Mimic

You can smell excessive studio interference on a film from several miles away, and Mimic has that smell about it. It bares many of the hallmarks of Guillermo del Toro’s work, I’ll let him explain what those are: “I have a sort of a fetish for insects, clockwork, monsters, dark places, and unborn things.” Mimic hits all of those boxes, but you can still tell that something got a little lost in the production line. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where del Toro’s vision got compromised, but it’s obvious in numerous moments that it was.

The plot concerns a movie disease which effects children, causing hundreds of children to become fatally ill. A scientist engineers a super-bug to take New York City’s roach population, the carriers of the disease, and the unexpected consequences of this action. This being a del Toro film, the engineered roaches take on a disturbing life of their own, which comes to a head in a taunt and gross series of encounters in the sewers.

I think one of the main problems with the film is the cast that has been assembled who hit more than they miss, but when they miss they sink their scenes in awkwardly acted and stilted movements. Mira Sorvino, Josh Brolin, Charles Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini all do great work. Sorvino in particular brings a wounded strength, fragility and intelligence to her scientist who unwittingly opened a Pandora’s Box of creepy, crawly evolution. Without her work the film would have sunk under its own weight, or if her performance had been bad the entire film wouldn’t have worked at all.

Another performance that required a solid actor is Chuy, the autistic grandson of Giannini’s shoe-shiner. While Giannini delivers a soulful charachter, Alexander Goodwin’s Chuy is awfully played, which is strange since del Toro got astounding work out of his child actors in The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth. But Goodwin’s constantly smiling character never seems to realize when he’s in danger, highlighting the worst of actorly traits in portraying characters with mental or emotional disabilities. Goodwin doesn’t make his character real, but it isn’t entirely his fault. Del Toro has never shied away from placing children in grave danger, but for some reason he pulls back here. I think this was probably studio interference – was New Line convinced that opening the film with the mass deaths of hundreds of children already sad enough without putting another kid in danger? It’s highly possible to me. But the scenes involving Chuy don’t work as written and performed. (Spoiler territory: the refusal to put Chuy in any true danger is even stranger given that we witness the big-bad bug kill two other kids in the abandoned subway while they’re investigating the catacombs.)

But I still believe that Mimic like all of del Toro’s work is worth a viewing for the wit he frequently displays. Not just in crafting situations, but in creating original and grotesque monsters to take root in our nightmares. It’s imperfect, and there’s an overall sense of something being “off” with the whole thing, but I still maintain that there’s enough positives to Mimic’s claustrophobic catacombs and interesting premise to make it at least a one-time viewing experience.