Good old Guillermo del Toro. This man has made some of the greatest films of all time, such as The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, Pacific Rim, and Pan’s Labyrinth, not to mention he gave us two really fun Hellboy films with the perfectly-cast Ron Perlman and he keeps putting money in the pocket of Doug Jones by having him play weird, lanky freaks. A man with such a clear-cut vision and style is one only an idiot would ever think of hindering. Like you’d have to be an absolutely fucking stupid moron to look at del Toro at any part of his career and try and fuck with his work. Just a colossal, grade A dipshit with no hope.
So, Bob and Harvey Weinstein are a couple of guys who produced del Toro’s first english-language film, Mimic. And del Toro, humble man that he is, just wanted three things from this movie: No guns, no explosions, and no happy ending. Can you guess what is in the film? Go on, guess. Oh, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Bob Weinstein came to set and basically just destroyed any hope this movie would be good. He disrespected the script, demanded insane reshoots, threatened to fire del Toro… The end result is a film that del Toro disowned and that really shouldn’t even be watchable.
And yet, it is. But there is a catch here.
You see, when I say it’s “watchable,” I don’t mean that it’s particularly good. This is a bog-standard creature movie with predictable twists, nonsensical science, and some of the most poorly-aged CGI you’ll ever see. But there’s still some interesting ideas and concepts here. A race of super bugs living in the sewers who have evolved to mimic humans? A film where anyone can meet a gruesome end, even children? This isn’t completely devoid of quality.
The real issue is that even though his name is on it, this does not feel like a del Toro film. There are guns and a big explosion at the end, things the man never uses to the extent they’re used here. The film has an entirely, unambiguously happy ending, something that is almost unheard of from the master of the bittersweet finale. It doesn’t even feel like Americanized del Toro; it just feels cold, lifeless, and like he didn’t even care. I imagine his influence is the only thing that keeps this from being any worse, but it’s just unpleasant to watch. It’s hard to grasp that the man who has made some of the most wonderful and artistic fantasy films of all time was once relegated to trying to salvage another victim of the Weinsteins.
It’s honestly just really disappointing watching this. You can see so much promise here, but it is buried under an avalanche of boneheaded executive decisions. After his miserable experience here, del Toro swore off ever working with the Weinsteins again, and look where that got him (success and respect). I’d honestly love to see him revisit something like this movie on his own terms, salvage what worked here and craft something better from the ruins of this meddled affair. Then again, that would mean giving him yet another project to juggle, and it would likely just further hinder del Toro doing At the Mountains of Madness, so I think I’m fine with Mimic being little more than Wal-Mart bargain bin filler. You can do way worse than this movie, but considering who directed it, you can do way better when it comes to his films.
An accuser speaks out as prosecutors consider her case, while Weinstein defenders claim a 'pack mentality' is surrounding the case. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBmYETGEpcI
Benedict Cumberbatch is opening up about the "toxicity" surrounding his Harvey Weinstein produced project, "The Current War." - http://vvvv.stream/benedict-cumberbatch-on-harvey-weinsteins-toxic-wake-up
