Pretty much since Bong Joon-ho won three Academy Awards in 2020 for Parasite (including Best Picture), movie lovers have been excited to see what he does next. At long last, his next project is hitting the 2025 movie calendar soon. Mickey 17 is an adaptation of the book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton and stars Robert Pattinson as the titular expendable. The sci-fi dark comedy has screened for critics, and first reactions are hitting social media. Let’s see what people think.
Before we get to the critics, though, for those unfamiliar with the source material, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) is a disposable clone worker living on the human colony Niflheim. As an “expendable,” he takes on lethal jobs, with his body being regenerated after each death. Things go awry when Mickey 17 is wrongly presumed dead and Mickey 18 is also created. Emily Murray of GamesRadar says the film feels especially relevant in current times, writing on X (Twitter):
Director Bong Joon Ho follows up Parasite with the zany Mickey 17 - a thrilling, unexpected sci-fi drama which feels incredibly urgent to today’s world. You’ll instantly fall for Robert Pattinson’s brilliant performance, with Mark Ruffalo’s sleazy politician being a highlight too.
Co-starring with Robert Pattinson are Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo in the role of a nasty dictator. The Nerds of Color praises all of the performances in Bong Joon-Ho’s Mickey 17, especially that of Pattinson in the dual role. They write on X:
Director Bong does it again! Mickey 17 is mind blowing, hilarious, and his most epic film to date! Weird, smart, and wonderful, with a stellar dual performance from Robert Pattinson, and brilliant turns from Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo!
Liam Crowley of ScreenRant agrees that Mark Ruffalo shines in this cautionary tale. Mickey 17 has even changed the way this critic thinks about being a human. The critic writes:
Mickey 17 is a chaotically charismatic, thought-provoking cautionary tale. Pattinson gets truly lost in this role + Ruffalo steals every scene. I wish it was coated in more traditional darkness, less black comedy. Nonetheless, it left me w/ a new POV on humanity + morality.
Eli Johnson, senior writer at POC Culture, writes via Bluesky that the director — who also wrote the screenplay — provides a brilliant commentary that’s bolstered by its lead’s performance. Johnson says:
Humorous, surrealist & incredibly smart, Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is a colorful commentary on classism, human nature & the cult of personality. Robert Pattinson delivers a nuanced performance, masterfully transforming into Mickey’s split personalities w/ charisma & ease.
John Nguyen of Nerd Reactor agrees Robert Pattinson is more than capable of pulling off both Mickey clones, but this critic thinks Bong Joon-ho might have missed an opportunity to expand the story toward the end. Nguyen writes:
Robert Pattinson is a blast to see playing different characters in Mickey 17. However, I felt it was a lost opportunity focusing the third act on the otherworldly threats instead of seeing the drama of the Mickeys play out. I think it would have worked better as a series.
Germain Lussier of Gizmodo also had a minor issue with Mickey 17, writing that the political movements feel too real to be fun:
I really liked most of Mickey 17. Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon-Ho together in this sci-fi world works great. BUT - the movie pivots to having very familiar & obvious political parallels that undercut much of that, making it feel too real to be as fun as it wants to be.
Matt Maytum of TotalFilm has no such issues, thinking that the director is able to strike the right chord between its satirical message and its eccentricities. In Maytum’s words:
I very much enjoyed Mickey 17 - Director Bong skilfully balances the absurdity and satire with some nice sci-fi world building, and Robert Pattinson is great many times over
BJ Colangelo of Slashfilm is on board with much of the praise the film is receiving in the first social media reactions. The critic calls it “uncomfortably funny” and poignant, saying it’s Bong Joon-ho’s best English-language film to date:
Bong Joon-ho has crafted another masterpiece with Mickey 17, a deeply heartfelt and uncomfortably funny musing on capitalism, colonization, and corruption with a sublime cast. It’s a perfect film for our time, and Director Bong’s best English-language film yet.
CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg called Mickey 17 “wacky sci-fi fun” after seeing footage at CinemaCon, so that on top of these reactions should inspire optimism in anyone who’s read the book or simply saw Parasite and is looking forward to the director’s next movie. Unfortunately the wait to see it isn’t quite over yet. Mickey 17 is set to hit theaters on Friday, March 7.
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