Every Mimic Movie Ranked, Worst To Best

Guillermo del Toro’s American film debut, Mimic, spawned a short-lived franchise, and here’s how each installments ranks, worst to best. Proving that the road to Hell is usually paved with good intentions, Mimic‘s murderous insects only ever ended up existing because they were used to eradicate the cockroaches carrying a deadly disease around New York City. It’s arguable whether the cure was truly worse than the disease, but it definitely did introduce yet another danger for New Yorkers to have to worry about.

Mimic‘s man-made saviors turned predators, The Judas Breed, wouldn’t be dealt with in one film either, with del Toro’s effort earning two direct to video follow-ups. It made sense that the Mimic saga continued in that from, as the original was far from a box office hit, but quickly carved out an audience for itself via at-home viewings. Mimic was far from the first horror film to earn a new lease on life via home video, and it wouldn’t be the last.

It remains to be seen if another Mimic film will ever materialize, but in the current age of existing IPs being Hollywood’s most prized possessions, a Mimic 4 certainly isn’t out of the question. For now though, it’s time to rank the three Mimic films made to date.

3. Mimic 2 (2001)

Directed by Jean de Segonzac, Mimic 2 is pretty easily the worst of the three films in the series. It’s not unwatchable by any means, but it’s entirely unremarkable, and mostly feels like an inferior retread. There are some fairly cool plot twists near the end, such as what was thought to be one character instead being a Judas Breed copy, as the species continues to evolve its abilities. Mimic 2‘s best feature is probably its special effects work, which is quite good for a direct to video product.

2. Mimic 3: Sentinel (2003)

Mimic 3: Sentinel, written and directed by noteworthy indie horror filmmaker J.T. Petty, isn’t a particularly great film either, but it at least benefits from trying to do things differently than the first two films. Mimic 3 focuses on a man with a medical condition that makes it almost impossible to leave his germ-free bedroom for very long, leading him to observe his neighbors Rear Window-style, before inadvertently stumbling on the return of the Judas Breed. Mimic 3 also benefits from the presence of genre veterans Lance Henriksen and Amanda Plummer.

1. Mimic (1997)

Topping this list, as any fan knew it would, is director Guillermo del Toro’s original Mimic movie. Unsurprisingly, since it’s the only theatrical effort of the bunch, its production values are higher, the special effects are cooler, and the casting is better than the sequels. While Mimic is definitely in the lesser tier of movies del Toro has made, it remains good by most standards, as lesser del Toro is still better than most other filmmakers.

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