For as much as I’ve gushed about the upcoming 2025 movies ahead, I haven’t paid enough attention to one of the earliest titles that has captured my heart and mind. As director Bong Joon-Ho’s Mickey 17 is finally going to hit theaters after suffering a horrific delay, I’m finally letting myself get excited about this one all over again. And there’s no time like the present to do so, as thanks to the first full trailer for this darkly comic sci-fi adventure, I’m already feeling sorry for Robert Pattinson’s "Expendable" hero.
Mickey 17 sounds like what would happen if you crossbred some of the best sci-fi movies of all time. More specifically, Moon, Wall-E and Snowpiercer are the titles I’d throw into my metaphorical blender, especially after this footage given to us by Warner Bros. The brass tacks explanation of this overall plot is that since poor Mickey 1 (Robert Pattinson) signed up to become an Expendable for a far flung space colony, he's basically given people the right to use "human printing" to create another him, until the job is done.
Living up to its reputation of using Dean Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" as background music, this movie already looks like a load of fun. Especially when Mickey 17 (Pattinson again) manages to survive a brush with almost certain death... much to the chagrin of Mickey 18 (guess who). So for those of you who were anxiously awaiting this footage, I hope you have your faith in Mickey 17's release date holding up is once again restored.
It also seems like our own Eric Eisenberg’s Mickey 17 Cinema-Con footage reaction was right on the money with the dark comedy vibes. My earlier Snowpiercer comparison seems to be especially apt thanks to that quick shot of Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo playing what look like absolutely unhinged colony administrators. Ruffalo's comments about playing a "nasty dictator" are coming back to me now.
But let’s go back to Robert Pattinson’s titular Mickey 17 for a moment, because that seems to be a huge indicator that the wait will indeed be worth it. In addition to the morbidly dark humor, and Bong Joon-ho's sharp commentary on modern life being ever present, Pattinson absolutely works as whatever Mickey you're rooting for.
Which is especially important when the bureaucratic adversaries trying to decide which Mickey dies look like this:
Here come those Snowpiercer vibes again, right on schedule. Of course, no matter who you're pulling for, there's a good chance that the Mickey you can get behind will be expended by the time Mickey 17 concludes.
Though this film plays with the subject of mortality like a breezy sci-fi adventure comedy, there's probably going to be some high stakes present. Robert Pattinson greets it all with varying dispositions, and a voice reminiscent of his wild southern drawl from The Devil All The Time.
Mickey 17 is set to show us the bright side of death on January 31, 2025, only in theaters. And before you run off to the library to secure a copy of author Edward Ashton’s Mickey7, no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Apparently, Bong Joon-ho told the audience at this year's CinemaCon that he killed Mickey off 10 more times than the source material. Ain't that a kick in the head?
