Mimic 3: Sentinel

[Gluttony]

I was afraid that when I watched this movie I wouldn't get a good old creature feature, but instead some pretentious flotsam that had more in common with an art film than a horror movie. What I got was a pretentious flotsam that had more in common with an art flick rather than a horror flick. Although fantastically directed and acted, the story snails about in Rear Window fashion stopping to showcase some marvelous visual camera work. The story does make it seem like nobody is safe, but it doesn't help that the movie is about as passionate as a dead cadavar. I liked it on an eye candy level; however, this a movie I'll file away and probably never watch again.

5/10

[countchocula]

(double post)

[countchocula]

Rated on a scale from 0-5 Chocula’s...

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SPOILER-FREE

I must applaud Dimension Films for acting with shrewd intentions. I disparage them at every opportunity, and up until this glint of gumption, I haven’t had much respect for them. But they’ve staggered the mind by releasing a quality sequel. This isn’t just any quality sequel; this is esoteric art-house fare that polishes off a “giant cockroach” trilogy. Mimic: Sentinel reaches a conical, tapered demographic. I don’t see the average Blockbuster patron going for a Hitchcockian take on shapeshifting insects. Ski masks off to Dimension for gambling a bit and disbursing a film that is rich in both style and substance. Allegedly, this is a mammoth step-up from Mimic 2, but I wouldn’t know. It’s bracketed together with The Mangler 2 and Children of the Living Dead as a film whose culpatory reception has been more than enough to keep me from renting it.

After reading that J.T. Petty would be hatching this effort, I knew that it would outvie most straight-to-video sequels. He directed the acclaimed Soft for Digging, which has been floodlighting the festival circuit for quite some time now. I felt confident that he wouldn’t settle for a routine monster mash, and this is anything but. The plot concerns Marvin, a hyper-sensitive survivor of Strickland’s disease, the incurable malady that the uber-roaches were bred to offset in the first film. He has an allergic reaction to just about everything, so he immures himself in his apartment. In his spare time (from sunrise to sunset), he takes pictures of tenants across the street and whatever city-dwelling loam that happens to be ambling about on the walkways below. In a Rear Window-esque episode, Marvin and his sister witness a murder at the hands of...something. The cops are incredulous, so they do some investigating of their own.

Petty inoculates Sentinel with silken cinematography and murky visuals. For the most part, the lush imagery keeps the loafing pace from dying out. To keep the coruscating surface from caving in on itself, our main characters are well-acted and well-developed. Karl Geary is convincing as the brittle Marvin. He’s a unique hero, and it was refreshing to see an actor with “leading man” looks assume such a rickety role. Alexis Dziena plays Rosy, Marvin’s troubled sister. Dziena gives one of the most realistic performances of a teenager that I’ve ever seen. I knew (too) many girls just like her in High School. Rosy is honeycombed with angst and carries a catty, mercurial demeanor as a result of drug use. She isn’t restricted to being your typical mood swing of an adolescent and fleshes herself out as the film progresses.

Lance Henriksen has a minor role as a garbage man. I hate to say it, but he’s nondescript and lackadaisical. Anyone could have played his character, and he knows it. He seems aloof throughout, as if he’s reflecting on how in the hell he wound up in Dimension’s constellation of straight-to-video go-to actors. The big bugs themselves are negligible in their involvement in the script. They don’t breeze in until the 50-minute mark, and when they do, the dim interiors coupled with shuddering camera movements make it nearly impossible to scope out their design. In fact, it’s hard to tell what’s happening during most of the third act, and the messy gore gets lost in the translation, so to speak. The plot is just as difficult to penetrate, as things get convoluted toward the climax. A film about behemothic cockroaches shouldn’t be this inscrutable.

Excluding credits, Mimic: Sentinel clocks in at a malnourished 72 minutes. Either Petty was still in a short film mindset, or this flick was bollixed in the editing room. It ends abruptly, almost in mid-thought. We don’t get closure on a character that we care about, but we do get closure on a love angle that was never enamoring in the first place. Still, I felt contented afterwards, and the pros prevail over the cons (if by a slim margin). The original governs this trilogy, but Sentinel doesn’t embarrass its forefather. The Judas Breed has yet to find a film that realizes its full potential, though. I’m up for a fourth entry, provided that Dimension devolves their clout to another burgeoning talent. I can’t wait to see what Petty does next. His keen eye for character depth and irradiated imagery will win many a horror freak over.

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[Gluttony]

I forgot you did a review on this movie. Either way, I agree that I did like a few characters and what have you, but I still thought the script need about five more drafts before it would've been as good as it should've been.

The whole mystery idea didn't work, mostly because what makes a mystery great is that it builds up the tension of the unknown and creates a surprise at the end.

Following this idea, Mimic 4 could do a mystery and then surprise everyone by not having any bugs in it! Make them think it's those damn Judas crawlers and then have it be some deranged hillbilly on too much moonshine and acid eye drops.

But my expectations for this movie were foolishly high, I guess I'm just disappointed.

[countchocula]

Originally posted by Gluttony
Following this idea, Mimic 4 could do a mystery and then surprise everyone by not having any bugs in it! Make them think it's those damn Judas crawlers and then have it be...

http://www.allposters.com/IMAGES/77/039_34633.jpg

[JayWolf]

I highly enjoyed Mimic 3.

That's all I have to say. :D

[Gluttony]

Originally posted by countchocula
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This is the one time I reallly wish I had a Ghost and Mr. Chicken joke in stock.