“Mickey 17’s” timeline to release was an interesting one to say the least. The film faced constant delays and was originally planned to come out in 2024. After a year’s long delay, the film has finally been released but did it live up to expectations? Absolutely.
“Mickey 17” is a great film that is able to explore class struggles even in a sci-fi setting. Similar to his last film, “Parasite”, Bong Joon Ho is able to make the film very socially conscious but this film is a lot more heavy handed with its message. Normally a heavy handed message can ruin a film, however, it felt like it worked it very much felt intentional to have messaging this overt. There were some parallels to “Starship Troopers” in that aspect with both films’ heavy handed themes being the entire point of these films.
The film follows the character of Mickey and his struggles of his job as an expendable. The job entails him dying to help progress humanity forward but he is cloned whenever he dies and he is often confronted on questions regarding death.
The concept of expendables in this film is supposed to connect to the working class and how workers are often considered expendable. The film does a great job doing a deep dive into this concept without coming off as too preachy.
The performances in the film are great with Robert Pattinson giving one of the best performances of the year. He plays the characters of both Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 and despite the similar names, the characters have completely different personalities and Pattinson is able to dissolve into the role and play Mickey 17 in such a way that makes the character feel super sympathetic and understanding while he makes Mickey 18 feel completely ruthless and bloodthirsty.
Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette really ham it up in their roles as Kenneth Marshall and his wife, Ylfa, respectively. Ruffalo gives the character a Trump cadence and is hilarious in doing so. Collette as Ylfa was great casting and she is able to really make the character feel sinister and monstrous.
Steven Yeun feels a bit more forgettable in the film but that has less to do with his performance as he’s still great but he just gets outshined by the rest of the cast. He plays the character of Timo and is able to really make the character feel super sleazy and morally bankrupt. Naomi Ackie was also very surprising in the film as she played the character of Nasha, someone who loves Mickey, and is able to give a very human and passionate performance. The character will sometimes have outbursts that feel real and completely understandable. The humor in this film is great but never overbearing.
There were a lot of laugh out loud moments but it never felt like it was too much and there never really felt like there was any tonal whiplash due to the comedy.
“Mickey 17” is a gorgeous film with many shots being awe inspiring. Bong’s eye for scale and detail are hard to match and so many shots in the film really make you feel that. The effects, both digital and practical, are also fantastic and incredibly immersive. The film, while great, is not perfect by any means.
The start of it is the worst part and it very much feels like a lot of it was required by the studio. A lot of the exposition at the start of the film felt very unnecessary and last minute. Some people will take issue with how over the top some aspects of the film are and while that criticism might not apply for everyone, it is worth noting.
“Mickey 17” is a film trying to say something and is able to stay entertaining in the process. With all the great performances, stunning cinematography, compelling story, and an entertaining script, it is hard not to recommend. See it if you can, it is absolutely worth it.
