Mickey 17 (2025) review

Dir. Bong Joon-ho

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

Where some use the term “bleeding heart” as a pejorative against liberals, yuppies, and those who dare care about something or someone outside of their immediate universe, I tend to believe if you called filmmaker Bong Joon-ho that to his face, he’d take it as a compliment, whatever the context. His stories have never been the least bit subtle, but they’re so rife with craftsmanship, stellar visuals, epic-scale filmmaking, and thoughtful themes that he shows us that sometimes the metaphorical sledgehammer can be an effective tool to get a point across, so long as everything else around it is delicately erected.

It’s also hard to fathom that it’s been six years since Joon-ho’s Parasite took the literal world by surprise in the best possible way. The South Korean filmmaker’s defiantly unclassifiable story, a tragicomedy of sorts, about a working-poor family connivingly infiltrating the lives of their wealthy counterparts was as gripping as any mystery, as unsettling as any horror movie, and as funny as any broad comedy released that same year. Following up that act was never going to be easy, which is why I’m happy Joon-ho’s latest, Mickey 17, is so radically different from his predecessor yet so wildly similar to two of his previous works.

Adapted from the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, the auteur’s third English-language film follows an “expendable” named Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson), who lives on an ice planet in 2054. Being an expendable means Mickey willfully signed up to be a crash test dummy, in so many words, for colonizers of this newfound planet. Elites use him to test experimental vaccines, new equipment, and various toxins. Whether he lives or dies is of no concern because part of the agreement he signed allows him to be brought back into another body, with all his memories still in tact.

We first meet Mickey 17 after he’s fallen through the snow and left for dead by his friend (Steven Yeun). Back at the lab, scientists print out a new version of him, known as Mickey 18 (also Pattinson), assuming he’s dead and gone. But when Mickey 17 returns alive, the existence of “multiples” finds them both in violation of the law. Complicating matters is where Mickey 17 is carefree, spunky, and a bit of a doofus overall, Mickey 18 is a miserable, brooding bastard.

Governing this hellscape is Kenneth Marshall, played by Mark Ruffalo, who feels like he’s still in the wacky world of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Marshall and his insidious wife, Ylfa (a wryly funny Toni Collette), are gunning for genetic supremacy, their eyes set on controlling and colonizing a group of simultaneously ugly and adorable roly-poly-esque critters known as “creepers.” Their inclusion feels like a continuation of Okja. Furthermore, creeper tails can be harvested to make sauce, something Ylfa in particular desires. It’s around this point that Mickey 17 gets weighty and complicated, its premise overstuffed even with the help of Pattinson’s frequent narration desperately trying to keep it all together.

Holding the entire thing together as if to prevent it from exploding at the seams is Pattinson, who flexes his chops in dual roles. Using two different vocal tones for both Mickeys, Pattinson claims to have been trying to imitate Ren and Stimpy. With that in mind, it adds even more enjoyment in watching one of this generation’s most versatile actors relish another opportunity to be anarchic and unpredictable. It’s a gonzo pivot for an actor who most recently tapped into his Twilight side in giving us a menacing, emo Batman in the latest take on the Dark Knight.

Ruffalo’s performance as a tyrannical ruler will be divisive because it is hammy and over-the-top. The Trump parallels are evident, particularly when during a significant scene between Mickey 17 and an endless army of creepers, one of Marshall’s advisors suggests to the leader that now would be an ideal opportunity for a photo-op. On an island, Ruffalo might come across as overbearing, but when paired with Collette, who nails some of her one-liners and clearly revels in playing such an unlikable plus-one, the two pair well. Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice) looks to be underutilized until she delivers some of the most impacting moments in a third act that really has Joon-ho’s script come alive with themes about environmental compassion and conservation.

I can’t blame you, however, if you find yourself lost in Mickey 17‘s sauce. If the gloomy, industrial production design from Fiona Crombie or the dystopian, vaguely steampunk cinematography from Darius Khondji don’t get you down, the weight of the film’s story might have your mind wandering. Where Joon-ho makes clear his themes of classism, the desecration of the planet at the hands of humans, and the inherent dangers of authoritarianism, he somewhat struggles to build this world from the ground up. The foundation on which the story is built feels a little shaky. I’m not sure if this is due to the abundance of narration or the simple fact that there is a lot of plot for a two-hour movie to contain. Where Joon-ho’s Snowpiercer got the TV treatment after its immense success as a feature, maybe the inverse would’ve fared better for Mickey 17.

Bong Joon-ho’s propensity for style and heavy-handed messaging can’t be questioned, and after years in production, Mickey 17 has had enough time to incubate. The fact that it comes out a little messy yet still so self-assured and entertaining, not to mention technically sound, speaks volumes to the great visionary Joon-ho is.

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Patsy Ferran, and Cameron Britton. Directed by: Bong Joon-ho.