“Mickey 17” is a darkly comedic film starring once vampiric heartthrob Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, a weird little guy who signs up for the role of an “expendable” on a space colony to escape his debts on Earth.
Bong Joon Ho, known for the Oscar winning “Parasite” hits audiences over the head with a heavy-handed political message that feels almost necessary in the current day and age, as well as secondary themes about mortality, identity, escapism, and sauces.
Joined by his once best friend Timo (Steven Yuen), Mickey attempts to flee the repercussions of a failed business venture by joining up to an expedition of the icy wasteland planet Niflheim. Without reading the fine print, he donates his mind and body to research, die, and subsequently be reprinted from a large tube with all of the memories of his previous lives.
Pattinson is the reason to watch this movie, his performance as the constantly remade titular character – whose number updates with each time he gets revived – will make or break a viewer’s opinion. A character sadly spoiled by the film’s trailers is Mickey 18, a reprint made when the workers of the colony falsely believe 17 to have died at the hands of the native life on the colony planet. Pattinson’s back and forth in scenes will have you forgetting he’s talking to himself the entire time.
Mickey’s deaths are often played for laughs, but the audience is expected to feel for them past that. The question constantly plagues the narrative: What is it like to die? Which is never given a solid answer, the best thing to do with a topic that existential in my humble opinion.
Sadly, the film hasn’t done well on its release or opening weekend, making only a fraction of its $118 million budget. Domestic openings led to only $19 million in theaters, which has pegged it to receive a very early release on streaming services. This issue usually befalls movies with post-oscar releases, especially with one as eccentric as this.
I love eccentric films, and I know there’s an audience for anything out in the world. “Mickey 17” feels, to me, like a movie that will end up as a cult classic in the future once it lands where more people can see it.
Until that day, though, I highly recommend catching it while it’s still in theaters. Projects like these require a solid audience in order to succeed, and while “Mickey 17” may already be considered a box office flop, watching it will give others like it more of a chance.
