Judas Breed, The

June 13, 2010

I have never seen the original movie, “Mimic”, that this edit is based on. I was only vaguely aware of the movie – one of those I had heard wasn’t great, so I never got around to watching it.

As far as the actual movie, it’s a so-so movie. Watching this edit reminded me why I never wanted to see it (not because of the FE but because of the source material – i.e. the original version). The story is okay, the acting is average and the plot sort of lumbers on in mediocrity. I agree with blueyoda, the movie definitely has an “Alien” and “Them!” feel to it.

As far as the edit, I was very impressed. No where in the FE could I detect any hard cuts or audio edits. For the most part, the edit flowed well. I never felt like I had missed something (because a part of a scene had been edited out). All the scenes (since TMBTM reordered the entire movie) were flawlessly joined. It seemed to me as though I was watching a straight-from-the-store movie.

The video quality is fine and looked great on my 55″ LED TV.

The audio is great and no where in the edit did the dialogue and effects levels become noticeably uneven (unlike many an FE I have watched lately).

I rated this FE as “9 stars” not because of the actual movie, but for the editing. Another great effort from TMBTM.

The movie itself, for me, was kinda ho-hum.

I love watching movies that show a monster eating a child. I also love it when the good guys kill the monsters and inadvertently cause chaos on the streets of New York City, no doubt killing some "innocent" citizens in the process.

Overview - I saw Mimic during a preview, Del Toro was in attendance to field questions, including the ever popular, "Is this film autobiographical?"
It played well enough that night, and I enjoyed it.
Disillusion set in swift once I bought a copy and watched at home.
Sloppy narrative, poor characters.
(For Sorvino in particular, Mimic was where her slide began.)

Video - Intelligent reconstruction throughout. Good editing and good choices of what to edit.

Audio - Clean 2-channel audio. No subs, but they were unnecessary. All dialogue was decipherable.
- - Amended - - There were subtitles! For whatever reason, Daum wouldn't display them unless I launched from the Bonus (click around those Corn Flakes).

Narrative - This -- this is where the edit gleams, even in the abandoned subway darkness. The story no longer bounces around, as if the flashbacks provided important information, but is more linear, more coherent. The annoying Chuy has been marginalized as much as possible, as has the "baby blues" theme. The "science" of the judas bugs remains sketchy, but this is not the film to overthink.

Enjoyment - For all its gloss and high octane cast, Mimic still cannot escape its cheap B-Horror roots. The last act is little more than a bug hunt and succumbs to cliches. I nursed dark hopes for Chuy in light of previous characters, but alas.

No mistake, though, this is better, much better, than the Del Toro original. Solid late night Horror. Even better if you watch in your friend's roach infested home.

NOTE!! Sit through those credits! Two bonuses await.
Both jewels.

June 12, 2010

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

June 21, 2010

*This rating was given before reviews were required*