Mimic (film)

Mimic
Film poster
Directed by	Guillermo del Toro
Produced by	Ole Bornedal Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein B.J. Rack
Screenplay by	Matthew Robbins Guillermo del Toro
Story by	Matthew Robbins Guillermo del Toro
Based on	Mimic by Donald A. Wollheim
Starring	Mira Sorvino Jeremy Northam Alexander Goodwin Giancarlo Giannini Josh Brolin Charles S. Dutton F. Murray Abraham
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Cinematography	Dan Laustsen
Editing by	Patrick Lussier
Studio	Dimension Films Miramax Films
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	August 22, 1997 (1997-08-22)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000[1]

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,^[2] 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,^[3] 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,^[4] 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.”^[5]

Plot

In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading a deadly 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. Since the Judas Breed have also been designed to only produce one male able to breed, and they keep it in their care, the hybrid species should die out in a matter of months.

Three years later, people begin to go missing in the subways and tunnels under the city. Susan, Peter, and their staff learn that they severely underestimated the Judas Breed's ability to adapt to its conditions. The Judas Breed has found a way to reproduce and has evolved in order to better hunt a new food source. To everyone's horror, they discover that the Judas' new food source is humans, and now the insects have grown to be as big as people and can mimic the appearance and behavior of humans with uncanny accuracy. Susan and Peter have learned that huge swarms of the Judas Breed are living beneath the city in the subway system, and with the help of Leonard (Charles S. Dutton), a transit system police officer, they search out the insects, whose quick evolution (one fertile male and hordes of females) also made them humanoid, before they can take over the city and from there the world.

Cast

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

Reception

Mimic currently holds 61% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[6]

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo, its domestic gross is $25,480,490; it did not beat its budget of $30 million.^[7]

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.^[8] Del Toro recently revealed that he had been working on a director's cut of Mimic and that he is "happy" with it.^[9] Del Toro's director's cut 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.

See also

• Mimic 2
• Mimic 3: Sentinel

References

1. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mimic.htm
2. ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1997/MIMIC.php
3. ^ In director's fantastical world, violence has reason for being
4. ^ http://www.the-dish.co.uk/2008/03/06/pans-labyrinth-2006
5. ^ The Three Amigos of Cha Cha Cha
6. ^ Mimic (1997)
7. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mimic.htm
8. ^ Kermode, Mark (February 15, 2008). "Aliens come to Wales". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/feb/15/wales. 
9. ^ "Guillermo del Toro talks At the Mountains of Madness". http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=33860. 

External links

• Mimic at AllRovi
• Mimic at the Internet Movie Database
• Mimic at Rotten Tomatoes