There have been plenty of times in my life when I would love to have a duplicate of myself. Being a parent, there are times when I have to be in multiple places at once due to my kids’ schedules. Whereas I would use my duplicates to help me take care of certain tasks, in Mickey 17, they are used for means that are questionable. Bong Joon Ho brings us a story that covers worker abuse, social and economical issues, colonization, and love.
Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) is down on his luck on Earth. After a get-rich scheme goes wrong with his “business” partner Timo (Steven Yeun), Mickey decides to leave Earth and applies as an “expendable” on a space mission with failed politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo). Marshall is trying to build his perfect race with his wife Ylfa (Toni Collete) and is on a mission to find a new world with his followers.
The movie starts off with a lot of comedic moments as we see how Mickey’s role as an expendable is used on this mission. Being that they can reprint Mickey once he dies, the scientists do not see him as a person but only as an object they can run tests with. The science behind the expendables and how their memories carry over is explained, but the moral dilemmas about this science are also touched upon. This printer science is banned on Earth after an incident with the printer’s creator, but Marshall decides that space is suitable for this process.
Pattinson does a fantastic job at playing the multiple roles and giving each one an identity of their own. As we see the two Mickeys together on screen, we are able to tell which one is which by the mannerisms they possess. Nasha (Naomi Ackie) is an agent on the ship who falls for Mickey and is by his side through all the different versions of him. This storyline becomes one of the focal points of the movie when the topic of true love is discussed.
The movie covers many modern topics, but the colonizing of a new planet is the one that is relevant in today’s age with certain situations going on in the world. Marshall has found a new planet they want to take over and create their new race, but the planet is inhabited by rollie-pollie looking beings labeled “creepers” by Marshall and his team of scientists. In the same way that Mickey is looked upon as expendable, these creepers are looked in the same vein by Marshall.
Mickey has an experience with the creepers early on in the movie, and this moment leads to Mickey finding a purpose for himself. As with anyone in life, we sometimes have to have that moment of clarity to find our purpose. Mickey 17 will definitely have people thinking about their lives and how many years have been expendable years and what to do with the lives they have left.
Final Thoughts: Mickey 17 has a lot to digest! From political issues, worker abuse, and colonization, Bong Joon Ho tells a story that will leave you thinking! Pattinson is fantastic & Naomi Ackie has a moment that will be talked about! The entire cast is amazing!
Kid-Friendly: A few themes might go over the heads of younger children. The thought of treating someone else as an object and not a person might be good for older kids to see.
Violence: Some scenes are intense, such as the scene showing what the loan shark does to those who do not pay on time. Along with those scenes, there are a few fight scenes in the movie.
Adapted from the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, this stars Robert Pattinson as an “expendable” – a disposable crew member on a space mission, selected for dangerous tasks because he can be renewed if his body dies, with his memories largely intact. With one regeneration, though, things go very wrong.