| The first time I saw a preview for Mimic, I thought OH BOY YEAH! Two Oscar winners, a Tony winner, and a Merchant Ivory darling combined with big spooky bugs and fear and suspense and the whole bit. I got all that, sure. It was definitely exciting and I was nervous watching scenes waiting for the payoff. Some things were odd, and I wondered if the director's cut wouldn't have gone more smoothly. |
| Without giving anything away, the characters played by F. Murray Abraham (you might remember him from Amadeus) and the small Hispanic child don't seem to have a lot to do with the story. It's not the crime of overcasting as demonstrated by Cop Land, but it's still odd. Mimic refreshingly breaks a lot of the classic rules of filmmaking (again, I don't want to give anything away, but people who you just assume will not die, do so), which I appreciated, overall. |
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One of the rules of filmmaking, however, which is populate your film with people that fit their setting, is just ignored. These are the most cooperative, well-informed, safety-eschewing, and altruistic New Yorkers I have ever seen.
MIra Sorvino, last seen in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, is actually playing a character more along the lines of her real self - extremely, unnervingly intelligent. Jeremy Northam is her husband (throwing a pie in the face of the hero and heroine having plot-distracting sexual tension that culminates in a big we-did-it! kiss at the end - also refreshing) who comes along for the bughunting adventure - but his American accent is only slightly better than Cary Elwes'. But it's OK - he's so CUTE! |
| Basically, Mira genetically designed these weird bugs, the Judas Breed, to destroy the disease carrying cockroach population that is killing all the children. The bugs adapt/evolve past their genetic programming (see: Jurassic Park) and cause all sorts of unpleasant mayhem (see: Aliens). They take it upon themselves to kick some Judas Breed butt. (see:Frankenstein and Them) Meanwhile, people join forces with them (see: The Lost World) and get killed or not, as plot permits. The bugs continue to improve upon themselves (see: The Relic) and MIra and Jeremy get in some precarious situations which they should not be able to escape (see: Candyman, others). |
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Basically, MImic is really derivative but mixes some originality into the soup. I was unable to get an opinion from my entomologist friend on the science aspect, as she has not seen it yet.
Basically, MImic is really derivative but mixes some originality into the soup. I was unable to get an opinion from my entomologist friend on the science aspect, as she has not seen it yet. |
If it's only 85, go play outside, ya heat-sensitive Yankees! :) Grab a large drink (it's short enough you won't have to go to the bathroom) and kick back for a Matinee Price.
Karina |
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