7Roulette - MIMIC

The absolute worst characteristic about 1990s Dimension Films are the half-baked recuts by the dunderhead Weinstein producer brothers. I am absolutely certain that stripped of their creative control, that some of the films might be a little bit better. Guillermo Del Toro is notorious for disowning Mimic. Very little of the feature resembles his original vision and he was plagued by producer involvement. They didn't feel it was scary enough. He was threatened with his job, and unfairly treated by the delightful duo on a regular basis. It wasn't until the film's lead actress, played by Mira Sorvino, stepped in and defended him, that they backed off. They were frightened of ruffling the feathers of their homeboy, and current love interest to their leading lady, Quentin Tarantino. Del Toro has since recut the film into a Special Director's Edition, that while is not his perfect movie, is more in line with what he saw for it.

I'm not sure if this is the one I watched or not. I would attest that Guillermo has a distinct style, very golden, and I feel that was missing. It felt very director-for-hire, and less auteur trying to prove himself worthy. There's a fascinating story here, a unique sci-fi horror, that separates itself from that traditional insect terror picture show. At his best, I'm not sure if Del Toro could have brought this tale appropriately to life, but allowed more access to the drivers seat, it surely would have had less problems, and would have looked better.

Purely intellectually, I like this one. You can catch glimpses of an ambitious amateur trying to find his voice, if only it wasn't squandered by a couple of money hungry business men. It's a solid B at heart, which the director consistently seems to maintain for me, but in the end, after all of the interference it's just a C.

-Babes

Guillermo del Toro is renowned for creating imaginative fantasy worlds populated with bizarre creatures. In Mimic, he shows us the New York Subway System inhabited by giant cockroaches. Never really been a fan of his and this movie certainly didn't help; disregarding whatever limitations the production put upon him, the effects weren't there, the suspense wasn't there, the characters rest on a narrow spectrum between burlesque and bland, and a boring location that had plenty of potential but instead left me in this spatial disorientation that was less Escher and more Ed Wood. A giant bug Creature Feature has so much promise either as a campy homage or an intense gross out, but this is very much neither; this is a self-serious cautionary science fable with some forced bureaucratic exposition and some police procedural stuff (at least there wasn't any military bullshit). There's one sweet peripheral subplot with Giancarlo Giannini and his "gifted" son that feels most like a Guillermo movie that I would've very much liked to've seen in the forefront - though I don't know if that would've helped the murky cinematography and cartoon roaches. This is a guy who's known for his makeup effects and they're used sparingly here, though when they are they're icky goodness. Again, I would've preferred more of that over sneaking around in the dark with a false sense of fear regarding CGI creepy-crawlers. D+

- Paul