Film Review: Mimic 2 (2001)

SYNOPSIS:

When a c**kroach-spread plague threatened to decimate the child population of New York City in the original Mimic, biologist Susan Tyler and her research associates developed a crossbreed species of insect, the “Judas Breed” and introduced them into the environment, where they were to spread a toxin, lethal to the c**kroaches. The plan worked until the bugs evolved to mimic their next prey…..humans! Just when they were all thought to be dead, the giant Judas bugs are back, and this time they’ve mutated to take on human form!

REVIEW:

Mimic 2 is a story surrounding the sordid love life of a scientist who helped accidentally create giant human sized c**kroaches adapt to hunting humans and is one big commentary on how men are predators and no different from the so-called Mimic itself. Spoilers follow.

The film starts from where the last one ended with the supposed elimination of all the Judas breed insects, a selected genetic cross-breed designed to kill off plagued c**kroaches that were killing children in New York but evolved into human-sized and human-shaped predators. This is poorly communicated through news broadcast exposition in the opening credits.

Following the credits a short asian man with a suitcase is seen running from the Judas breed, supposedly for stealing something important from it, and is promptly killed. At the scene after we are introduced to Detective Klaski, played by Bruno Campos, who finds himself at a loss.

Cut to former professional entomologist and grade school teacher Remi Panos, played by Alix Koromzay, is shown teaching her students, dealing with horrible men who disrespect her because she’s attractive while being neurotically fixated on her knowledge of insects in all other conversations. This makes her appear socially awkward and all men horrible people.

Added to the forced tension is a mysterious stalker who is by all accounts obviously the only surviving adult Judas breed from the last film. Like all the other men in Remi’s life it too wants to impregnate her and leave her to suffer after, but it is also a gentlemen in that it kills any and all competition in his way.

This eventually leads Klaski to investigate her for the murders which of course match the murder of the scientist from the start of the film, who turns out to be in entomology as well. After being released and some back and forth from more men in Remi’s life, mainly co-workers and students, she ends up at the school with her student Sal, played by Gaven. E Lucas, whose aunt hasn’t shown up to take him home.

This is where the movie turns from forcing tension to expounding upon said tension and forcing exposition. The rest of the film is the fight to avoid the Judas breed itself as it has turned the school into it’s nest. As soon as the principal, briefly played by Jon Polito, is attacked from behind and killed Remi and Sal head up and down the school, running into another student named Nicky, played by Will Estes, and take him with them into the basement.

Here Remi becomes the exposition train as she happens to have helped create the Judas breed and knows what it should be vulnerable to as it is essentially a giant c**kroach. This derails the suspense and tension entirely and leaves you with a hung gaping jaw at how bad her acting really is when it sounds like she’s just reading from cue cards indicating the motivation and method of their survival.

Next scene Nicky finds a suitcase that turns out to be babies that the scientist from the start of the film stole to sell on the black market and with Nicky being a drunken fool he opens it and the babies start coming out and attacking so they defend themselves and kill all the children.

Meanwhile Klaski hunts for clues at Remi’s and runs into a couple of suits from the Department of Defense who are hunting down the Judas breed themselves. They fight, spy on each other and eventually are led to the school, with Klaski arriving first and finding Remi and the kids being attacked by the Judas breed after several escape attempts.

Klaski shoots the bug, they all run and somehow the thing stands despite the internal damage. Every scene following is a combination of the menacing suits being menacing, Klaski trying to show sympathy and be apologetic to Remi and the kids being kids all while still running from the Judas breed.

Here the climax of the film begins and is in two parts. First, Remi stands up to the roach one last time after the boys and Klaski escape and in turn she is impregnated by the bug while the suits try to seal off and gas the school to kill it. Klaski jumps back in, Remi comes to and Klaski is shown mostly in shadows while carrying Remi to safety.

The second half shows Remi recovering after the government suits confiscate the larva inside Remi and Sal visiting her at the hospital. After a touching moment and an implied adoption as this whole time Sal was living on the street, the two go to Remi’s home to find what is left of the suitcase containing the babies on Remi’s bed. When the two prepare to defend themselves the front door begins to open and in comes the Judas breed, having shed its skin to make itself look as much like Klaski as possible.

The film ends with Remi slashing off the head of the Judas breed now that it no longer has chitin for skin and is vulnerable, then it goes through a few suggestive death throes that focus on the spike the bug uses to impregnate and Remi’s ass more than necessary. Remi and Sal hold each other and the camera pans out to black.

The production value of the film is exceptional with cinematography and mood set well, with the exception the last strange scene. The acting however lacked where it mattered most, with the main character devolving into an information machine for the sake of the plot and Nicky being completely useless except as an excuse for negative consequences as he is a drunk teen making mistakes throughout events.

What ruins the film and removes it from recommendation is the strange focus on how Remi suffers from bad men constantly, so much that she has a door of pictures of her own face after every bad date, and at the same time showing her as both sexual by how the camera frames some scenes and unattractive by hyperfocusing on her interest to the point of lacking proper social graces.

While this is only played up through the entirety of the first third of the film and only crops up occasionally through the rest it overrides the monster bug horror film enough to lose the viewer and make the film drag straight to the bizarre end. Writer Joel Scisson, who did not have his hand in the first and by far superior Mimic film, shows a slant for trying to make not only a sad but somewhat lame and poorly stitched commentary on relationships and how insects mate.
If you want to watch the series, of which there are three films, this one is only important to the third film in that it introduces the government obtaining the larva from Remi’s stomach for the plot and can be mostly glossed over because of it being a government body in a post-giant-c**kroach world. Unless you like depressing love stories and bad horror there is no reason to watch Mimic 2.