Mimic

It's an alright film with good scares, action and effects, but there are a few totally unbelievable bits where you'll be shouting "Don't be stupid" and "No one would do that!". You start to think there's a lot more to the "Mimic" storyline than you see, as it starts to move somewhere and you think a big plot's arriving and then it abandons it in favour of chase scenes and big creatures. Standard horror, scare movie.

Three years ago cockroaches were responsible for the spread of a virulent disease that claimed the lives of children throughout Manhattan Island like a thief in the night; altruistic entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler led a genetics team that created a biological counteragent, a new breed of insect with a short life span that wiped out the infectious carriers. In the present day that same breed evolves to counteract an even greater predator: human beings. The movie's visual aesthetic is fittingly murky and drab, with confident direction that creates a tangible and unpredictable feeling of something lurking in the shadows. Innovative mixture of the scary and the scientific, this is a grabber despite any of the usual horror movie conventions. ***

While no masterpiece, this film has more moments than everyone else gives it credit for. The creature effects are amusing and choosing insects to creep people out is clearly a good choice (look at how many people have phobias about bugs). Not great, but a decent enough bump-in-the-dark diversion.

I'm not one to stand up and walk out of a movie, mainly because I'm easily entertained by movies and can enjoy even the simplest (or stupidest) plot. I nearly had to handcuff myself to the seat to keep myself in the theatre. The movie seemed to have a solid foundation in plot, but when put on film ended up being little more than a heap of seemingly unrelated shots. The scene of the film's "star" Mira Sorvino in a laboratory late at night simply serves to illustrate this. Less than 10 minutes later, she's racing around abandoned subway tunnels looking for overgrown cockroaches. When the male lead (Jeremy Northam) finds himself in the enemies lair, conveniently with a main gas line, he decides to blow himself up. The ensuing explosion is powerful enough to undoubtedly destroy any egg sacs that are hundreds of feet away, but by diving into a foot of water, Northam is able to walk out with no more than singed clothing .

I was not expecting much from this film. But Mimic proved to be one of the most heart- poundingly frightening features I've ever encountered. Imaginative plot, great acting, arresting special effects, spine-tingling score. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, of Cronos, Hellboy, Blade II and The Devil's Backbone. The story revolves around a lonely young scientist (Sorvino) who genetically tinkers with cockroaches in an effort to stop a sudden disease outbreak in NYC that is killing children. She becomes an international heroine when the plague is defeated, but within three years, a bizarre -- I should say, shocking -- insect mutation problem develops. This film literally made my flesh crawl. Utterly grotesque, repulsive, ghastly proceedings that will scare the living bejebus right out of you! Consider yourself warned.

What is wrong with Mira Sorvino? A perfectly good, beautiful young actress, who seems attracted to all of the Hollywood reject films. Her only slightly good one was Romy And Mitchell's High School Reunion. Others include sleepers like the Replacement Killers. Now she stars alongside Josh Brolin(who seems to have the same problem-nightwatch is crap beyond belief!) in a tepid Horror/Sci Fi that tries to hard to have an interesting plot, seen as it is a copied genre. Also starring is F.Murray Abraham(star trek insurrection) as the wise old scientist bloke. Mimic is gory, but not scary. The cast do well despite a story that holds them back. Rating=2/5

Strong female character reasons that there must be an egg layer among all the soldier creatures, culminating in a terrifying scene with hundreds of eggs and creatures laying in wait, the protagonist telling the big breeder creature to "stay away" from the silent, lonely, orphaned child that she has come to protect as her own, and drawing the creature towards her to protect the kid, only to destroy the creature by blasting it through the airlock. Airlock? I meant train, sorry. Anyway, yeah, Aliens was a great movie. I'm just impressed that the scriptwriter for this movie got paid for plagiarizing such famous material.