Mickey 17
[4k/Digital Code]
Was everyone as worried about Mickey 17 as I was? Parasite was a smash hit! Shockingly, the WORLD embraced it. And THAT was a follow up to Snowpiercer and Okja, which were very specific kinds of movies that only SOME people liked. I know Chris Evans likes to say he was just interested in working with Bong Joon Ho, but the move reeked of “take a big paycheck to work on a foreign movie the western audience won’t see anyway.” Well, the western audience DID see it. That movie rules. And who am I kidding? Who knows why Evans made that movie. But yeah, Ho is on a roll and after getting a frickin’ OSCAR for Parasite we all wanted to see what he was going to do next. I’m sure studios were scrambling to get dibs. Ho even got Pattinson to do this movie. And from what I’ve seen, the two are thick as thieves. So, why did Mickey 17’s release date keep getting pushed back for a year? Was it going to be a big disappointment?
No, but the studio execs are the big disappointment. Seth Rogan might be trying to usher in the era of the sympathetic exec, and it might just well be that studio execs are the good guys (come on, really?), but if people were expecting Parasite-level smarts, they would be in for a rude awakening. Maybe they thought we wouldn’t be ready for Mickey 17. Or that the larger audience wouldn’t be ready for it. Anyway, let’s stop talking about execs and the audience.
Mickey 17 is a great movie and is more reminiscent of Ho’s sci-fi work like Snowpiercer and Host. Kudos to Pattinson who is just so lovable and likeable in the role of Mickey 17. You can immediately root for the guy as a less-than-regular Joe in these extraordinary circumstances. Less so for Mark Ruffalo who is clearly doing a too-on-the nose Donald Trump. I get it, Ruffalo, you’re a master of exposing those who cause injustice to the masses. How about you do subtlety, for once, and not a cartoon? My man, Jong, you gotta reign in your actors when they go off the rails. First Gyllenhaal in Okja and now THIS? Anyway, I love a good sci-fi with spaceships and foreign planets and Ho loves his overly-complex and misunderstood “monsters” who really help us realize….it is WE who are the monsters (?). Something that’s been done to death, I know, but I just like the way this movie does it.
Mickey 17 has a compelling story, is full of heart, keeps things rolling, is never boring, and builds to a satisfying conclusion. Don’t be dumb. Watch this movie! It’s finally out!
