MIMIC - 1997
Dimension Films
Rated: USA: R |
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When this movie came out in 1997, it was after another movie RELIC was released to amazingly good audience response. This was weird since
RELIC was a grade B movie with loads of unintentional laughs. Yet, I have
seen RELIC twice because of it's schlocky stupidity. What can I say? I
Like that in some Horror movies.
I enjoy MIMIC for another reason. It's pretty good! Unlike RELIC, MIMIC uses a real Science Fiction Story and Real Science to tell its tale.
Mira Sorvino
stars as Dr. Susan Tyler. It is almost impossible to find anything written
about Mira Sorvino without the writer, male or female, slavering on about
her looks - which makes her being cast in this role rather daring. Susan
Tyler is a serious character in a serious situation that requires no nudity
or sexy clothing. In 1996-97, this role was probably the most serious
part Mira was offered. She pulls it off remarkably well, proving that
her Oscar was well deserved.
MIMIC starts off with a plague that is killing the children of New York City.
It's spread by the city's cockroaches which are nearly impossible to eradicate.
Susan Tyler however, thanks to gene splicing, has created a designer insect
she calls the Judas Breed. This limited little critter, planted in New
York's sewer system, can go anywhere the cockroaches go as it was designed
to infiltrate their nests by mimicking them. Once in the presence of cockroaches,
it excretes squishy foamy cleansers that kills roaches dead. When the
roaches die, then the Judas Breed bug, unable to secrete it's stockpile
of poison, will also die.
Now we flash forward a few years. Dr. Susan Tyler and her husband Dr. Peter Mann (Jeremy
Northam) are respected and much beloved as the Scientists who saved
the children of New York. It's just too damn bad that these wonderful
Scientists, with the best of intentions, had to go fooling with Mother
Nature. You know and I know that them there designer bugs ain't dead!
They've been spending this time a - changin'. We all know what kindsa
scary stuff happens in them there New York City sewers!
One day, Dr. Susan Tyler gets a present from a couple of boys who like to go banging
around the deep dark tunnels of the subway tracks. They found this huge
critter see, and brung it back to Dr. Tyler for burger money. She takes
a look at what is clearly the biggest damn insect she has EVER seen, gets all motherly and sez, "Why you're just a baby!" She actually SAYS this, and yet it doesn't dawn on her at that point that if this thing is just a baby, how big are the damn adults?
And where the hell are they? And why are those kids so insane to go find
more of these things? (Well, they are just kids).
So they go back down to the subway tunnels and Merry Mishaps occur.
MIMIC goes to prove that you can have good actors (Mira Sorvino, F. Murray Abraham, Charles Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini), good direction (Guillermo Del Toro: EL
ESPINAZO DEL DIABLO, BLADE
2, HELLBOY) good looking critter designs
and good production and set designs and STILL have a goofy movie if the script stinks.
And boy does the script Stink!
Script Writer Matt Greenberg (DRAGONSLAYER) is responsible
along with co-writer Del Toro. The dialogue between the characters is
soap opera melodramatic and the film is crammed with every modern day
horror movie cliché. From the creatures skulking around in dark
tunnels to idiots going into those dangerous places even after they have
been given every warning that they are walking into a trap.
!!!UNFAIR RACIAL CLICHÉ ALERT!!!:
Scratching your head and wondering what I'm talkinig about? Check out THE UNFAIR RACIAL CLICHE ALERT page.
Then check out why MIMIC gets one. Beware though, the URCA has spoilers! URCA/1990s/Mimic.
At the same time, this movie also proves that talented acting and direction can also
redeem a movie even with a lousy script.
This movie has real creepiness and genuine scares judging by the shrieks and seat
jumping that I witnessed in the theater. Del Toro proves his worth as
a director of Horror since he can take mud and turn it into, if not gold,
then at least silver. Despite the cornball script, I found MIMIC delivered on the goods. I give it 3 Shriek Girls.
This review
copyright 1999 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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