Mimic (1997)

Yet another sucky sci-fi spook-fest, this one stars Mira Sorvino, 
bless her heart, as a Big Apple entomologist who creates a hybrid 
insect to combat a cockroach-borne epidemic-in-the-making.  Her 
supposedly sterile solution works wonders until, three years later, 
the bugs return, having mutated into human-sized, human-mimicking 
monsters.  For the first hour, while we wait for a good glimpse of 
the creatures, the various characters (Sorvino's, her character's 
husband, her character's husband's partner, a couple of kids, a 
shoe shine man, the shoe shine man's autistic son, and a feisty 
transit work-er) poke around the city's subway tunnels, unafraid of 
any dark, damp, obviously creature-infested corners.  (Don't these 
people watch horror movies?)  When the bugs finally *do* appear, 
believability gets zapped-- rewiring decades-old subway circuitry 
on the fly?-- but we finally get some action and a little blood and 
an adorably grimy Sorvino, whose deadpan reaction to the appearance 
of a particular creature may be the single best howler of the sum-
mer:  "Ohmigod, it's the male."  Stylishly directed by Guillermo 
Del Toro (CRONOS).  (Rated "R"/102 min.)

Grade: C- 

Copyright 1997 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies in Movie Hell: August 26, 1997