Of course this is not a great movie but not all movies are made to be great. Some movies are just there to entertain. Movies like that are also often able to get away with more than just the average movie, as also is the case with this one.

This movie delivered on what it promised; lots of specular giant robots versus giant monsters action. What more do you need? I hope your answer is 'nothing' or 'not much', or else chances are you probably aren't going to enjoy or like this movie. It really doesn't have an awful lot to offer otherwise, in terms of its story or characters. Things are kept pretty simple but having said that, I still do feel that the movie actually did a good job with its storytelling.

There are large portions of the movie in which no giant robots or monsters show up. Yet the movie never starts to drag or appears to be running out of ideas. There is a really pleasant pace and style to the movie, that keeps things enjoyable and interesting, all at the same time. It's not a terribly clever or all too surprising movie but it also isn't anything too predictable or formulaic either and it actually manages to work out as a totally unique movie on its own right.

The movie never goes for a hyper-realistic sort of approach, which only adds to the movie its entertainment. In some ways it feels more like an anime than an actual live action movie. This of course especially goes for the movie its giant robots and monsters and the special effects in general. It really isn't as slick looking as for instance a "Transformers" movie but that's probably also one of the many reasons why this movie works way better. It never takes itself too seriously and the movie is all about the fun and its entertaining aspects. It allows itself to go crazy at times and it isn't pretending to be anything more than just some simple, high quality, entertainment.

The fights themselves are all a joy to look at, though it would have been nice if the movie used some more wide-shots at times. It would have worked better for the scale and scope of things and it potential could have made the fights more intense and involving, since it would have showed you more of what was going on at times. At times it's somewhat hard to tell, also since the movie features lots of night scenes and scenes set in the middle of the Ocean, with large waves blocking your view. But no, I'm really not complaining too much about it. It was pretty intense and impressive to watch all and it most certainly never got boring!

I can't overall complain about this movie, despite the fact that it of course is a far from flawless one. It simply delivers, by giving you just about everything you could hope and wish for, from a movie involving giant robots and monsters!

7/10

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As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and others

Current release date: July 12, 2013

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day and others

Current release date: July 12, 2013

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and others

Current release date: July 12, 2013

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and others

Current release date: July 12, 2013

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro

Starring: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and others

Current release date: July 12, 2013

Directed by: Erik Sharkey

Starring: Drew Struzan, Harrison Ford, Michael J. Fox and others

Current release date: 2012

(Review originally written at 11 November 2007)

The movie was not as fantasy-filled or imaginative as I had first anticipated. This movie was always being marketed as an adult fairytale, set in a totally imaginative world, with lots of odd but beautiful looking characters. But basically the main character only visits the fairytale-like world on 3 occasions during the movie and the number of characters within the world is actually very limited. I understand the marketing approach and it was not like I was disappointed or missed anything, but just know what to expect when watching this movie. It's more a story of fascist Spain of 1944, through the eyes of a child, who seeks refugee in her own fantasy, from the evil world and events and characters around her but above all the movie gets still set mostly in the 'real world'.

The movie knows to create a nice and credible mix between the real world events and the fantasy world of Ofelia. Sometimes the two worlds even mix, which also makes the viewer unsure of how much of it is actually real and what is the fantasy of Ofelia.

And for people who still think this is a children's movie, which are still quite a lot; Believe me, it's not! No people get shot trough the head or are being tortured graphical in a children's movie. This movie is the definition of an adult fairytale. A genre that is not completely new by the way, but will bring many more movies in the near future I hope, after the big success of this movie.

Yes, the movie is truly a beautiful looking with, with some good camera-work, production design, make-up effects and its special effects. The movie has the smooth look you would normally expect from a big Hollywood production. But Guillermo del Toro of course is no stranger to this world and type of film-making and has more than enough experience, resources and contacts to make a movie such as this one in his native language as well. It's not hard to see why this movie won 3 Oscars for Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Achievement in Makeup. The movie was actually being nominated for 3 more Oscars and it deserved to win at least 2 more of them. The music really deserved a win! A real crime Gustavo Santaolalla beat Javier Navarrete over this one.

But the movie might have the same smoothness of a big Hollywood production, it's everything but a standard Hollywood movie, with all of the formulaic events. The movie is creative in its directing and story-telling. It's makes sure that everything happens as a surprise and you won't ever know or guess what would happen in the next scene or the ending, since this is such an original and far from formulaic movie. So also don't expect a big happy cheerful ending, although some people might still regard the ending is an happy one. It at least is a satisfying one that suits the movie most perfectly imaginable.

This is an big project and therefor an heavy burden for the young Ivana Baquero to carry the movie. But she does it and she does it well. Also Sergi López knows to impress, among others.

Perhaps not all of the elements are handled well within in the movie and there are some missed opportunities here and there in my opinion, such as a better portrayal of the relationship between Ofelia and Capitán Vidal. Small things like this prevents this movie to me from being an absolute masterpiece or must-see but nevertheless the movie of course remains more than a great one and most definitely also a very creatively original one.

8/10

(Review originally written at 17 December 2006)

Everybody with a tiny bit of common sense would already know better than to expect a masterful, suspenseful horror flick from a movie with such a premise like this one. But for a genre movie its a pretty good one and definitely better than your average everyday B-movie horror flick.

What makes the movie good is its atmosphere. For most part the movie is set in the underground abandoned subway-system of New York. It's dark, creepy, dirty looking, in other words; perfect! With a setting like this the story, characters and everything else already becomes less important. The movie also does heavily rely on its atmosphere, which makes "Mimic" a pleasant and good genre movie but from a great or original one as well.

The movie definitely borrows heavily from other genre movies, especially in its second halve, when the movie gets quite formulaic. You can definitely see this movie as an "Aliens" with bugs. The movie shows more than one of two similarities in its story, atmosphere and camera-work. But its done in a good way, so the fact that the movie isn't anything renewing or original doesn't really matter. The movie serves its purpose and it does this well.

The story comes definitely secondary and in fact is quite ridicules at certain points. In its core the story had some real potential but for some reason the story lines and characters never get fully developed, as if they deliberately tried to keep the movie low-key and formulaic. The movie does have its good and original moments, such as the large man-like bugs but all of its potential never gets exploited to the max.

The movie does offer some scares and false-scares, which make it obvious that Guillermo del Toro is a director who understands- and can handle the genre. It's definitely not his best directed movie (accordingly this is also due to producer Bob Weinstein who made some unreasonable demands) but this early movie by him shows his talent and passion for the genre in a positive way. Definitely a director whose movies I'll always keep watching with lots of pleasure. The movie is also good looking with some early special effects that look reasonable enough, especially for 1997 standards.

The movie has some good (for its genre) actors in it. Mira Sorvino might not be the best thinkable hero but it's sort of OK since the movie never fully relies on its characters and actors but on the atmosphere and its moments instead. The movie also features Josh Brolin and Giancarlo Giannini in some smaller parts and F. Murray Abraham in a redundant role.

Obviously a movie for its genre fans only. It's nothing too remarkable but its good enough and serves its purpose very well. It makes "Mimic" far from the best in its genre but still a very entertaining- and perfectly watchable one.

6/10

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