March’s most fascinating project, Mickey 17. A film review.

After the raging success of Bong Joon Ho’s last film, Parasite, the highly anticipated and praised director moves on to produce his next film, Mickey 17.

Photo source: Rotten Tomatoes.

First things first, yes, it’s good. Mickey 17 is a film most Bong Joon Ho fans have been waiting for since its announcement in January 2022, with the promise of a 2024 release date. Hit back by numerous delays after it was initially planned to release in March of that same year, (the 29th to be exact), the movie was pushed to a whole year later, to January of 2025, then to April, then finally to March 7th. This was all due to the Hollywood writers strikes that happened around the time of its production, halting the development of the film. Even with these setbacks, Mickey 17 was thankfully not abandoned, and eventually finished up, and released to the public. So came a riveting tale of a corrupt, and divided space colony's grand adventure to avoid extinction, all set into motion by the central protagonist, Mickey, who is known as an expandable. An expendable is a person who dies, is cloned back to life, and goes on to do it all over again in the hopes of keeping the rest of humanity safe from the dangerous environmental hazards that reside across the new planets they visit. What could go wrong with that idea? Well… what happens when there’s two of them?

Even with the extreme doubt this film would see the light of day, the movie has made over 90.5 million dollars at the box office, which is seemingly underwhelming, but the fact that this film was released at all was a huge net-positive. It also did pretty well with audiences and critics alike, sitting at a nice comfortable 78% critic score, and a 73% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Overall, not a bad release, but certainly not to the magnitude a Bong Joon Ho film was expected to be. 

Although one of many science fiction films to release this past decade, Mickey 17 takes the cake as the most creative, and openly experimental project to be made in a really long time. Unlike other popular space-related films like Alien Romulus (Fede Alverez), which goes back to classic movie-tropes and fan-service elements, this one sort of takes off, and doesn’t go down any sort of traditional path, aiming for the stars. A mix of comedy, action, and even some bits of thriller, the film follows a plot that is a reflection upon social and economic injustices within a smaller-scale civilization, where these elements really shine through. Yes this had been done before, but not the way Mickey 17 does it. 

Starring big actors and actresses like Robert Pattinson (Batman!), Mark Rufallo, (Hulk Smash!) Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, and Naomi Ackie, it comes as no surprise that the performances were the absolute highlight of the entire film. From great, sinister moments brought out by Mark Rufflo, who plays as the antagonist of the story, Kenneth Marshall, to advanced intra-personal reflections and split personality components that Robert Pattinson tackles through Mickey Barnes, the movie flexes its strong line-up with confidence and consistency. No one is wasted at any point of the film, and each character has a true purpose in the story. Something that surprisingly, a lot of movies get wrong. Featuring expertly planned character arcs that most of the time meet a climax that was fulfilling, and came to a satisfying conclusion. The setting is another strong suit, taking place mostly on a snowy planet called Niflheim, but also through space and an environmentally devastated earth. This goes hand in hand with the amazing visuals and graphic designs showcased throughout Mickey 17, building a world that feels real, but fantastical all at the same time. 

With all that being said, the movie has some downsides. There is a lot of build-up, and it all leads to a relatively short climax. It's not a bad pay-off by any means, but it can be seen as underwhelming. Another issue is the mis-use of arcs pertaining to particular characters at some points, and how they climax. Many moments in the movie featured big scenes where a character does something very important, but it feels as though they were the wrong person to do it. For instance, without spoilers, there is a scene where a character faces off against one of the antagonists, and stands their ground in an aggressive argument. The issue is, there was little tension behind the characters before this point, making this feel more random than built-up and planned for. Especially since the character who has a ton of experience with this antagonist stands there and watches from behind.

Overall, Mickey 17 was a very good film, with a great choice of casting, a very passionate and creative director, and well-made story. To most it will be a satisfying watch, but to others, some glaring faults of the plot are a little too consistent to miss. Even with these issues, the film is still quality, and it is easy to tell Bong Joon Ho cared about this story, and put a lot of effort into making it a reality. The very fact it even came out despite all the issues behind-the-scenes required a lot of hard work and dedication on his part. Bong Joon Ho, the world of entertainment thanks you for your work, and your relentlessness in bringing Mickey 17 to life. Hopefully, everyone sees more films under your name, ones that are just as mind bogglingly awesome as this entertaining movie.