It's good to go to the movies and see a flick which does it right. This movie delivers. The premise is set up, the characters are introduced, and the movie unspools to a terrific conclusion.

At one point the protagonists are trapped in the lair of the uberroaches. They talk in the merest whispers. The tension is so palpable you could cut it with a knife.

Mimic does cheat to a certain extent. When something scary happens, the burst of music accompanying it is not loud, it's THX-juiced loud. The music otherwise is quite beautiful. The cinemantography was done by someone who knows movies as opposed to those yahoo directors graduating from TV who believe all shots should be medium close-ups. The camera sinks thru floors several times showing the danger which the character are oblivious to great ironic effect. Most of the movie takes place in abandoned subway tunnels and the dark creepy atmosphere is dead-on.

The F/X of the superoaches is seamless. The computer done animation melds with the actors perfectly. You believe there are six-foot tall bugs wending thru the tunnels.

The actors comport themselves well. Sorvino is the plucky heroine. Abraham is her mentor. Dutton is a cop who is not thrilled to be crawling about in old tunnels. At least Dutton is used to better effect than he was in the pathetic Alien 3.

Speaking of the Alien franchise, Mimic is remarkably similar (SPOILER WARNING) to Aliens. So much so that I had to list them out.

No movie is utterly original anymore. The key is how well the job was executed. Mimic does just that. Anyone in the mood for an SF/horror flick will find this flick to be a genuinely satisfying movie experience.

Movie's suitability for:

• Action Jackson: 80%
• Joe Fratboy (date movie): 40%
• Cinephile (pretentious movie lover): 50%
• F/X freaks: 80%
• all around movie-goer: 80%