Mickey 17 (2025) Review

 "Even on my seventeenth go-around, I hate dying."
-Mickey 17



Desperate to get off of Earth to avoid a murderous loan shark, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) agrees to become an Expendable on a mission to colonize the planet Niflheim.  An Expendable's job is to do dangerous and deadly tasks and if they die, a clone with most of the same memories and personality can simply be printed off and put back to work.  


What Works:

Robert Pattinson is the highlight of the film and plays multiple versions of Mickey.  Yes, he's playing the same person each time, but some of the Mickey's have different quirks in their personality.  The two main Mickey's, 17 and 18, are actually very different from each other and Pattinson brings both of them to life very distinctly.  I love the way they interact with each other and the different ways they deal with their problems.  Mickey 18 may be aggressive and violent, but goddamn is he relatable.

Mickey 17 and 18 are very likable.  On the other end of the spectrum we have the leader of the expedition, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), and his wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette).  These two are just the worst.  Marshall is very clearly a Trump stand-in with a few other miserable and twisted bastards thrown in for good measure, and Ylfa may be even worse.  Ruffalo and Collette do a fantastic job at making you hate these characters, but still keeping the comedic tone of the movie.  It gets to the point where you're rooting against them even more than you're rooting for Mickey 17.

Speaking of the tone, this is a black comedy and absolutely nails it.  This movie is very funny even with some dark and horrific subject matter.  You're laughing for a lot of the movie, even if sometimes you're laughing at how horrible a moment is

Every so often, the movie doesn't make you laugh.  It will give you a dark and emotional moment and leave you there without any sort of comic relief.  It never loses the emotional stakes even while being funny most of the time.  To me, that's the key in making a dark comedy with something to say about society.  Make us laugh, but don't forget to make us cry once in awhile along the way. 

Finally, the indigenous species on Niflheim, which get named Creepers, are adorable, especially the babies.  I want to adopt all of them!  I love the design of these creatures and they are an extremely interesting part of the film. 


What Sucks:

I do think the movie could have used another scene or two to develop a few characters more.  Mickey 18, Nasha (Naomi Ackie), and Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei) all could have used a little more development.

 
Verdict:

Mickey 17 is a funny, dark, emotional, and creative film.  It manages to get the tone just right thanks to some excellent performances from Pattinson, Ruffalo, and Collette.  Some of the characters could have used a little more development, but this was still a great time, and the Creepers are really well designed!  This movie has absolutely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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