Mimic (1997)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Excellent, a Must See

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

In Manhattan, children are dying from a new lung ailment, Stickler's Disease, spread by cockroaches. Dr Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) pleads with an entomology expert, Dr Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) to help him find a solution to destroy or disable the roaches. After viewing kids struggling to breathe, she does so. Using genetic engineering, the lethal insects are modified to stop reproducing. All is well. Or, it is it? Now, three years later, Peter and Susan are married and hoping to start a family. But, we see a mysterious dark being stalk a man and pull him into a sewer. Then, Susan receives a strange, rather large insect from a child, as a swap for money. This "baby" bug only resembles the modified cockroach in DNA. So, somehow the buggers are still reproducing and may be in the sewer system. As Peter, Susan, a shoeshine man named Manny (Giancarlo Giannini) and others (Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton) search for the secrets, what they discover chills the blood. The insects are HUMAN SIZE and mimic their creator, Susan, by appearing as a part insect, part human with powerful wings and claws. Unless they can stop the population, humankind is most likely doomed. Who will win? This stylish "mimic" of Alien is quite compelling but gruesome. Especially troublesome is the death of children at the hands of the bugs, something that usually doesn't happen in horror films and the overall bloody demises of various characters. Yet, even so, don't be scared off if you like science/horror movies. The cast is wonderful, while the artistic images and effects are fabulous. Also worthy are the script and make-you-jump direction. Mimic may resemble Alien, but it can stand on its own as solid entertainment.

Guillermo del Toro, responsible for interesting yet flawed vampire flick CRONOS, is definitely a name to watch out for. He makes the faultless transition to America here and gives us a typical monster movie which remains hugely enjoyable despite the rather hackneyed plot. At least the idea of the monsters - genetically modified insects - is rather more original than some other recent creations. Del Toro paints an artistic picture of life in New York - shot through soft brown filters - and has his usual collection of oddball characters, including a boy who plays the spoons. In terms of style, del Toro is one of the best in his field at the present time and is light years ahead of any American competition, although it does take a while for the full impact of the cinematography to hit you.This film best be avoided by those of us who hate insects, because it doesn't portray them in a good light. From the creepy opening titles - showing a montage of pinned butterflies - to the icky and slimy creatures running around in the subways, they're everywhere, and MIMIC takes every opportunity to zoom in on their ugly features. The film has a good range of actors and actresses in it. Mira Sorvino, in the title role, is a typically tough and yet realistic heroine, and thankfully much less annoying than her counterpart in THE RELIC, Penelope Ann Miller. Jeremy Northam is somewhat bland in his macho leading role but the show stealer is Charles S. Dutton, better known to audiences for his role as the tough Dillon in ALIEN 3, and he here plays a tough, wise-cracking comic relief policeman who finds himself caught up in the activities. Dutton is probably the most sympathetic character of the lot.As for the action sequences, they are long and varied. Good use is made of the creepy shadows and rubble in the subways, and the best scene of the film comes when the band of survivors group up in a train carriage while the insects attack from outside. The gore isn't excessive but is used sparingly, and therefore more effective. The main fault of the film lies in the high number of clichés and scenes stolen from other countless horror films, a fault which seems to plague cinema these days. Take for example the bit where an insect bursts into the carriage and then disappears under a cabinet, a cross-breed of similar scenes from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Friday the 13th and ALIENS. These scenes are numerous and come across as disappointing, as does the tacked-on happy ending where Northam survives the huge gas explosion and they all live happily ever after. Speaking of the explosion, there's a great pyrotechnic display at the end, which really closes up all the loose ends and harks back to horror films from the 1930s such as THE BLACK CAT and FRANKENSTEIN where all creatures and villains met a fiery demise.However, one great thing MIMIC has going for it are the special effects, which pretty much surpass a lot of what's gone before. The scenes with the insects in their human disguise are chilling, but there's an excellent centre piece where one of them spreads its wings, takes off and carries Sorvino away! CGI obviously plays a big part here and fortunately doesn't look too fake, computer graphics seem to be improving all of the time. The CGI effects are used sparingly and therefore are more effective and realistic than other CGI-fests such as GODZILLA. These flying insects are really something to see and definitely worth looking out for. MIMIC may be simply a new take on an old cliché, but it's a heck of a lot of fun and is simply one of the best-made monster films of the '90s.

One of the most fascinating things about director Guillermo del Toro's 1997 Sci-Fi/Horror film "Mimic" is that, despite well-reported behind- the-scenes drama and clashes with the producers, and the fact that del Toro even went so far as to disown the original theatrical cut of the film... it's still a darned good film, and an incredible exercise in style and classic chills-&-thrills.Yes, even though del Toro distanced himself from the version released in theaters (though he later released a somewhat extended director's cut that he felt more content and happy with), that cannot stop the film from not only being fundamentally solid and extraordinarily well- made, but also a sure sign of the superb work del Toro went on to make. You can tell that this film was a stepping stone, allowing him to to gain the experience necessary to make future classics like "The Devil's Backbone", the two "Hellboy" films and of course, his masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth."This film oozes (often literally) with the things that del Toro clearly loves. Insects. Sewers. Autopsies. Quirky characters. Clockwork. The unborn. Everything. And you can tell, despite the drama on-set, that del Toro's wonderful fingerprints are all over the film. (In both the director's and theatrical cuts.)In the midst of a viral epidemic of "Strickler's Disease" (an illness responsible for a growing number of deaths amongst children), Entomologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) uses genetic engineering to create the "Judas Breed"- a new form of insect that will kill of the cockroaches containing the dreaded "Strickler's Diesease." In order to ensure that the Judas Breed will die out, it was designed specifically to die off after only a generation. However, three years later, Susan discovers that the Judas Breed has somehow survived. Aided by their altered body-chemistry, they have managed to somehow breed and evolve, growing and changing to blend in with natural predators... including humans. Together with her husband Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam), a shoe- shiner named Manny (Giancarlo Giannini), his Autistic son Chuy (Alexander Goodwin), a police officer (Josh Brolin) and a subway guard (Charles S. Dutton), Susan must find a way to stop the growing threat presented by these new forms of the Judas Breed, before they manage to blend in, infiltrate and destroy humanity.The cast is absolutely superb. In particular Sorvino and Giannini, who steal the show. Everyone gives wonderful, superb performances that humanizes the horror and drama, creating a wonderful sense of dread when they are in danger. The only sore thumbs here are Dutton and Brolin. Both fantastic actors. And both are decent. However, their limited material (somewhat more one-dimensional than the other characters) makes them feel a bit more "flat" than other characters. Still, they do a decent job. They just don't quite "fit in" with the rest of the cast.The direction is magnificent, as is always the case with del Toro films. While his prior work "Cronos" was a very good start, and contained the first hints and glimpses of his style... here, we are given a definite plunge into the mind of del Toro. The direction is absolutely incredible, and his choices in shots, composition and movement are beautiful and poetic, and create wonderful senses of love, fear, dread, drama and even hope. A true mastermind of cinema.It's hard to judge the script, knowing many scenes were changed, altered, dropped, etc. But the writing in general is quite strong for a genre-film, and characters are (for the most part) well-developed and possessing enough "quirks" to make them identifiable and worth caring for.Other aspects of the film are all generally strong. From some stunning cinematography courtesy of Dan Laustsen, to the absolutely bone-tingling (and action packed) score by the magnificent Marco Beltrami, to the wonderful mixture of practical and CGI effect... everything gels into a well-oiled machine to deliver del Toro's Gothic horror beats.I'm honestly shocked that this film doesn't have the recognition it deserves. Sadly, that is often the case for not only del Toro's film (his other works such as "Pan's Labyrinth" and even the recent "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", which he served as a co-writer and producer on, are all tragically under-recognized despite their rampant strengths), but also good horror in general. It's a shame that the masses pass up on unique, well-made chillers in favor of generic sequels and processed PG- 13 fluff. But that's a rant for another time.As it stands, I give "Mimic" a strong 8 out of 10. (That's for the director's cut. The theatrical cut is more of a 7 out of 10. Still good, but not QUITE as good.) It's definitely a film worth checking out for fans of Sci-Fi, Horror or pure cinematic thrills.

It's pretty well known that Guillermo Del Toro disowned this movie. Well, truth is he didn't. While he was not particularly happy with the theatrical release, him disowning it are exaggerated and taken out of context. Watch and observe the movie, many of his hallmarks in his other movies are there. Being a Del Toro fan I'd watch this over Blade II. Yeah, I'm serious. Some people say that Mimic is underrated. I agree. It's a very well done and well crafted movie. A "giant bug" movie is just the tip of the iceberg. A contemporary sci-fi/ horror movie is a decent way to sum it up. I have begun to wonder if any, (If not all) of those who dislike this movie have even seen it or have just jumped the band wagon. This is not a misfire or a "sophomore slump". It's an overlooked very underrated gem.