Also Known As: Judus (1997) (USA: working title)
DIRECTED BY: Guillermo del Toro WRITTEN BY: Donald A. Wollheim (story) and Matthew Robbins (I) CAST: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Charles Dutton, Alexander Goodwin, Giancarlo Giannini, F. Murray Abraham
MPAA: Rated R for terror/violence and language. Runtime: USA:105
"For thousands of years, man has been evolution's greatest creation. Until now.."
RATING: 8/10
Amidst the brainless production of the summer season, a film with half a brain will be noticed and praised as an epic. 'Mimic' happens to be a fairly intelligent science fiction, wisely released along side with the action and adventure cliches of this season.
In a brilliantly chilling title sequence, where behind the photographs of the dead children and frightening insects sounds, a child is counting to the infinite, symbolizing the dead. Slowly the story takes shape. 'Strickler's Disease, in the face of the common cockroach, came to New York like a thief in the night, threatening to steal an entire generation of our children from before our eyes. Since it has proven to be virtually immune to chemical control, a new avenue of attack had to be discovered. A team of brilliant scientists recombined ant- and mantis DNA to create a biological counter agent. They called it the 'Judas Breed'. These creatures are the most successful creations, that are fit to adapt to any situation. Their breeding rate is approximately 40 000 a year. They were designed to survive. And they were released into the streets with one single mission: eliminate the deadly carrier and die...Three years have passed. Susan and Peter are now a happy couple, praying for a baby. The epidemic is completely forgotten. Things are not so swell, however, in the dark caverns beneath the city. A mysterious killer, called "Long John" terrorizes the homeless in the subway system of New York. People are disappearing. The police are unable to find him, and yet, during the night, he can be seen, standing silently -- observing, waiting to strike. Susan's happy existence is suddenly interrupted by two homeless boys that collect insects for money. They offer her a new kind of "bug" that has never previously been seen. What she discovers is a gigantic speciment of the Judas breed. The shock comes when she realizes that it is only an infant. You see, sometimes an insect will evolve to mimic its predator. A fly can look like a spider. A caterpillar can look like a snake. The Judas breed evolved to mimic its predators -- us. These creatures can imitate us. They can infiltrate us and they migrate. There is no telling how far they will spread...May the the strongest survive...
This film is the first pleasant surprise of the season. It is intelligent enough to be called science fiction and frightening enough to be called a horror film. Faithful to Ridley Scott's classic 'Alien', Guillermo del Toro directs his film in the same fashion. This is a darker and less 'family appealing' version of 'Jurassic Park'. It tells the story about science out of control, about the cruel nature and its ways. At the same time it's very interesting to see how nature looks at the human species and in what way it tries to imitate it.
Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam make a fine, believable pair. And, though a bizarre choice, Sorvino is surprisingly effective as the brilliant scientist. The rest of the actors do their job honestly and professionally, though not quite memorably.
'Mimic's centerpiece is the survival game played out between humans and giant insects, and for its most part you'll certainly get the adrenaline in your body flowing. The first hour is nearly flawless. Del Toro is a true master at creating a chilling, frightening atmosphere, that works because of the combining efforts of an incredible team: brilliantly chilling cinematography by Dan Laustsen, beautifully controlled, fast paced editing by Patrick Lussier, and a magnificently sensual and yet frighteningly spooky musical score by Marco Beltrami. Del Toro knows that what is left unseen is more terrifying than what the camera reveals, no matter what it is. But even when he unravels his mystery and the shadows disappear on by one, we still are amazed because it's done so brilliantly. From the very beginning the brilliant Del Toro captures you in his world of pure artistic symbolism and dark poetry. The hand reaching into darkness had me sliding down in my seat. The script features some incredibly strange, but incredible human characters, that are anything else but stereotypes from previous horror flicks. I liked the two little kids who are bug collectors and know their way around the subway system. And there's a shoeshine man's kid who clicks spoons together in such a way that he mimics the clicking sounds of the Judas Breed. Things appear and disappear. Mysterious entities look like one thing and suddenly reveals itself as something else. Laustsen has done a great job with lighting and camera placement, creating a dark, depressive atmosphere, where the characters slowly emerge from the shadows. Every shot and scene is filled with mystery and a sense of indescribable danger lurking beneath. There are moments that are frightening and interesting through the first hour of the film, the mystery and suspense slowly builds up and is all released in the last half hour. Although I didn't find the ending very satisfying, I still think that this film has a lot to offer. Under Del Toro's incredible atmosphere, there are not ver y ``Event Horizon', "The Relic", and other films descended from 'Alien', but manages to rise above most of its predecessors. Believe me, it will provide an intelligent horror that is well worth your money and time. And since it is a summer movie, it hardly needs anything else.
"Evolution has a way of keeping things alive"
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