Movie review «Mickey 17»

On March 6, the sci-fi black comedy «Mickey 17» by director Pong Joon-ho, whose previous project was the Oscar-winning «Parasites» (2019), was released in cinemas. The plot of the film is based on the novel «Mickey 7» by Edward Ashton, which was published in 2022. In the review below, we will tell you what the South Korean director is ridiculing this time, how Robert Pattinson copes with several roles at once, and how harmoniously it all looks on the movie screen.

«Mickey 17»

Genre sci-fi black comedy
Director Pong Joon-ho
Starring Robert Pattinson, Naomi Aki, Stephen Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Holliday Grainger, Anamaria Vartolomei, Thomas Turgoose, Cameron Britton, Steve Park, Tim Kaye
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website

Once upon a time, Mickey Barnes and his best friend Timo owed money to a sinister loan shark who prefers to punish debtors in much the same way as a Texas redneck nicknamed Leather face. Since the boys have no money and their potential executioner has an outstanding ability to find anyone anywhere in the world, the fugitives decide to join a colonizing space mission organized by Kenneth Marshall. He is a well-tanned congressman with a snow-white smile.

But while Timo manages to get a perfectly normal job, Mickey had no choice but to accept the role of «expendable». A person doomed to a deadly test, who, after his death, is printed on a printer, downloading consciousness into the brain using a special hard disk. During the next mission, the 17th version of Mickey was already preparing to leave for a better world, but miraculously escaped and returned to the base, where she met Mickey 18. Subsequently, this situation, which is forbidden by law, gains unexpected momentum.South Korean director and screenwriter Pong Joon-ho continues to mock capitalism, class inequality, and the boundless predatory appetites of moneybags who enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary laborers at the bottom of the social ladder. At the same time, he supports his frankly grotesque narrative with an actual political agenda: it is simply impossible not to see Donald Trump and Elon Musk in Mark Ruffalo’s character at the same time. Like the foolish Ross Geller in «Friends», this vile type, a tyrant and sexist, has eloquently overdone it with his tan and white teeth.

On the one hand, we have absurd situations related to, let’s say, the unusual profession of the protagonist, who is forced to be exposed to lethal doses of radiation, test poisonous gases or artificial meat with experimental growth hormone. The scene where, upon arrival on the new planet, the unfortunate Mickey is the first to go outside and breathe in, getting rid of his unnecessary helmet, is sure to be a triumph for Ridley Scott. All this evokes sincere emotions, and laughter, which is not bad at all, is one of the main ones.On the other hand, creators can be more serious, particularly when they appeal to our sense of justice. Poor Mickey has to go through inhuman suffering, while the stupid congressman and his saucy, sauce-crazed wife revel in their luxurious lifestyle, permissiveness, abuse the weak and consider people like Mickey to be garbage.

Alongside printers that naturally print copies of people and hard drives loaded with human consciousness that resemble bricks, there are reflections on death wrapped in satirical black comedy. But mostly it is about the value of life. Not only human life, but any life at all. Here, the behavior of the locals, the bizarre creatures called space tentacles, is very telling, standing in contrast to the destructive, conquering ambitions of our tanned colonizer.The harsh snows of the planet Niflheim, where the film’s characters arrived, could easily serve as one of the locations for a Marvel blockbuster dedicated to Thor Odinson. They make you remember the cool dystopia Pong Jun-ho «Snowpiercer», where, again, the star of Marvel’s Passions, Chris Evans, shone. And the presence of the so-called tentacles, which play an important role in the plot, hints at another film by the South Korean — «Okja», in which the author addressed eco-theme.

Pattinson had to transform himself into two characters of opposite character, albeit in the shell of one person, and he coped with this interesting challenge brilliantly. In general, the meticulousness with which he chooses projects after the pop ones «Twilight» and how seriously he takes his roles — cannot but be admired and respected.The performance of Ruffalo, who is no longer the Hulk, but a much larger (not in size) monster, can also be called truly outstanding. We should note one interesting moment involving his character, whose character is successfully emphasized by Ruffalo’s performance. During the scene where the antagonist characterizes the inhabitants of Niflheim, he utters the phrase «they want human flesh», after which he licks himself deliciously. This gesture clearly emphasizes Kenneth Marshall’s not so much predatory as even parasitic, bloodthirsty nature.

Perhaps Pong Joon-ho didn’t have the strength to keep the story moving at a steady pace, and at times it falters or goes overboard with hyperbole. However, there is no arguing with the fact that this is a truly talented and high-quality creation that deserves your attention. And after watching it, you will hardly want to order sauce at McDonald’s, which, by the way, is an expressive embodiment of capitalism.