Mimic

Eerie film with astonishing images , suspenseful and original direction by Guilermo Del Toro . Three years ago entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease . For thousands of years, man has been evolution's greatest creation , now the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind . Susan and Peter (Jeremy Northam) are called in to investigate.

This heart-pounding picture is full of suspense ,thrills , mystery, lots of gore and a storm criticism to genetic engineering . This slick monster-feast is a triumph of style , well paced and full of frightening scenes . It's packed with overwhelming body count , loathing scenes , grotesque killing, and rivers of red blood . Interesting as well as thought-provoking screenplay by Matthew Robbins and the same director ,screenwriters Matt Greenberg and John Sayles are uncredited in the movie, but were credited in some of the trailers . The movie delivers the goods with hair-rising chills and noisy scares when the giant cockroaches appear savagely stalking and attacking its preys , including children . This is an OK amusing juvenile with interesting characters and scientific plot but quite entertaining . It's remarkable for FX recreation the ferocious and carnivorous beast developing a bloodthirsty hunger for human eating . The actors give vigorous physical performances dodging the giant bugs recreated by means of make-up realized by Rob Bottin , adding the prolific computer generator, as usual . The mutant cockroaches , themselves, of course, are the real stars, and they're marvellous terrifying astounding, and quite convincing .The picture is smartly designed and stylishly photographed by Dan Laustsen . Thrilling and intriguing musical score by Marco Beltrani . The motion picture was well directed by Guillermo Del Toro , though the scene where Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam walk in the hall with all the sick kids lying in their beds was actually directed by Ole Bornedal, one of the producers on the film . Del Toro delivers the terror movie goods with sense of style , though was originally planned as a single 30-min. short as part of a feature of sci-fi/horror/comedy shorts by Miramax. Director Guillermo del Toro disowned the film after constant clashes with Bob Weinstein, who would frequently visit the set and make unreasonable demands about what should be shot, deviating away from the script , since then del Toro has never worked with the Weinsteins. Guillermo is an expert on murky atmosphere such as proved in ¨Cronos¨ , ¨Pan's labyrinth¨, ¨Hellboy I¨ and ¨Hellboy 2¨. The picture will appeal to horror buffs and Guillermo Del Toro fans . It's followed by two sequels : Mimic 2 with Alix Koromzay , John Polito and Bruno Campos ; and Mimic 3 with Lance Henriksen and Karl Geary .

In New York a disease carried by cockroaches threatens to wipe out a whole generation of children. A scientist, Susan Tyler, breeds a new bug that mimics the cockroach and wipes out the disease. However years later something is living in New York's subways that looks human. Tyler suspects that her breed has not died out but has evolved to imitate it's natural predator - us. Her investigations into the subway lead her to more than she bargained for.

This is an atmospheric thriller from Guillermo del Toro, director of The Devil's Backbone and Cronos. He manages to mix great director with good old fashioned monster horror to great effect. The concept itself is clever, even if the idea of bugs evolving to look very like humans is a little far fetched. However, once the action moves to the subway the fact that the bugs are clearly lethal no matter what they look like, makes this less important. The film is quite short and makes the action come quicker and seem more urgent. Several people get killed by the bug that wouldn't usually get killed in this sort of horror (children for example), this is very effective as it is quite scary to see the unexpected happen.

The mood is dark throughout and Del Toro uses the sewers and subway to great effect, creating a real sense of claustrophobia - like the humans have entered the bug's world and not the other way round. The bugs are shown early on in the film - usually not a good idea (keep it hidden in the Jaws way), but here the special effects are good enough to make the bug really believable. However the horror is not in seeing the bugs but in they way they hunt and kill - the fear is in what could happen. That's why seeing them doesn't take anything away.

The cast are great, Sorvino especially is very good in the lead. Jeremy Northam and Charles S. Dutton are good in support and Abraham Murray adds a bit of cameo class (though his role is quite unnecessary). But the director is the real star adding some genuine scares and real mood to a film that could have easily been just another creature-feature that goes straight to video and straight to the back of your mind.

Overall a superior creature horror film.

With a continuous build-up of suspense and terror, watching this film you never really know whether or not any of the leading protagonists will make it out alive. The science fiction story line is almost convincing enough to make parts of the plot seem possible. F. Murray Abraham has an outstanding guest role and gets to deliver the best lines in the film. Despite criticism directed towards her, I felt Mira Sorvino was also quite good and believable in her role. The direction of Guillermo Del Toro is tight and well-paced. The only real criticism I have is there are a few too many convenient chance meetings and a few too many instances of people being in the right (or wrong) place at the right time. Also I felt the movie was just a little too quick in unveiling its mystery.

I realize that there have been LOTS of giant bug movies made, but there have been very few that have had a combination of great acting and superior special effects. This movie has both and throw in a lot of suspense. There are great moments in this movie that it seems passed most people by. No, it wasnt a big money maker(I honestly dont remember it hitting the theaters)but it is tremendous movie. Some didnt like the ending, but I did. I came to like these characters so much that I wanted them to survive. Thats a tribute to the actors for creating interesting characters. By comparison to other movies of this kind, I would say it belongs in the top five. If Aliens is counted as a 'bug' movie, I feel it is on top and I would put the 50's ant movie Them up there, too. Mimic belongs there, without question. It deserves so much more than the ratings Ive seen on here. Its a 9 out of 10 in my book.

The idea of a film featuring genetically modified humanoid insects stalking the streets of New York makes me believe it would have a long shelf life - It`d spend a long time on a shelf waiting for a distributor , but MIMIC was far better than I expected . Director Guillermo Del Toro rightly concentrates on mood and atmosphere and also deserves a mention for making sure the cast didn`t camp the film up because it`s the sort of film that`s difficult for actors to believe in but everyone on screen takes it absolutely seriously . The screenwriters also deserve some praise for taking a ludicurous premise ( Remember we`re talking humanoid insects here ) and writing a story that makes you forget you`re watching something laughably far fetched . We also get to learn that soldier insects have to be killed stone dead in order to stop fighting and that insects take their pray to an underground lair to be eaten so the audience learns something about both insects and how to telegraph a script . My only criticism about the screenplay is that it does feel rather like an ALIENS type movie towards the end but that`s a very minor criticism .

So I fairly enjoyed MIMIC . It`s not as good as QUATERMASS AND THE PIT which is the greatest film to have the underground transport system as its setting but it`s a whole lot better than other subway or bug movies