MIMIC 2
Reviewed September 19th, 2001 by David Nusair
Mimic 2 represents the latest sequel that nobody was exactly clamoring for, alongside such gems as Weekend at Bernie’s 2, House: The Second Story, and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. But unlike those cinematic leftovers, Mimic 2 isn’t half bad. Its plot is incredibly weak and the characters are little more than pawns used to take the story from point A to point B, but it’s been directed with a lot of panache and contains enough blood and guts to satisfy gorehounds.
Alix Koromzay reprises her role from the first film, where she played Mira Sorvino’s assistant but is now a school teacher in New York. That pesky Judas bug from the original movie is back and still has the ability to disguise itself as human beings. After several bloody deaths, Koromzay comes to the conclusion that the bug seeks to make her his queen. Much of the last 45 minutes of the movie follows Koromzay’s attempts, along with a student, an ex-student and a detective (played by, without the obnoxious accent, Jesse’s Bruno Campos), to escape the school that she teaches at. They’ve been barricaded inside by the bug, and now must flee before Koromzay winds up engaged to an insect.
If nothing else, Mimic 2 looks great. Director Jean de Segonzac is clearly a fan of the Scott brothers (Tony and Ridley) and David Fincher, because his New York is dank and dirty and steam seems to rise from every orifice. This wasn’t initially pegged as a straight-to-video sequel; it was originally to be a theatrical venture, but somehow wound up on the small screen. This probably explains why the film looks the way it does – most video premieres are low-budget and look it.
But as great as the movie looks and as cool as some of the deaths are (though surprisingly restrained; you get to see the killer bug attack people, but you never see it finishing them off), the complete and utter lack of a solid storyline is somewhat of a turn-off. The first half hour mainly consists of random deaths – there’ll be a brutal insect-inflicted murder, some exposition dealing with Koromzay, then another human sacrifice – and then the rest takes place in that school. It’s entertaining enough; it’s just not terribly linear.
But when most direct-to-video horror sequels are generally disposable trash (Wishmaster 2, any of the Puppet Master movies), Mimic 2 stands out due to its sheer relentless drive towards the finish line (an ending which, by the way, doesn’t really make much sense but leaves the door wide open for a sequel).
Audio: Mimic 2 is presented with a DD 5.1 and this is an incredibly active track. As soon as the movie begins, you’ll already have some indication as to how alive this soundtrack is. But to really get a taste of the surround channels, skip ahead to scene in which the Judas bug has the survivors trapped in the school hallway. This sequence by itself is almost worth a rental, as it’ll feel as though you’re stuck in that hallway with them. This is one of the best sounding DVDs for a movie that never made it to theatres I’ve ever experienced.
Video: The video ain’t bad, either. This 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer has its work cut out for it, what with the constant darkness. But it’s up for the challenge. Dark scenes are vivid and deep, while DVD or film related artifacts are virtually non-existent. This is a nice transfer.
Mimic 2 is accompanied by a surprising amount of extras, beginning with a featurette entitled “5 Days of Mimic 2.” You can choose to watch all five days separately or in one shot (which lasts about 17 minutes). Basically, this is a truncated look at five separate days on the set of the movie. It mostly shows how they did some of the more taxing special effects sequences, and it’s quite entertaining and informative. Next up is a 5 and a half minute featurette called “Behind the Sound of Mimic 2.” Here, you go into the mixing studio with the sound designer to see how they mix together dialogue with sound effects and music. Short, but interesting. Next up are five fairly useless deleted scenes. These are presented non-anamorphically, and it’s easy to see why they were cut (none of them contain any additional gore, for those curious). Lastly, you get several bonus trailers (for the original Mimic, The Yards, Immortality, the Scream box set, the From Dusk Till Dawn box set, Dracula 2000, and Hellraiser: Inferno), but oddly enough, no trailer for Mimic 2.
Conclusion: Not that Mimic 2 is all that great, but considering most horror sequels are on the same par as Species 2, this movie is effective and efficient.
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