Mimic 2 (2001) |
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Mimic 2 (2001) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Science Fiction |
Featurette-5 Days of Mimic 2 (5) Featurette-Behind The Sound of Mimic 2 Deleted Scenes-5 |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 78:23 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (57:08) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Jean De Segonzac |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Walt Disney Studios Home Ent. |
Starring |
Alix Koromzay Bruno Campos Bruno Polito Edward Albert |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | Rental | Music | Walter Werzowa |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Sequels are rarely as good as the original and when the original wasn't anything special to begin with, you are off to a bad start. Mimic 2 isn't that bad a movie, it's just that it isn't a good movie either and as far as being horrifying, my weekly washing basket held more dread than this did. Good horror movies must, by default, have something that recommends them and can hold you and keep you in suspense, or at least scare the crap out of you. This movie has all the right ingredients; the darkened alleyways, the sweating brows, the doors behind which unknown danger lurks, spooky music, sharp and sudden noises, and so on, but the director Jean De Segonzac simply doesn't make them work.
Another thing a good horror movie needs is at least half a storyline. Mimic 2 seems to struggle to simply fill 75 minutes of running time (not counting credits) and the best part of the movie is actually a very good set of opening credits done in a simple, yet quite appealing format. The cast is little known and tries hard but you come away feeling a little let down with the movie as a whole.
Following on from the original movie, Mimic 2 opens with with a man carrying two suitcases up from an underground railway station into a stormy night where he is slashed by a tall stranger and then smashed into by a taxi. Onto the scene comes Detective Klaski (Bruno Campos) to investigate what turns out to be a much more bizarre case, as the victim has been eviscerated. A link between the dead man and a schoolteacher, Remy Panos (Alix Koromzay), formerly an entomologist but now teaching biology, turns up soon after when a former boyfriend turns up dead outside her apartment, again in bizarre circumstances. Remy becomes a prime suspect, but Klaski isn't convinced and between the two of them they soon discover that one of the original Judas bugs is still around and has mutated and is taking an unusual interest in Remy and anyone getting close to her.
I could mention more of the plot but then it wouldn't be worth watching the movie at all. The original concept and first movie, based on a short story by Donald A. Wollheim, has little semblance to this sequel except for a few tenuous connections - the only one worth noting is the Judas bug. Still, if you are desperate for something to watch you could do worse. It certainly won't scare anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size but at worst it is a mindless 75 minute diversion.
Low budget horror movies that are direct-to-video are getting a lot better with their production qualities as of late, obviously due to the use of newer digital technology and the fact that a slightly higher quality is needed for the growing DVD market. Mimic 2 won't win any awards for quality or special effects but it is by no means low grade dog food either. Apart from a few moments of annoyance, this is quite a decent effort all round.
The original theatrical ratio for this movie was 1.85:1. Here we are presented with the typical widescreen TV standard ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is 16x9 enhanced.
Some evidence of edge enhancement and the usual blurred backgrounds affect the sharpness of the picture. Background detail is visible where needed but shadow detail is a little lacking with darkened areas being solid black for the most part. Fine detail, naturally, isn't the greatest but at least can be seen during the movie. Grain is noticeable but very well controlled so as not to be obtrusive and therefore not causing any degeneration in overall picture quality. Low level noise was not an issue.
The overall colour scheme is a little drab and lacks variety in the palette used. There is a slightly washed-out feeling except for the brightly coloured neon lights at the start. Daytime scenes feel a tad pallid, but this is probably by design more than anything though. Still, what colour there is is well saturated, but not overly so, and there was no noticeable bleed or chroma noise.
Apart from some shimmering on a school building at 22:48 there is almost nothing of note to report in regards to film or video artefacts. If you look closely you might spot the odd moment of pixelization but nothing reportable and the total absence of any film artefacts was a welcome relief.
The subtitles are a little annoying, being positioned 1/8th of the way up from the bottom of the screen and being reasonably intrusive to the flow of the movie. Still, they are easily read, if not entirely accurate, utilising a standard white font with a black border outline.
The layer change occurred at 57:08, mid scene, with a slight pause, but it was not too disruptive to the flow of the movie.
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A decent enough soundtrack is found on this disc although I doubt it will have you jumping out of your seat in surprise. Still, what the video lacks in scares, the soundtrack attempts to make up for in ambience and suitably scary music and special effects.
There is only one soundtrack on this disc, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack at an excellent bitrate of 448 kilobits per second. The sound is definitely front-centric with excellent separation across the fronts and a clearly defined centre channel for the voices. There is some immersion from the rears, with active participation from the subwoofer without it being overly noticeable throughout most of the movie.
The dialogue is crisp and clear with no obvious sync problems, and although there was a fair amount of ADR involved in the movie, it is never an issue. The music is by Walter Werzowa and is actually quite decent, especially when all mixed together with the sound effects. Nothing too memorable, but for a low budget direct-to-video effort, quite good.
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NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 1 and Region 4 versions appear to be precisely the same. The only difference is that you can buy the Region 1 at this time, but you can only rent the Region 4 version (or purchase an ex-rental copy).
As a horror movie, Mimic 2 simply doesn't cut the mustard. It is a fairly flat made-by-the-numbers effort with little to recommend it other than there are worse movies to waste 75 minutes of your life on. With a half-decent video effort and a slightly better audio offering, there are also some reasonable extras for a rental-only title at this time.
| Video | |
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| Plot |  |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba SD5300, using RGB output |
| Display | Loewe Xelos (81cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Rotel RSP-976. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Rotel RB 985 MkII |
| Speakers | JBL TLX16s Front Speakers, Polk Audio LS fx di/bipole Rear Speakers, Polk Audio CS350-LS Centre Speaker, M&KV-75 Subwoofer |