Mimic

Mimic Information

Mimic is an American science fiction horror film, with elements of a slasher film, released in 1997. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the script was inspired by a short story of the same name by Donald A. Wollheim. Mimic, whose U.S. theatrical gross was $25 million, was followed by two direct-to-video sequels: Mimic 2 (2001) and Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003).

Although del Toro was unhappy with the film as released, it includes several examples of his most characteristic hallmarks. "I have a sort of a fetish for insects, clockwork, monsters, dark places, and unborn things," said del Toro, and this is evident in Mimic, where at times all are combined in long, brooding shots of dark, cluttered, muddy chaotic spaces. According to Alfonso Cuarón, del Toro's friend and colleague, "with Guillermo the shots are almost mathematical "? everything is planned."

Plot

In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading the deadly "Strickler's Disease" that is claiming hundreds of the city's children. Entomologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) uses genetic engineering to create what she and her colleague (and husband) Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) call the Judas Breed, a large insect (looking like a cross between a termite and a praying mantis) that releases an enzyme that kills off the disease-carrying roaches by speeding up their metabolism. The Judas Breed work spectacularly and the crisis is abated. The released population was all-female and designed with a lifespan of only a few months, so that it would only last one generation.

Three years later, a reverend is chased and dragged underground by a man-sized creature. Chuy (Alexander Goodwin), the "special" (possibly autistic) son of a subway shoe-shiner called Manny (Giancarlo Giannini), notices the killer making a clicking sound, and calls him "Mr. Funny Shoes", thinking it is the sound of his footsteps. A disease investigator called Josh (Josh Brolin) investigates the church, which is connected to the subways, and comes across some excrement containing wooden buttons.

Two kids later sell a "weird bug" from the subway to Susan. Only a baby, the specimen is already the size of a man's hand. After performing some tests, it turns out that it is a member of the Judas Breed. Another creature then breaks into Susan's office to steal back the specimen. Susan and Peter, the kids in tow, check out the maintenance room where the specimen was found. However, a subway cop called Leonard (Charles S. Dutton) turns them back until they can get permits (Susan meets Chuy in this scene). Looking for more valuable specimens, the kids go down the tracks and find an egg sack the size of a man's chest (on the way, a homeless man mentions "Long John" and "Overcoat Slim", referring to the tall creatures which they think is a loose killer). However, a creature notices the kids and kills them. Meanwhile, Chuy goes looking for "Funny Shoes" in the church, and gets captured by creatures. Susan, Peter, and their staff go examine another, larger mutant Judas found at a water treatment plant. Susan's boss Dr. Gates (F. Murray Abraham) surmises that it is a highly evolved soldier, part of a colony.

At this point, the main characters all enter the subway, each for a different reason. Leonard, Peter and Josh enter the abandoned subway through the maintenance room to investigate(Later, they get separated and Josh is killed by a creature while trying to get to the surface). When Chuy turns up missing in the morning, Manny goes underground after him. While on the subway, Susan figures out from its pictures that the carapace of the treatment plant specimen fold up to look like a human face. Just then, the station goes partly dark, and Susan gets caught and taken away by one of the creatures, while nobody notices.

Before long, the four meet up and hide inside an abandoned subway car. They capture and kill one of the creatures, but not before it slashes Leonard's leg, making him bleed profusely. Susan explains that the Judas' accelerated metabolism allowed it to reproduce and mutate very fast, and that they have evolved to mimic their human predator. The smell of Leonard's blood attracts more mimics, so Susan retrieves the dead one's smell gland and uses it on the windows and Leonard's wound to cover the smell. The group formulates a plan to get the car moving: Peter is sent to get the power back up, and Manny is sent to switch the tracks. Both cover their scent with the gland to blend in with the creatures. Manny finds Chuy imprisoned in a cage, and gets killed, preventing the car from moving. Meanwhile, in the car, Susan projects that the mimics could spread out through the tunnels and take over the world. She also explains that the Judas breed a single fertile male for every colony. Since Manny hasn't returned, Susan decides to go after him. Leonard then starts bleeding uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Peter finds a dumbwaiter right next to the car which leads to the regular tracks above. Susan frees Chuy and comes across Peter, who leads the two to the dumbwaiter. Leonard sacrifices himself by leaving the car to distract the mimics from the other three.

As Chuy and Susan get into the dumbwaiter, the male Judas drops in. Peter stays behind, hoping to stop the mimics for good. He gets chased into a room which turns out to be the colony nest, where he discovers some gas pipes and an ax, and decides to blow up the nest. He smashes open the pipes with the ax, flooding the nest with gas. After his lighter fails, he strikes the ax against a metal grate, which sparks, ignites the gas and destroys the nest. He escapes into a flooded tunnel under the grate just after sparking the gas.

Meanwhile, the male Judas climbs up the dumbwaiter and goes after Chuy. Susan lures it with her blood, and it is killed by an oncoming train. The two make it to the surface, and it turns out that Peter is also alive (and somehow not burned) as they reunite.

Cast

Mira Sorvino as Dr. Susan Tyler
Jeremy Northam as Dr. Peter Mann
Josh Brolin as Josh
Charles S. Dutton as Leonard
Giancarlo Giannini as Manny
F. Murray Abraham as Dr. Gates
Alexander Goodwin as Chuy
Alix Koromzay as Remy Panos
Norman Reedus as Jeremy
Julian Richings as Workman
Doug Jones as Long John #2

Reception

Mimic received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It currently holds 61% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo, its domestic gross is $25,480,490; it did not beat its budget of $30 million.

Related works

Mimic was planned as one of three 30 minute short films intended to be shown together. It was expanded into a full length movie, as was Impostor. The short film Alien Love Triangle remains a 30 minute short film, and has never been released. In 2010, Del Toro revealed that he had been working on a director's cut of Mimic and that he is "happy" with it. It was released exclusively through Best Buy's chain of stores on September 6, 2011 with a wide release on September 27, 2011. The director's cut, available on Blu-Ray, runs 111 minutes, or 6 minutes longer than the theatrical release. It was released in the UK on 31st October 2011 and is available in stores that sell Blu-Rays as well as most online retailers.