History Film / Mimic

* CreepyCockroach: Played with. The movie's breed of man-sized insects (basically a termite-praying mantis hybrid) can be confused for giant cockroaches, but they were actually designed originally as an answer to the disease-spreading roaches in New York City. After the new biological weapon had consumed all the roaches, they continued to evolve into ever larger breeds and started preying on humans...

* InfantImmortality:

* WalkingBackwards: One of the RedShirts has this reaction upon seeing a cache of giant mutant bug eggs under New York City. He backs right into a giant mutant bug.

* TheyLookLikeUsNow: The giant mantis/termite hybrids may not have a perfect disguise, but if you're in poor lighting and not paying attention, they look a ''lot'' like a tall man in a trenchcoat.

* SinisterSubway

* ScienceIsBad: The first film, at least -- complete with those old standards, scientists babbling about how "We changed their DNA, we don't know what we did!" and other characters saying what basically amounts to "They tampered in God's domain." As though they should have been expected to realize that their plague-ending roaches would evolve into human-mimicking subterranean predators.
** Although even the biggest critic of the project, Susan's mentor, follows up his criticism by saying that he had two grandchildren who would not have survived if the Judas bugs had not been released.

* RearWindowHomage: ''Mimic 3''.

* MsFanservice: Dr. Tyler this, especially the bath tub scene.

** In the short story, the disguise is more convincing, and the "Man In the Black Coat" the protagonist talks about moves around in broad daylight, albeit quickly and without interacting with anyone. It still doesnt hold up to any close scrutiny, and seems to rely on hiding in plain sight.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice

* HumanDisguise: Done somewhat realistically; instead of morphing into an actual human-like appearance, the Judas Breed instead fold their wings to imitate a trenchcoat and have a carapace that folds over their insect head which looks like a mold of a human face. It would never hold up to even moderate inspection (even in full "human disguise" mode they look about as human as a frigging ''[[VideoGame/DeadSpace Necromorph]]''), but in poor lighting it creates a human-like silhouette which works decently enough to allow the bugs to get close enough to strike.

* GoneHorriblyWrong: The Judas Breed were supposed to die off in a few weeks, but something went wrong and they didn't, instead mutating out of control to man-eaters.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Sometimes, averted quite hard at other times:
** The two kids (see below) get a really good look at a shredded dog before [[spoiler:they're attacked and ripped apart themselves.]]

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Leonard in the first film. He knows his uncontrollable bleeding will eventually set the bugs off no matter what they do, so he leaves the car, draws the bugs to him, and goes out fighting.]]

* {{Determinator}}: The human-sized Judas Breed. In the first movie, a bug takes [[MoreDakka a full magazine from a pistol]] ''after'' being '''[[WhoNeedsTheirWholeBody sliced in half by a sliding door]]''' and '''''still''''' manages to scurry out of sight after maiming the shooter. In the second movie, the resident jock brandishes a blade torn from a paper cutter and a leg severed from a bug, suggesting they should attempt to fight their way to safety with improvised weapons, only to be upstaged by the resident geek pointing out that, yeah, he's strong enough to chop off a bug's head - that just means [[TruthInTelevision it will die of thirst in about a week]]. Humans like themselves will be long dead as the reflex action of the bug's body will have shredded them. In short, the bugs can only be killed by the equivalent of being [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill crushed to paste]] - like being hit by speeding subway trains or incinerated with high explosives.

* BlackGuyDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Inverted. Leonard's death is the last one in the film.]]

* InfantImmortality: Justified with Chuy at the end; he [[spoiler:figures out how to mimic the bugs' clicking communication with his spoons, so the bugs accept him as one of them]].

* CockroachesWillRuleTheEarth: A similar concept used, a race of insects evolve in record time and became not only huge, but also a real threat for humanity.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Chuy is almost certainly autistic with odd habits, attention to very specific details, and avoidance of eye contact.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Thuy is almost certainly autistic with odd habits, attention to very specific details, and avoidance of eye contact.

''Mimic'' (1997) is an American SciFiHorror film by Creator/GuillermoDelToro and starring Creator/MiraSorvino, Jeremy Northam, Creator/JoshBrolin, Creator/GiancarloGiannini, Charles S. Dutton, and Creator/FMurrayAbraham in a minor role, inspired by a short story of the same name by Donald A. Wollheim.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Initially, ''Mimic'' was conceived as one segment of a four-part anthology, and would have stuck much more closely to the Donald A. Wollheim short story.

''Mimic'' (1997) is an American SciFiHorror film by Creator/GuillermoDelToro, inspired by a short story of the same name by Donald A. Wollheim.

In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading a deadly disease that is claiming hundreds of the city's children. Entomologist Susan Tyler (Creator/MiraSorvino) uses genetic engineering to create what she and her colleague (and husband) Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) call the Judas Breed, a large insect (looking like a cross between a termite and a praying mantis) that releases an enzyme that kills off the disease-carrying roaches. The Judas Breed work spectacularly and the crisis is abated. Since the Judas Breed have also been designed to be sterile and unable to breed, the hybrid species should die out in a matter of months.

In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading a deadly disease that is claiming hundreds of the city's children. Entomologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) uses genetic engineering to create what she and her colleague (and husband) Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam) call the Judas Breed, a large insect (looking like a cross between a termite and a praying mantis) that releases an enzyme that kills off the disease-carrying roaches. The Judas Breed work spectacularly and the crisis is abated. Since the Judas Breed have also been designed to be sterile and unable to breed, the hybrid species should die out in a matter of months.

* HardToLightFire: Jeremy has to resort to striking sparks by banging scrap metal against pipes in order to [[spoiler:set off the trapped gas and roast the bugs]].

* HardToLightFire: The hero of the first film has to resort to striking sparks by banging scrap metal against pipes in order to [[spoiler:set off the trapped gas and roast the bugs]].