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“Mickey 17” hit theaters on March 7, 2025. The movie was directed by Bong Joon Ho and had a budget of $118 million. It stars actors such as Robert Pattinson, Steven Yuen, Naomi Ackie, and Mark Ruffalo.
The movie is set in a science fiction planet of Niflheim which ex-politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) funded an exploration to. The main character, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), is running away from his mistakes with his friend Timo (Steven Yuen) and they decide to sign up for the expedition. Desperate to get the job, Mickey signs up to be an “expendable.” “Expendables” are charged with the job of dying; Mickey can die over and over again, but his memories will still be intact. The sole purpose of an “expandable” is to be sent out on missions that are too dangerous for anyone else, but since his memories remain after he dies, the scientists learn the information he gathers on his missions. Since they can get reprinted, they don’t have to worry about the danger of the missions.
With the budget of $118 million, the movie only made around $110 million world wide. It has an IMDb rating of 7/10, Rotten Tomatoes rating of 78%, and a Fandango rating of 73%. While many watchers enjoyed the movie due to its love trope and its mix between sci-fi and comedy, many watchers didn’t. Some thought it was too long, dark, and had bad acting. Personally, I thought the movie had great acting. With actors like Robert Pattinson who has shown how much range he has with his movies like “Batman” and “The Lighthouse”; Steven Yuen has also shown his talent in voice acting as Mark Grayson in “Invincible” and his talent for actual acting in “The Walking Dead.”
Robert Pattinson did an incredible job of playing two versions of Mickey Barnes. As seen in the trailer, something goes wrong and two versions of Mickey appear. Mickey 17 is the Mickey that we see in the majority of the movie; he is a quirky and lovable character. Mickey 18 on the other hand, has more of a dark side to him. Yet, they both love Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie).
According to Google, there are some significant differences between the movie “Mickey 17” and the book it was based on: “Mickey 7” written by Edward Ashton. Mickey Barnes is more relatable and sympathetic in the movie while in the book he is intellectual. There was an even bigger change with Kenneth Marshall. Throughout the movie, viewers see that Marshall runs the exploration group like a cult and sees himself as superior to everyone else. On the other hand, in the book he is seen as a devoted leader who really cares for the ideologies of the group.
Topics such as death and humanity are explored throughout this film. I left the theater wondering how much humanity we would lose if we died and got a new body printed over and over again. Would that change how much we value our lives? Would we take more risks knowing if all goes bad, we could just get a new body?
The film was 2h 17m long. Usually, I don’t mind watching that long of a movie. But, there are some parts of the movie that felt too slow and didn’t really add to the plot. Something else that bothered me was the ending. It was kind of anti-climatic and felt a little rushed.
Overall, I would rate this movie an 8.5/10. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good sci-fi/ dystopian film. Nowadays, most sci-fi movies are too serious and dark; “Mickey 17” is the perfect example of how a sci-fi movie can have more of a comedic side to it.
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