Bong Joon-ho’s highly anticipated Mickey 17, his third English-language film, is an ambitious sci-fi comedy-drama that entertains in parts but falters in narrative consistency.
Based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey 7, Mickey 17 centers on Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), whose life takes a disastrous turn when his best friend, Timo (Steven Yeun), ropes him into a bad business investment, leaving them drowning in debt to a ruthless loan shark. With no way out, Mickey and Timo decide to escape Earth by enlisting in a space colonization mission to the distant ice-covered planet, Nilfheim, where an ambitious tyrant, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), and his wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), aim to establish a cult-like colony under their rule. While Timo cons his way into the pilot position, Mickey, lacking any valuable skills, signs up as an “expendable”—a role that requires him to take on lethal tasks, dying repeatedly and being resurrected via cloning technology, with his brain functions and memories reinstalled from a hard-drive brick. Aboard the spacecraft, Mickey crosses paths with Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a security officer, and the two quickly develop a deep connection that blossoms into a romance. Upon arrival on Niflheim, Mickey 17 is sent on a mission to capture an indigenous creature known as a creeper but plunges into a deep ice fissure. Witnessing him surrounded by the creatures, Timo reports him dead, triggering the printing of a new clone, Mickey 18. However, the creepers push Mickey 17 back to the surface, saving him. Now, with multiples of Mickey existing simultaneously—a strictly forbidden situation—things quickly spiral out of control.
With an intriguing premise, the film opens on a promising note, effectively establishing Mickey’s character and the misfortunes that led him to become an “expendable” in the space exploration program. The highlight of the first act is Bong Joon-ho’s use of dark humor that creates several funny moments, especially the brilliantly executed montage sequence showing multiple versions of Mickey dying in increasingly outrageous ways—whether it’s venturing outside for spaceship repairs, catching a fatal virus, being experimented on in a desperate medical trial, or wrangling the planet’s native “creepers” for study.
Mickey’s only source of comfort on the dreadful journey to Niflheim is Nasha, the woman he falls in love with, and their relationship is one of the film’s best parts. Their romance feels genuine and adds emotional depth, making for a genuinely engaging watch. Nasha’s unwavering love for Mickey extends beyond his best moments—she stands by him through his worst, through each new version of him, and even through the parts of himself he struggles to understand, making their bond deeply compelling and beautifully romantic. As the second act draws to a close, the film steers into a more fascinating direction, mainly due to the arrival of Mickey 18 and the growing suspense around how Marshall and Ylfa—ruthless religious zealots with a dangerous vision of a racially pure colony on Niflheim—will be thwarted, along with the deepening mystery of the creepers and their true nature.
However, despite a promising buildup in the second act, the film stumbles in its final stretch, lacking the intrigue and heightened stakes needed to deliver a compelling conclusion. At the very end, there’s this long scene where Mickey 17 uses a translator to speak with the mother creeper, and it’s so ridiculous and out of place that it completely ruins the film’s momentum. Additionally, the creatures are meant to be eerie, mysterious, and threatening, yet their design comes off as more goofy than intimidating (Ylfa ridicules them as “croissants dipped in shit,” which is the funniest line in the film, in my opinion), resembling an awkward cockroach-caterpillar hybrid that undercuts the tension, ultimately weakening the impact of the film’s final act.
Across his filmography, Bong Joon-ho has seamlessly blended genre filmmaking with sharp social commentary, tackling issues of class inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, corruption, and environmentalism in acclaimed films such as Parasite (2019), Snowpiercer (2015), Okja (2017), and Memories of Murder (2003). Similarly, in Mickey 17, he attempts to tackle themes of colonization and dehumanization, but the satire comes across as heavy-handed, lacking depth and nuance, resulting in a surface-level exploration that fails to leave a lasting impact.
The film’s redeeming quality is Robert Pattinson’s stellar performance, showcasing his impressive acting versatility. As Mickey 17, he brings warmth, charm, and innocence to the role, while as Mickey 18, he transforms into an aggressive, rebellious force. Pattinson masters both personalities with ease, elevating the film and making it a worthwhile experience. Steven Yeun and Naomi Ackie give commendable performances as Timo and Nasha, though the script doesn’t offer them much complexity to work with. Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette bring energy to their roles, but their exaggerated portrayals become irritating to watch by the film’s end. Ruffalo plays Kenneth Marshall as a Trump-like, blustering, self-obsessed, and power-hungry leader, while Collette’s Ylfa is his calculating, behind-the-scenes puppeteer—at times, it feels as though he’s merely an extension of her influence.
Although Mickey 17 is not a bad film and does not detract from Bong Joon-ho’s impeccable filmography, it is a minor letdown in comparison to the high standards he has set for himself.
Mickey 17 movie links: Letterboxd, Wikipedia, IMDB
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