Mickey 17, was it worth it?

I'm surprised that "Mickey 17" is an infinitely simpler film than I imagined. The film, with which Bong Joon Ho sought to capitalize on the momentum accumulated with the overwhelming success of the excellent "Parasite" in 2019, seemed to be much more dense, with Robert Pattinson at the most interesting moment of his career taking on a role within a science fiction world we knew very little about, and about which information about it has been practically nonexistent since the film's release in early 2025.

However, I consider this simplicity a rather pleasant revelation, since far from wasting our time on complicated expositions that we barely understand, Mickey 17 is more focused on being a shrewd social critique, disguised within an almost cartoonish premise that leaves room for action and comedy. If Parasite explored the intricate dynamics between different social classes, Mickey 17 is a representation of the perception that those powerful and privileged have toward those below them, all personified in the character of Mickey Barnes, a lab rat in the middle of space, part of a project that classifies him as "expendable," easily cloning him using a machine and subjecting him to suicide missions.

Just by reading the plot, we can already glimpse the film's main message. And all this without mentioning that there's an entire plot related to the colonization of a distant planet that, of course, is plagued by a race of creatures that humans want to exterminate.

Although I consider Mickey 17 to be a considerably inferior product to Parasite (one of the best films of the last few decades), if there's one virtue that both projects share, it's the ability to present social satire in terms that feel genuinely funny, combining thematic density very well with a film that never feels tedious. Mickey 17 is a collection of brilliant ideas executed appropriately, and represents the virtues of blockbuster cinema when it decides to take risks and move away from the canons that force the intellectual properties we see year after year.

Is it perfect? Of course not. It has a couple of pacing issues after the second half, and the plot, while entertaining, can be guilty of being relatively predictable.

Aside from this, it's visually interesting and is filled with terrific performances, not only from Pattinson in the lead role, but also from all the great actors who accompany him (honorable mention to Mark Ruffalo).

This score was taken from my Letterboxd account.