The Good: Competent acting, Excellent effects, Occasionally unpredictable
The Bad: Mostly predictable plot, Unmemorable characters
The Basics: Overall only occasionally entertaining, Mimic requires suspension of disbelief and/or scientific ignorance.
"If a gun is introduced in the first act, by the final curtain it must go off," is a pretty standard rule of plot. There are variations on this, of course: in Bound it's a pair of sheers. In Mimic it's a subway. And by no means is it a solid rule; many films get away with defying the convention by not having the gun go off or - like American Beauty - introducing a whole lot of guns. Then the movie becomes about why and how the convention is defied. When the intelligent viewer sees the subway in Mimic, we know it's going to run someone or something over. Horror, even more than science fiction, suffers from a lack of originality and surprise.
Such as it is, the plot of Mimic is a remarkably standard science fiction / horror plot. In the recent future, a plague carried by cockroaches is stopped by the work of inventive geneticists who develop a better beetle to go around killing the roaches and thus stopping the plague. Yeah! I'll admit, despite the scientific implausibilities that follow, the initial idea is an intriguing one.
Then, in an improbably leap of science, the genetic code of the new creature goes awry and evolution makes a few massive leaps underground resulting in terrifically huge bugs that have no problem with making a meal out of men. So, after an intriguing setup, the movie quickly degenerates into something most of us have already seen before. And the problem is, we've seen it done better.
Mira Sorvino plays the scientist, Dr. Susan Tyler, sent as part of a team to investigate the phenomenon and discovers the very cool, very creepy bugs. She's accompanied by a subway worker, Leonard, played by Charles S. Dutton in a very well acted role. In fact, the acting is one of the few extraordinary things - Mira Sorvino plays her part well. And Charles S. Dutton does his best with Leonard.
The problematic aspect is that the characters either aren't interesting or aren't acting like normal human beings. The male lead, Jeremy Northam, opposite Sorvino was completely unmemorable. Indeed; I had to check the IMDB to remember his character's name (Dr. Mann). And poor Charles S. Dutton - this film was made shortly after Alien 3 and if you watch Mimic you might wonder, as I'm sure he did, if he was picked for his role based on his role in the Alien film. Leonard and his far more developed character, Dillon from Alien 3, have ridiculously similar character resolution.
One of the few successful aspects of the plot is the way it comes together. A young boy is abducted near the very beginning of the film and he is weaved throughout film expertly. The problem is, while the threads come together, the viewer tends to lose interest. I'm a patient person, especially when it comes to film, but this movie tried my patience and bored me. If it wasn't for the acting and the occasional moments where the director managed to surprise me in the way the bugs appeared, this movie would have been a complete wash.
Recommended only for fans of science fiction or horror solely because there's not much to the film for those who are not.
For other science fiction films, please check out my reviews of:
Avatar
The Star Wars Saga
Skyline
4.5/10
For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2012, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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