Mickey 17 (2025) Review

The mad scientist of the Korean New Wave is officially back. Coming off the historic run he was able to amass with Parasite (2019), many were curious what Bong Joon-ho’s next film would be; and most were just as shocked when they learned he would adapt Ashton Edward’s sci-fi dystopian novel, Mickey7. Following Mickey Barnes, an ‘Expendable’ whose job it is to go on dangerous missions and get hurt (often dying), only to be re-printed and do it all over again, I was initially nervous about this one. After seeing it, none of my worries were correct, but I still found myself confused at some of the choices Bong made on the writing level.

No, I’m not talking about the borderline cheesiness of some lines; I actually think this film is a masterclass in tone, balancing black comedy with the darker elements common to this type of sci-fi. That being said, there’s a lot of material that’s been added here, much of it to no avail. Outer-space drug use, a weird love triangle between Mickey and two soldiers—I wonder why Bong would shift the novel’s focus so drastically only for none of these plot points to really go anywhere. If anything, I found a lot of the material in the almost two-and-a-half-hour runtime to detract from the central tragicomedy of life under hyper-capitalist rule. Instead of developing the really interesting ideas in the source material, Mickey 17 instead focuses on themes and characters that are never fleshed out or developed in a way that serves the story or our understanding of the central conflict.

There’s also an issue with the sequencing; the novel’s a lot less focused on Mickey’s background, allowing Edwards to instead focus on developing present-tensions and fleshing out the world Mickey lives in, sneaking in bits of exposition to let us know how he got there along the way. Instead of utilizing this elegant, clean storyline, Bong awkwardly cuts back and forth between two timelines, taking huge swaths of time to tell us something he could have snuck into a dialogue. This necessarily takes away from the moment, never allowing things to really build, especially because Bong always does it in the middle of an intense scene. While I see the potential comedic effects of such an approach, and can even understand what he was going for, it just doesn’t work with a story whose focus seemed much more geared toward the conflict of Mickey becoming a ‘double’ clone, or humanity’s struggle to live alongside a misunderstood alien race. It also makes the film feel slow, almost plodding in some moments, the pacing only saved by Yang Jin-mo’s ability to edit chaotic scenes into hysterically bewildering tableaux; but what surprised me most were the visuals.

Known for his sleek, stylish camera movements, I was surprised so much of Mickey 17 felt very stiff, the camera seemingly glued to the tripod except for a few key moments. Part of me wonders how much of this is due to the amount of VFX in the film, but even then, Bong has shown an ability to make the camera a vital part of movies that have many effects scenes. There’s also the issue of lighting. Especially outside the ship, I felt like a good portion of this film had a flat, desaturated look that reminded me of Wicked (2024)’s notorious palette. This is strange, since Snowpiercer (2013) showed that he knows how to shoot in outdoor snowy environments. Despite these shortcomings, I do think the music did a great job of providing contrast in some moments while really accentuating the emotionality of other scenes. Sometimes, especially in the early shots of the film, everything comes together and you can see a hint of what Bong was going for, and it really is brilliant. That he was still able to render some beautiful images and moments with this messy script and shoddy cinematography speaks to his level of skill, and I also his mostly-great cast.

A lot of people will probably give Mark Ruffalo a hard time for his performance’s uncanny blending of Trump and Elvis, but I think it works so well for the ridiculous tone the film has from the outset. The veneers, the megalomania, it’s fantastic—especially when placed against the other phenomenal performances we get throughout the film. Robert Pattinson is clearly at the top of his game, experimenting with voices and physicality to differentiate each version of Mickey we see, showing the full spectrum of human emotion and becoming the core of this film in the process. I think these actors (and Steven Yeun/Toni Collette) were so strong and grounded that, by comparison, Naomi Ackie is really lackluster, especially in one particularly cringe-worthy monologue (though I’d blame that more on the writing than her, her delivery didn’t do it any favors.)

It’s hard for me to write this review, because I’ve been looking forward to this film since it was announced. I think Bong is one of the most important filmmakers working today, constantly taking huge risks and commenting on things like capitalism and oppression in very accessible, earnest ways. This film is clearly not without its flaws, but I do think what it’s trying to say is important, even if how that’s said is a bit convoluted. Messy, entertaining and full of moments that will make you cry and laugh simultaneously, it’s fair to say Bong Joon-ho is still one of a kind. Mickey 17 is in theaters this weekend, and I do encourage you to go see it! It’s rare to see so many great artists come together and give us a film of this scale. It might not be his best, but it’s one that will get people talking and thinking, and isn’t that the whole reason art exists?