For Mickey 17, going out with a bang doesn’t mean as much as it would for the rest of us. In Bong Joon-ho’s next movie, he thrills us with a sci-fi dramatic comedy starring Robert Pattinson, who plays Mickey 17, Mickey 2, Mickey 3, and Mickey 4 all the way up to Mickey 19. Based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey 7 from 2022, Joon-ho promises another fantastic hit following his successful Parasite 2019 Oscar-winning Best Picture film. Mickey 17 grapples with themes of identity and individual longing for immortality. It also promises to add clever humor and a little drama on the side simultaneously.
Mickey 17 Might Be The Answer
Mickey 17 follows the story of Mickey Barnes, an employee of a company that uses him in a very specific way to colonize another world covered in ice called Niflheim. It’s not a job description too unusual for some sci-fi novels or movies. What makes this truly unique is Mickey 17, as well as all the Mickeys are clones, and when there is a dangerous job that no one else should do, they call Mickey. And when he doesn’t make it or is lost, they make another one to send into danger again and again.
It seems he is completely disposable, and when they just make another one of him, he retains most of his memories from the previous one and is just born with a different number. The original Mickey Barnes finds himself in our future in a place many of us can relate to. Despite striving unsuccessfully to change his situation, he desperately signs up to be expendable—not like an expendable such as Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham.
Is Too Many Mickey’s A Good Thing?
The expendable storyline for one of the Mickeys really gets wild as things aren’t going well on Niflheim. Mickey is used to being treated like a secondhand disposable meat bag to his fullest, and the colonization process is stalled because of a dangerous species already living on Niflheim. If that isn’t bad enough, things really go wrong when a certain Mickey is presumed dead and returns only to find another Mickey was made lying in his bed. Talk about a strange moment, wondering if he was dreaming.
Apparently, in the future, when that happens, they call it a multiple case. When multiple copies of an expendable exist, their protocol is to exterminate every version of the problem. This is where most of the movie’s dark humor comes into play, as all of the Mickeys are unable to take each other out because if they do, they are all going to die. Joon-ho has put together a fantastic cast of stars: Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo.
You Can’t Stop With Just One
This multiple problem of Mr. Barnes has two trailers, giving us a glimpse of foreign worlds and strange creatures and a new reason to root for and love the little guy. From what we have been given from these short images, it is a safe reminder to always read the fine print. There is something for everyone in this movie, between accidental space problems, new viruses, aliens with bad attitudes, and corporate suits full of rules. The question is, are there enough Mickey’s to go around?
Mickey 17 was supposed to be released in late March a year ago. However, it was delayed partly because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. This delay and others will give it its best chance to be seen on the greatest number of IMAX screens, but we won’t have to wait long now. It is slated to be released on March 7th.
