Mickey 17 is Bong Joon Ho's third English language feature and it has similar themes to his others - Snowpiercer and Okja - absurdities galore, odd creatures, and earnest entreaties for a steadier hand, socially and ecologically. In contrast, his Korean films feel a little more hardboiled, not as fantastical. Robert Pattinson plays the titular Mickey as a creepy but endearing loser. He and his areshole mate, Timo (Steven Yeun) are on the run from a nasty loan shark, so they decide to billet themselves on a space-going vessel. Said ship is heading to the planet Niflheim to colonise and propagate the human species. This endeavour is led by a proper bell-end, failed senator Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his foodie wife Ylfa (Toni Collette). The chicken twistie here is that Mickey accidentally signs up as an 'expendable', meaning his body is reproduced every time he dies, but his memories and personality are retained (mostly) and uploaded into a newly printed Mickey. ...
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