enter Mira Sorvino as the entimologist who comes up with the answer by crossing termite and mantid DNA, resulting in "super-roaches" that wipe out the plague-infested roaches, then die off themselves. Problem solved, roll credits. Uh-oh! Things aren't quite that simple! Three years later, something has survived. Something has emerged from the nether regions of the city to seek out and kill it's prey. Something roams the streets by night, carrying it's victims into the darkness below. Sorvino's character returns to find out what went wrong and how to rectify things. If you love big ugly insects with sword-like forelimbs (and who doesn't?), then MIMIC is the perfect fright flick for you! Watch it with a flyswatter in one hand and a can of Raid in the other! Enjoy...

Rating:
Summary: Life finds a way, sometimes you wish it couldn't!
Review: I'm fussy about the horror/sci-fi I watch but "Mimic" I actually quite liked.

The plot it not overly complex, a scientist finds a cure for a terrible disease but at a cost that no one is aware they are going to have to pay at some point in time.

Enter a couple of years later two scientists (one who found the cure and her husband), a shoe cleaner/cobbler and his autistic grandson who live near a train station where the horror that is lurking in the form of insects that can mimic human form are hiding out, a world weary security guard and the usual monster insect fodder (people in lay man's terms!) and you have a surprisingly intelligent film.

A bit on the gruesome side at times but quite suspenseful and it certainly makes you jump when you least expect it. The scene in the old train carriage is quite heart stopping and the boy actor who plays the autistic child is especially good with his savant ability to know people by the sound of their footsteps along with the size and make of shoe they wear.

It gets a solid four out five and is definitely a film you'd watch with your pals unless you are very brave and totally scare proof which by the way I am not!