Genre：Alien Invasion/Dark Comedy/Space Sci-Fi/Adventure/Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Director：Bong Joon Ho
Cast：Robert Pattinson、Steven Yeun、Michael Monroe、Patsy Ferran、Cameron Britton
Viola's Rating：7.5
Oscar-winning Korean director Bong Joon-Ho is renowned for his signature style—dark comedy, genre-blending, sharp social commentary, and sudden tone shifts. His latest feature film,
Mickey 17, premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival and was released in the US on March 7, 2025.
Based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey 7, this adventurous, fantasy-infused sci-fi dark comedy about alien invasion follows the journey of Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson), an “expendable” tasked with helping colonize an icy planet.
Mickey 17 isn’t the first Hollywood sci-fi film to explore colonization on an alien world, but as a Bong Joon-Ho project, it naturally carries a deeper environmental message. After all, in this story, humans are the real aliens—not the oddly adorable native creatures known as “Creepers.” Beneath its thrilling premise, the flick subtly questions the ethics of expansion and occupation.
In the world of
Mickey 17, expendables like Mickey are assigned all the dangerous, labor-intensive jobs in space. Even if they die, their consciousness, memories, and personality can simply be “printed” into a new body. However, the motion picture isn’t just about survival—it’s about death. Just because someone can resurrect doesn’t mean dying isn’t terrifying. In fact, experiencing death repeatedly could make it an even more traumatic ordeal. Fear of death,
Mickey 17 suggests, is a fundamental part of being human.
Mickey 17 may be the protagonist, but the movie invites audiences to observe how previous versions of Mickey—or potential future ones—differ from each other. Though they are not clones in the traditional sense, the Mickeys should theoretically be identical. However, much like identical twins with the same DNA yet vastly different personalities, each Mickey develops into a unique individual. This raises a thought-provoking question: Is Mickey still one person, or are all versions of him entirely separate beings?
Mickey 17 challenges moviegoers to reflect on continuity, identity and selfhood.
Robert Pattinson’s portrayal of multiple Mickeys is unexpectedly impressive. While he’s widely recognized for his roles as the latest Batman and in Twilight, Pattinson has spent recent years pushing his acting boundaries. Mickey 17 is further proof of his evolution into a remarkably mature and versatile leading actor.
Despite receiving generally favorable reviews and offering a gripping cinematic experience,
Mickey 17 isn’t quite on par with Bong Joon-Ho’s greatest works. Even without comparing it to the Oscar-winning
Parasite—which is destined to be an all-time classic—Bong’s first English-language picture,
Snowpiercer, delivers a more compelling take on dystopian themes.
Picture Credit: IMDb
Comments
Post a Comment