Disclaimer: I’m just an average person writing a review for a movie I saw on a random Friday night. I was in no way paid (or even asked) to write this and all opinions and comments are my own. With that being said, keep reading for my honest review on the movie!
Mickey 17 — directed by Bong Joon Ho, was released in theaters on Friday, March 7, and features Robert Pattinson (Mickey Barnes), Naomi Ackie (Nasha Barrage), Steven Yeun (Kai Katz), Holliday Grainger (Gemma), and Mark Ruffalo (Kenneth Marshall). The film is an adaptation of the book Mickey 7 (2022), written by Edward Ashton. To date, Mickey 17 has amassed around $90.5m worldwide, and although box office sales of all movies lately have been lower, it still doesn’t stand up against the movie’s budget of $118m to make. Looking past the budget, the movie received a mix of ratings by audiences and critics alike. Ranging from a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.10/10 rating on IMDb, and 3.2 out of 5 stars on Google Audience Reviews, it’s clear that the consensus is somewhat mixed in terms of enjoyment.
Summary
Mickey Barnes is living out his life alongside friend Kai when the two find themselves in an unfortunate bout of trouble with the mafia. Kai, who is narrated as a pretty charismatic guy (although somewhat dislikable throughout the rest of the movie) is offered a pilot position among a colonization crew mission to the snowy planet of Niflheim. Mickey was not so lucky, and after signing a ton of legal papers (all of which he didn’t read), becomes an “expendable” crew member. What’s an “expendable” crew member, you might ask? Well, only someone that’s the first to experience any and all unpleasant occurrences that the rest of the crew might face. “Expendables” are on the frontline of exploring uncharted territories, new medicines, exposures to harmful chemicals, and the likes. After undergoing several procedures involving a process called memory uploading and even preparing to shoot himself to prove that he’s capable of the job — don’t worry (yet), he doesn’t actually go through with it, Mickey is officially ready to join the crew on their mission.
It’s during the mission where he endures several trials such as exposure to radiation, virus vaccinations, as well as a host of other potentially toxins and dies and is reprinted with the same memories over and over again. We meet Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who was later known to have been with Mickey in every test leading to his several deaths, and the two hit it off immediately. The film’s plot thickens when Mickey is left to freeze to death in Niflheim after Kai leaves him to regenerate into the next version of himself.
Except, Mickey 17 doesn’t die.
Instead, he’s saved by the huge, fluffy creatures native to the planet, conveniently known as the “creepers”. However, when Mickey 17 returns, he’s met face-to-face with his reincarnation, Mickey 18.
From that point, the audience is made aware of two rather large issues that arise with two Mickeys on one mission.
- Although every version of Mickey has the same memories and body, according to Nasha, each Mickey does not always act the same.
- Having more than one expendable on the mission at a time is strictly prohibited by mission leader, Kenneth Marshall.
It’s quickly discovered that the new Mickey is nearly nothing like his tame, patient, and easy-going predecessor, Mickey 17. In fact, the latter Mickey comes in with guns blazing, intent on staying apart of the mission and ready to take out anyone that steps in his way, and in a matter of five minutes of onscreen time, he’s already attempted at whacking both Mickey 17 and Kai.
My Thoughts
Without giving too much of the movie away, I enjoyed seeing the dichotomy of the two Mickeys. As someone that has been a fan of Robert Pattinson since the good ol’ Twilight movies (Team Edward, anyone?) it was nice to see Pattinson step out with such a different type of role. Whether the idea itself was original or not, I always love to see a character that’s the same but not the same play out. I can easily relate to both characters as a viewer. It’s easy to understand Mickey 18’s cynicism towards the people that have wronged him in the past, such as when Kai left him for dead in the snowy tundra. I can understand why Mickey 17 gravitated towards Nasha when Gemma made a move on him because Nasha represented something that was always constant in his life and was always loyal to him. Throughout the movie, Mickey 17 became that innocent, slightly naive friend that you feel the need to stand up for, and Mickey 18 the friend you go to when your ex is acting funny and you want someone to help you shake some things up ;-).
Aside from Pattinson’s character, I thought that Naomi Ackie played Nasha very well. Despite the whole “Angry Black Woman” trope that is severely overdone, I enjoyed watching a dark-skinned Black Woman become the love interest of the main protagonist. At times, I thought her character would take a sudden dip in complexity, and doubted if her character was as morally upright as she was letting on. Yet she seemed to be the same through and through and was a true ride or die for Mickey (of any version), which was nice, too. As I hinted at earlier, Kai’s character was not my favorite, but I imagine that was intended. It seemed as if at every point, he was there to harm or betray Mickey, and by the end of the movie I was over it. Gemma was sweet, and seemed to genuinely care for Mickey as time progressed. Marshall and Ylfa were fine as villains—although the satirical depiction of corrupt, incompetent leaders grew old after a while. Overall, the characters were mostly enjoyable to watch, but I would have loved to see Joon Ho do more with their individual storylines.
As dark as killing off your main protagonist so many times may seem, this sci-fi movie is also considered a comedy, interestingly enough. Were some parts of the movie funny? Sure. Were those parts the forced quirky “insert-your-laugh-here” moments like Mickey mimicking the creepers language by making exaggerated facial and body expressions? Not really. While I appreciated the fact that this movie took a genuinely dark topic and made it somewhat lighthearted, some jokes could have easily been left out or adjusted for it’s more mature audience considering the movie itself has an R rating.
Overall, the characters were mostly enjoyable to watch, but I would have loved to see Joon Ho do more with their individual storylines
So, should You Watch It?
If you like easy-going movies, go for it. This movie isn’t your typical sci-fi and won’t require too much brainpower to get through. It centers around topics that in general have been explored before, and in my opinion is an easy watch through and through. As the reviews seem to address, it’s not necessarily a movie that will change your way of life for the better, but it won’t be for the worst, either. I wouldn’t tell you to run to the theaters to see it, but it also wasn’t a bad Friday date night. If anything, rumor is that it’ll be on streaming services later this month, anyway. So there’s always that.
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Have you seen Mickey 17 yet? What were your thoughts? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more posts like these in the future! As always,
Love,
Kay
About Me
Thank you so much for stopping by. The Soft Life Diaries was created after I spent years in the corporate world and finally decided that enough was enough! Now, I’m embracing the idea of living a “soft life” by occupying my time with learning new skills that are valuable and interesting to me, partaking in hobbies that bring happiness and refresh me, and doing things that excite me! Join me as I navigate life as a 20-something-year-old while balancing this crazy thing called Adulthood.