Review

Strickland's Disease has reached epidemic levels on New York's Manhattan Island, putting an entire generation of children are at risk. When the carrier is discovered to be the common cockroach, entomologist Dr Susan Tyler is called in to see what she can do about the roach situation. I was guessing going on a war footing with roach-motel output jacked up, but Dr Tyler was one step ahead of me. She creates via genetics a new breed of insect, called the Judas Breed, that will excrete stuff that will kill the roaches. Hey, genetic engineering, new breed of creature, that's got to work.

Three years later and Dr Tyler is about to reap what she sowed. The Judas Breed, which has an exponential breeding cycle (didn't the movie mentioned all the females were sterile?) has evolved into large beasties that can mimic their only predator, man! Guess what's on the menu? A surprisingly taut and tension-filled bug movie ensues. Don't sleep on the subway!

For sure this film owes a huge debt to James Cameron's Aliens and Hitchcock's Rear Window if we want to be honest about things, but don't let that put you off checking it out. Del Toro nails this specimen to the display case, and doesn't let the tension drop at any stage of the movie's progression.

Given the full-on action coming our way I would tend to not be overly concerned about plot holes, but there's a couple of biggies: the aforementioned Judas female beetles being all sterile, and the kid with the spoons able to mimic the sounds the insects make, even though Dr Sue is at pains to point out that smell is the major factor in determining how to mimic the mimics. Other than that I was happy with the script, which sought to put well-liked characters into dark, confining spaces with some pretty nasty denizens of the subway.

A unique and interesting take on the monster feature, with an environmental warning tossed in

The Director starts his movie with a montage of images and voice-overs as the opening credits roll. What del Toro achieves with this approach is to give us the background in the quickest possible manner. We're ready to roll as the first awesome scene depicting New York from the air hits the screen. The follow up hospital scene has all the hallmarks of a money shot, and I was already onboard del Toro's groove train playing conductor before the dude fired his first shot in anger. A quick coverage of wide open spaces and then suddenly we hit warp factor nine with the claustrophobic stuff. Loved that del Toro took time out of his busy schedule to pimp the well beyond tension-filled scene where Dr Sue is in her lab, has something on the slab, and someone or something wants it back where it belongs.

What makes this one stand out is that del Toro goes for the audience's jugular in an attempt to demonstrate that no one is assured of reaching the final credits. A couple of kids go down, always a dicey plot development, and one of the minor characters whom we expect to see in the final scene meets his destiny via yet another tension-filled scene that del Toro hammers for all it's worth. I was immediately on notice that this wouldn't be a cookie cutter, and if one of the leads needed to meet a premature ending then del Toro wasn't above hitting that concept. Great stuff, and it amped the movie off the planet. Yes a couple of major characters aren't going to make it; you will need to check the movie to find out who.

Behind the camera, del Toro is proving why he's one of the best modern directors out of Mexico. The dude loves to throw in crazy angles, has image overlays coming thick and fast, and keeps his tension-laden fingers on the pulse of the movie with a gloomy atmosphere that ramps things up to warp speed. This film is not allowed to lag, and del Toro lays down some cool riffs with action, suspense, and enough exposition to have us all experts on the subject matter without overdoing things.

Mira Sorvino (Susan) wins over the audience with an effective and emotional performance; loved her taking Chuy under her wing as things hit the fan. Jeremy Northam (Peter) plays New Yorker well, and his chemistry with Sorvino was on in the movie.

Charles Dutton (Leonard) does stereotypical black dude, and gets the comic relief hat for the evening. Guess we aren't passed this aspect of horror movie making just yet. Alexander Goodwin (Chuy) does well with the autistic kid, who is ever wondering about his world. Giancarlo Giannini (Manny) gets to be a Jewish shoeshine dude, and works in the role but is pretty bland end of day. Josh Brolin (Josh) plays Josh Brolin and turned up for a pay cheque.

T&A is restricted in this one to Sorvino in a white nightie outfit ending up in a bath; lap it up, it's all she wrote. The gals get the square root as ever, no one figured out that a high percentage of the audience aren't male yet?

Marco Beltrami added the soundtrack and is spot on with what he does with it. Quiet during the suspense bits, hitting the right notes during the tension parts, and going dramatic during the action parts. Good intermesh with the insect noises as well, makes for a fine example of how to compose music that fits the bill.

I mainly decided to tunnel back in time and have another look at Mimic due to the outstanding efforts put into the second sequel, and also cause it was going cheap at the Ezy. Glad I did, as I got a good time out of the movie and can now claim to have seen something by del Toro (currently winning kudos with Pan's Labyrinth). Actually have also seen Hell Boy and Blade 2 but let's not be splitting those hairs. For once a movie that has both substance and style, I was lapping it all up and would have been happy with another hour of onscreen mayhem.

Mimic made $25,480,490 US domestic for Miramax on a budget of $30 million, but would have done enough internationally and on DVD to turn a profit for the indie studio. Out of interest, del Toro had major run-ins with the Weinsteins over this movie, and has never worked with them since. Good decision given some of the decisions the Weinstein Brothers have been making.

If you don't mind big bug movies and you grooved to Aliens, then you will be right at home with Mimic. As an early effort by del Toro it indicates just how good the dude is. Best viewed with a group of friends, pre-supposing they aren't the talkative types, and with some brews handy. Mimic says welcome to the hive.