With "Cronos" being immensely popular among horror-loving audiences, its Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro was quickly offered a reasonable budget and an adequate crew to shoot his very first US film. The result was "Mimic"; a surprisingly ordinary Sci-Fi thriller that balances between an "Alien" rip-off and a typically 70's creature feature. It's not a bad film and definitely one of the best achievements of the weak 90's decade, but it lacks something special, something exclusive to make it truly memorable and/or an absolute genre favorite. The film revolves on a deadly plague of genetically manipulated cockroaches and the mimicking of the title reverts to the scientific fact (apparently) that certain insects physically 'imitate' their natural enemies. What I really appreciated about the film is the whole background-story why Dr. Susan Tyler tampered with the DNA of cockroaches in the first place! No deranged scientists messing with Mother Nature's creations to boost up their own egos this time, as the genetically altered cockroaches exterminated the carriers of a disastrous epidemic that nearly killed an entire generation of New York children. Only, the new & stronger roaches refused to die afterwards... Three years later, the species moved itself up a couple of places in the food chain and lurks its human pray in the subway tunnels beneath the city. "Mimic" eventually disappoints because of the shoddy special effects and some hopelessly muddled sub plots. A boy obsessed with shoes? Dubious 12-year-old merchants?? The impenetrably dark subway-setting hasn't got anything original to offer and there sure are scarier monsters than man-sized cockroaches. Del Toro's directing is occasionally very stylish, especially during the atmospheric opening sequences with the aforementioned eerie epidemic, and Mira Sorvino is truly good as the lead heroine. Good supportive cast, too, with F. Murray Abraham ("Amadeus", "The Name of the Rose"), Giancarlo Giannini ("Black Belly of the Tarantula") and Norman Reedus in his (very small) debut role.
