Mickey 17 is a brilliant film, but it is scary how much it relates to the world that we are living in today. Several incredible acting performances take it to the next level.
Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is a really well done film that will have viewers comparing quite a few things to the real world. Mark Ruffalo’s Kenneth Marshall is one of those things. That said, there are a lot of important themes woven into this film, and while I would classify it as political, it is also a fun watch.
Robert Pattinson stars as Mickey, an expendable, which is exactly what you would think it is. He works for the government and every time he dies, which is sometimes an accident but often because of tests and experiments they are running, he is reprinted. His memories are uploaded to him and he is now available for another go round.
Honestly, when the film started and I heard the voice that Pattinson chose for Mickey, I thought to myself, well this is going to get annoying really quickly. But good news, it doesn’t. In fact, after about ten minutes I totally forgot all about it.
I am always in awe of actors who can play multiple characters in the same movie and make us really feel like they are totally different. Even though Mickey is technically the same character, each version has their own personalities, something Pattinson does brilliantly. He also ends up playing opposite himself in several scenes because at one point, two Mickey’s end up alive at the same time by accident.
Pattinson is great in the movie, but it really is Naomi Ackie, who plays his love interest Nasha, that steals the show. She is phenomenal all throughout this film, but especially in the third act when she steps up with several monologues. The types of monologues that will have viewers rallying behind her and ready to join this fictional fight.
While she is incredible in the film, there is one moment that involves her, Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei), and the two Mickeys that is hilarious, but feels out of place as it never really leads anywhere.
It is one of those plot points that makes you think, if they were not going to to commit, why even do it. Especially when the movie clocks in at two hours and seventeen minutes – this is a place where things could have been tightened up.
Ruffalo might not have meant to (or maybe he did), but he is doing his best Donald Trump impression in this movie. It is so bizarre to think about the fact that Mickey 17 was filmed years ago, and yet it feels as if there are references that happened only a few months ago. He plays a bit of a baffoon who certainly does not have the experience or the know-how to run a colony, and yet he was selected by a church to do so.
His wife, played by Toni Collette, is actually the one calling the shots. Collette and Ruffalo work extremely well together. They are hilarious and were clearly having the time of their lives while filming. They are both love to hate kind of characters and a lot of fun to watch.
This exploration of government corruption and the fact that if you are in power, you can get away with practically anything – even ridiculously inhumane things – is absolutely terrifying. Mickey might have signed on to be an expendable, but he is still a human being. The way he is treated, and the way the creatures that live on the planet Marshall is trying to colonize are treated, is horrific and unforgivable.
Mickey 17 is a dark comedy that will cause audiences to start to truly think about life and the world we are living in today. There are a lot of great themes woven throughout the film, including the fact that death is scary, no matter what. Even someone like Mickey who dies for a living is scared to do so.
This movie is brilliantly done. The connective tissue to the world that we are living in makes it that much more scary, but also should be a lesson for some people. Pattinson, Ruffalo, Collette, Steven Yeun, and especially Ackie deliver unforgettable performances.
While I do feel the film is a bit on the long side and could have been tightened up here and there, I absolutely recommend seeing Mickey 17 on the big screen when it comes to theaters on March 7.
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About Mickey 17
Mickey 17, known as an “expendable,” goes on a dangerous journey to colonize an ice planet.
