Mimic (1997) Review

Mimic (1997) Review

 

Very few modern filmmakers understand movie monsters the way Guillermo Del Toro does. From Hellboy and Pacific Rim to Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, he has made a career of spinning gold from tales of inhuman characters—many of them sympathetic and fascinating. His first studio film, however, is his only film to tread into the territory of the “animal amok” subgenre, and paints some insectoid monsters as a truly malicious force spawned from man (or, more accurately, woman) meddling with nature.

A deadly disease affecting children is being spread through New York City by cockroaches, so a genetically-engineered breed of roaches called the “Judas breed” is introduced in order to eradicate the existing population. It seems to work, but three years later, the Judas creator, Susan, and her husband who works for the CDC, Peter, begin to unravel the mystery of a strange new species of roach living in the subways beneath the city. Two boys bring Susan a strange dead bug they found in the subway tunnels, and along with her mentor, she discovers the Judases have rapidly evolved into a deadly new creature. Early in the film, a young boy on the spectrum named Chuy spies a mysterious dark figure out his window at night, which he nicknames “Mr. Funny Shoes” and is seemingly able to communicate with using clacking spoons. At first it appears there might be an insectoid-humanoid-hybrid stalking and killing people in addition to the evolved Judases, but by about the midpoint of the film the truth is revealed, and the title’s relevance is made clear.

The aspect of Mimic that I can praise the most is the atmosphere. This thing is practically dripping with gloom and dread and creepiness. Many shots are clearly Del Toro paying homage to his love of Ridley Scott’s Alien, but unlike that film, he doesn’t keep his monster hidden for too long. This is one of those late 90’s movies with a mix of CGI and practical effects that nails one and botches the other. The creature animatronics were created by Rob Bottin who has done some incredible effects work, including The Howling and The Thing, and the Judases are slimy, gross, and freaky, but the CGI is dated, though not too overused. Mimic is considered one of Del Toro’s worst films, which is actually a compliment because I’d still consider it a good film at the very least. It makes some concepts that could have come off as goofy easy to buy into. During the shoot producer Harvey Weinstein clashed with Del Toro and thought he wasn’t making it scary enough, and in the end the director disowned the film, but later on he was able to create a director’s cut that reinstated a few deleted scenes, though overall it isn’t a radically different version from the theatrical cut.

The screenplay was based on a short story by Donald A. Wollheim, but it feels like a tale from the mind of Michael Crichton, largely due to the themes and the types of characters at the forefront of the story. It avoids many of the clichés typical to this kind of movie, but not all of them. The main characters are pretty relatable despite being scientists, but having them interact with people of other professions, like Charles S. Dutton as a cop, helps in the second half of the film when it becomes more about their survival than unraveling the mystery. Peter looks like a combination of Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park and Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters, and is less interesting than his partner Susan. A young Josh Brolin also plays a cop and is underused, and F. Murray Abraham lends some credibility to the cast as Susan’s mentor. For the most part you don’t want to see these characters die, and thanks to a very surprising couple of deaths fairly early on, the suspense as to who will live and who will die is sustained pretty much right up to the finale.

Mimic is a bit more than just a forgotten 90’s sci-fi horror/thriller, but if you’re new to the movies of Guillermo Del Toro, this isn’t one you need to start with. I would say it’s worth checking out after you’ve seen some of his better work first.