MIMIC (Dimension - 1997) Starring Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S. Dutton, Alexander Goodwin Screenplay by Matthew Robbins, Guillermo Del Toro Produced by Bob Weinstein, B.J. Rack, Ole Bornedal Directed by Guillermo Del Toro Running time: 105 minutes
** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: C
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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There was no reason not to have tremendously high expectations for the new science-fiction horror film MIMIC, the most costly venture of Dimension Films since its inception, given the pedigree of talent associated with the project. Behind the camera was Guillermo Del Toro, whose debut feature film was the terrifically stylish and richly atmospheric vampire film CRONOS, which was astonishingly original and finely well-crafted -- it easily ranks among the very best horror films of this decade, and heralded a bright future ahead for this talented director. Meanwhile, in front of the camera for MIMIC was Mira Sorvino, an extremely gifted and versatile young actress of uncommon intelligence and poise. To complete the triad of talent, the names bandied about as writers on the film's screenplay was astonishingly impressive: Mr. Del Toro, and among those performing rewrites, both John Sayles(!) and Steven Soderbergh(!). With a creative team such as this, one can't help but go into MIMIC with a certain degree of anticipation.
Consequently, one can't help but leave MIMIC with an incredible degree of disappointment. There is virtually nothing in the film's storyline which is at all fresh or inventive; it is a straightforward, by-the-books generic creature film with very little resonance. An immediate tip-off of the impending dreariness which awaits should have been the screenwriter credits in the striking title sequence for the film (designed by Kyle Cooper, who also designed the title credits for SE7EN, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT -- quite a talented guy); the glaring omission of Mr. Sayles and Mr. Soderbergh as credited co-screenwriters should have been a clue. (My understanding is that although both Mr. Sayles and Mr. Soderbergh wrote rewrites, the filmmakers ultimately returned to an earlier version of the screenplay.)
MIMIC is set in Manhattan, where the outbreak of a terrible epidemic is depicted in suitably apocalyptic fashion. Hospital wards are filled beyond capacity with the afflicted, with young children appearing to be the most susceptible to the plague. While science is unable to find a cure, scientists Susan Tyler (Ms. Sorvino) and Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) have developed an indirect method of curbing the disease's spread -- they have genetically engineered a breed of insect, deemed the "Judas breed", which destroys the cockroaches carrying the plague. (This is depicted in a sequence where the duo stomp out into a testing laboratory, dressed in gigantic oversized bio-containment suits -- you can tell the one with the cute button noise is Ms. Sorvino -- to unleash their creation on a bevy of cockroaches.) With the understanding that their Judas breed will die out after one generation -- long enough to kill enough cockroaches to stifle the epidemic -- Susan and Peter release their insects into the environment, and sure enough, soon all appears well. Three years later, though, signs appear which seem to indicate -- surprise, surprise -- that the Judas breed *did not* die out as expected, but instead has evolved and survived. And people are starting to go missing ...
The film unfolds fairly predictably from this point, and while some sequences generate moderate interest, as a whole MIMIC is less than riveting. The problem is that there is no human connection created between the film's characters and the audience; MIMIC introduces a series of characters without giving them any depth, and as a result it becomes difficult to truly care about their plight as they battle giant insects in the bowels of the New York subway system. This is particularly true for the film's bland leading characters; save for one solitary characterization scene near the beginning of MIMIC, there is nothing that distinguishes Susan and Peter from genre archetypes, and no particular reason for the audience to have any vested interest in their ordeal.
As it is easy to have one's mind begin to wander during the film as little is particularly fresh or interesting, one can spend a lot of time during the movie playing "Count the ALIENS parallel". While the initial concept of having one's biological creation turn against its creator -- the familiar "Don't mess with Mother Nature" theme -- clearly harkens to films like James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN, it is obvious that MIMIC was greatly influenced by Ridley Scott's ALIEN and James Cameron's ALIENS both in terms of story and atmosphere, and one can clearly see a huge number of parallels between ALIENS, the blatant antecedent, and MIMIC. Both eventually boil down to a group of hardy survivors struggling to survive and destroy a hideous swarm of giant insectoid monsters in a murky, damp labyrinth-like setting. Each has a strong, smart female lead who understands the nature of the predators, and a noble male counterpart. ALIENS and MIMIC both have a wisecracking secondary male character who bite it. (Sadly, Josh Brolin is not nearly as entertaining as Bill Paxton was.) There is a strict, authority figure who initially causes difficulties but redeems himself by bravely paying the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the group in both films. The rescue of a young child figures prominently in both films. At a pivotal moment in ALIENS, Ripley screams "Get away from her, you *bitch*!" at the final marauder; likewise, in MIMIC, Susan calls out "No! You don't touch him!" (Not quite as catchy, but whatever.) ALIENS starred an actress named *Sigourney*; MIMIC's star is named *Sorvino* ...
Okay, that last point is pushing it, but surely the point is clear that MIMIC is a direct descendent from the ALIEN trilogy (soon to become a quadripartite). This is not necessarily a knock on it -- James Cameron's ALIENS is one of the best pulse-pounding films I've ever seen -- but unfortunately in every respect, MIMIC falls well short of its predecessor in terms of generating excitement or shock, and the result is a rather lacklustre product.
Special mention should be made of the child-in-peril in MIMIC, Chuy (Alexander Goodwin), the autistic grandson of a subway shoeshine man, Manny (Giancarlo Giannini), who may be one of the most annoying child characters in recent years. Given an inexplicable amount of screentime to depict Chuy, a blank, expressionless look frozen on his face, mindlessly rattle two spoons together to create an irritating *clik-clik-clik-clik* sound and to demonstrate that he, well, knows shoes, he constantly tests the audience's patience by indiscriminantly inserting himself into hazardous scenarios. At least ALIENS' Newt (Carrie Henn) had a personality. Watching all of the film's characters repeatedly risk and sacrifice their lives for this kid, I kept hoping one of the monsters would scoop him up and carry him away, never to be seen again. Susan and Peter were shown earlier in MIMIC to be desperate for a child of their own, but even that fails to cover the inexplicable attachment they have for Chuy and the lengths they extend themselves to rescue him. Only a saint would be able to restrain themselves from throwing this child to the beasts.
MIMIC finally concludes with a series of scenes which comply to hokey genre conventions (I was barely able to keep from groaning aloud at a shot late in the film of a person diving into water). While the visual effects in the film are generally well done, this is not enough to salvage the film from mediocrity. With the talent involved with MIMIC, it had the potential of being a superior science-fiction horror film; what it sadly is instead is a generic giant insect movie.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "Let's hurt somebody." - Aaron Eckhart, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
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