Mickey 17

Mickey Barnes and his friend Timo are on the run from loan sharks. In order to find new lives, they depart on a space ship, along with many other individuals who are eager to leave earth, to colonize the planet Niflheim. Mickey’s job is to be an expendable; this means that he is a person used for dangerous experiments and missions such that, every time he dies, the same “version” of him is made from a printer so that he is able to continue his mission. As they make their way to this potential new home, inhabited by creatures referred to as “creepers,” Mickey is confronted with a difficult situation that is a result of the cloning experiment he is a part of. It would mean the ending of his life if anyone should find out.

Quality

Note: Any positive things in this section do not warrant a recommendation. I am simply talking about the filmmaking and production from an objective standpoint.

I think my favorite things about “Mickey 17” are the tone and pacing, both of which are really consistent and make for an entertaining watch. When the credits started to roll, I could not recall a moment that dragged or did not propel the story forward. The story itself is also fairly unpredictable, which added to the intrigue.

The acting is good for the most part. The standout is Robert Pattinson, who continues to defy the “vampire from Twilight” stereotype and seems to be making a real name for himself in the film industry. The thing I noticed first about his performance was his voice. Pattinson as Mickey does narrative voiceovers throughout the film, and I was genuinely impressed as to how he was able to sound the way that he did. On top of that, his onscreen performance was excellent. I ceased to see Pattinson onscreen after a while due to how well he embodied the character. While there are no other acting roles in the movie that jumped out to me like his performance, I thought most did a great job in front of the camera (with some exceptions, which I’ll get to later).

The special effects in “Mickey 17” are incredible. There are a couple of scenes where Mickey 17 and 18 are in the same shot and even touching and interacting with each other; these shots were filmed in such a way that I genuinely have no idea how they were done. Besides this, there are some great shots of the outsides of spaceships and snowy environments, my favorite shot in the movie being where we see all the alien creatures running amok from the perspective of the space ship.

This movie is very much a dark-comedy, and it works quite well as that. While I do not recall laughing at any point, there are some funny bits either in the form of dialog or acting that I enjoyed. I did not expect the musical score for the movie to be largely piano, but it works surprisingly well.

When it comes bad quality aspects of “Mickey 17,” I think the first thing to say is that the film simply tries to do too much. There are so many different moving parts that I think its biggest weakness is how unfocused it is. I said earlier that one of my pros was how fast paced the film is, but this could easily be a con from an objective point of view, because, while it is entertaining, I think there are a lot of story decisions and moments that feel strange or over-the-top.

As a result, the movie feels downright silly a couple of times in all the wrong ways. Although the world that is built here does not at all feel like our world, the real barrier for me was that I felt the film’s overtones and messages were so overwrought and exaggerated that it felt like I was being preached at in a demeaning way. I’ll get into the political and religious messages of the film in a bit.

The second biggest issue I have with the quality of the movie is that the characters do not feel real at all. This is partially because I do not really care for any of them besides Mickey (and even his character feels quite flat at times), but also because the film does not really attempt to flesh out their characters in such a way that would warrant audience interest. There are very few character motives on either side in the film that I was willing to buy into.

More specifically, there are a few characters that simply did not work for me. Kenneth and Ylfa Marshall (played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette respectively) play characters that are nothing more than an exaggerated, overstuffed, and clownish combination of the worst parts of several stereotypical “idiots” (for Kenneth, it’s a religious pastor, a politician, and a salesman) who are meant to pose as the story’s antagonists. His wife Ylfa is essentially the evil witch in some bland Disney movie trying to convince her husband and his evil minions to do her bidding. I honestly thought both of their performances were obnoxious and annoying, even though I usually like both of them in movies.

While I really do not enjoy getting involved in the political rumor mill that is plaguing potentially good discussions around the world, I can’t help but wonder if there are overt political shots in this film directly related to recent events. There are a few moments that made me raise an eyebrow, and my suspicions were somewhat confirmed when I did a quick Internet search.

Whether it’s intended that a) the “authoritarian-dictator-antagonist” in the film who is shot at and grazed by a bullet is meant to represent Donald Trump, or b) a black woman who gets elected to a high position in the government and helps abolish certain tyrannical forces is meant to represent Kamala Harris, I will leave for you to decide. What I will say is that, whatever your thoughts are on that, I strongly believe that political takes like these should be kept very distant from fictional stories and that we should talk about governmental and political leaders objectively and honestly, instead of poking fun at them by analogizing them to awful fictional characters.

Moral Elements

One of the most pointed and obvious moral aspects of the film is the explicit religious backdrop. This backdrop is strangely reminiscent of Christianity. The “church” is referred to on several occasions, as well as the authority vested in it, its leaders, and its members. There are numerous times where characters pray to (as I understood it) the souls of departed friends and family members, beginning the prayer with “dear, Lord.” In one scene that is extremely bizarre and out-of-the-blue, two characters sing a song with distinctly Christian elements in the lyrics. I was able to jot down these bits: “Rejoice in the Lord… our one and only… for our father’s grace… free at last… we’re going to the promised land.”

The most offensive part of all this is that these elements are explicitly and exclusively attributed to the film’s villains. This is essentially a straw man refutation of Christianity. The villains recite their hokey and ridiculous creeds that resemble a very specific form of faith, and are pushed over in the end for their “bigotry.”

Bong Joon Ho is known to insert social commentary in his films, and “Mickey 17” is no different. The biggest and most obvious theme is that of human cloning. Ho wastes no time in explaining how this idea is bad for society as a whole as well as for individual humans. Throughout the movie, Mickey is asked by people what it’s like to die, as this is something he has done 17 times. The most telling response for me was this one: “It’s terrible, dying. I hate it. No matter how many times I go through it. It’s scary.” It is moments like these where I got the closest to empathizing with Mickey’s character.

The film at times uses its strange religious backdrop to talk about human cloning. There are several scenes in the movie where people are talking about its dangers, and arguments are made as to why it should not be done. “The soul shall only have one body.” “The Lord only blesses one kind of union.” “Human cloning is a sin, multiples of Satan’s work.” While some of these statements are ironically (and possibly incoherently?) made by the villains themselves, this is also something that the film clearly agrees with (rightly, of course) near the end, which is all I can say without completely spoiling the ending. I’m not sure if this is a logical problem in the movie or something that I just missed, but I digress.

I was wondering if “Mickey 17” would ever tackle the human cloning idea by stating the importance of human life, but I do not recall the film ever doing so. The main argument it makes against creating human expendables is that dying over and over again is really miserable and unpleasant, as it certainly is. We as Christians, however, can point to values in the Bible that help undergird this discussion about the value of human life:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” —Psalm 139:13-14

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” —Genesis 9:6

Now, on to what is the most troubling aspect of this film…

The Content

The bad content in “Mickey 17” is gratuitous, constant, and blatant. I was constantly scribbling things in my notes to capture the disturbing and repulsive things that happen in this movie.

As I mentioned earlier, there are some explicit and implicit religious undertones that are meant to be a mockery of religion and Christianity.

SEX AND NUDITY: Heavy. There is one intercut sex scene that lasts for around a minute. Really the only things we see besides their faces are Mickey’s back and both of their bare legs. There is implied oral sex, and thrusting is shown briefly. In a later scene we see two people walking away while talking about having sex. This leads into a threesome foreplay scene with Nasha (clothed in a bra) and the two Mickeys (shirtless), but it is cut short as her top is removed and we see her back. Aside from this, there are many sexual references and descriptions. A tablet shows five or so animated stick figures performing various sexual acts. Two characters speak about putting on the “greatest sex campaign in history.” They explain how it is recommended to have proper calorie intake before being sexually intimate with your partner. References are made to “double dipping” and “grabbing.” There are also some non-sexual instances of nudity. Mickey’s bare buttocks are seen once or twice as he falls out of the printer, and a handful of times he is seen in a glass testing box completely naked but with his legs covering his privates. Mickey is seen shirtless a number of times.

VIOLENCE: Heavy: There are many murders (attempted and successful). One man is murdered offscreen by a knife. A man is killed with a saw (offscreen). A man commits suicide and kills another person at the same time. A woman dies when a ceiling of ice falls on her. There are two instances of people fighting next to an incinerator. In one of those there is a lot of blood, and one of them falls into the pit. The surviving man spits out his opponent’s ear. Many people shoot a cylindrical alien creature multiple times, and blood splatters everywhere. A person threatens to break another person’s neck if she does not comply. Blood is vomited probably half a dozen times. A man’s hand is ripped off, and it flies through space. A man’s hand is cut. A bullet is fired past a man and grazes his cheek. Two men are shocked by restraining robots.

LANGUAGE: Extreme. 60 F-word derivatives: F***ing (34), F**k (16), F***ed (2), Motherf****r (2), F****r (2), F***ers (1), F**kface (1), F*** you sideways (1), Fr*cking (1), Scr*wed (1) / 30 scatological references: Sh*t (19), Cr*p (3), Cr*ppy (2), Sh*tty (2), Bullsh*t (2), Sh*tting (1), Sh*tstain (1) / 14 Vain references to deity: J*sus (2), G*d-d*mn (5), Oh My G*d (4), G*d (2), My G*d (1) / 10 anatomical references: A**h*le (2), Dumba** (2), A** (2), D*ckhead (2), B*lls (2) / 8 derogatory terms: B*tch (4), Son of a b*tch (2), Whore (1), Cretins (1) / 7 throwaway profanities: H*ll (3), D*mn (2), D*mn It (1) / 6 mild insults: Shut Up (2), Bozo (1), Freak (1), Scum (1), Pr*ck (1)

Drugs/Alcohol: Moderately Heavy. There are several occasions where characters mention, buy, and consume OxyContin, a highly addictive drug. There is one scene where three characters are all high on it.

Wokeism: This is partially open to interpretation concerning whether certain characters are meant to portray certain political individuals.

Final Thoughts

When stripped down to its barebones story and plot, “Mickey 17” is essentially a fascinating sci-fi concept with an interesting premise and entertaining execution. It felt sort of like an amalgamation of “Avatar” (2009) and “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014), with elements of “The Prestige” (2006) and “Snowpiercer” (2013). There are a lot of interesting concepts and ideas, and they are the main reasons why I wanted to see this movie.

While there are some things to enjoy regarding the entertainment value and acting, the movie feels like an overstuffed turkey that is falling apart at the seams because the cook simply did not want to leave out or tone down any of its individual parts. This makes for a very unfocused and strange film that bit off more than it could chew.

From a moral standpoint, there is almost nothing to commend (the one exception being that it preaches against human cloning), and plenty to discourage Christians from watching it. The religious and political messages are clamorous and offensive in a way that does not make for good storytelling. On top of that, the mature content makes this film absolutely filthy. There are multiple sexual scenes and references, profanities around every corner, and disturbing scenes of violence.

My advice to Christians is to stay away, and do not give it your money. I’ll leave you with a warning from Scripture.

”Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” —Ephesians 5:11

• Vulgar/Crude language: Extreme
• Violence: Heavy
• Sex: Heavy
• Drugs/Alcohol: Moderately Heavy
• Profane language: Moderately Heavy
• Nudity: Moderately Heavy
• Wokeism: Moderate

About spiritual darkness

Every time you buy a movie ticket or buy or rent a video you are in effect casting a vote telling Hollywood, “I’ll pay for that. That’s what I want.” Read our article

Learn about DISCERNMENT, wisdom in making personal entertainment decisions

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.