Mickey 17 - New Planet, Same Problems

Mickey 17

Mickey and his friend owe the mob. So, what better way to escape than head to sign up to be part of a crew that's heading to inhabit a new planet led by a rich, twice failed politician?

He signs up, without reading, for a very special job...Expendable

No...not like that. They have a technology that makes clones. His job is do tasks on the planet that are very dangerous. Inhaling the air to make sure there are no dangerous virus' in the air. He dies, a new one is made.

Things get interesting after he's assumed dead and rescued by these beautiful alien creatures. So, there's two of them now and it's very illegal to have more than one duplicate.

The film is pretty heavy handed in showing class differences. Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are great in their roles. Ruffalo has this very pronounced uppity way of talking and Collette plays his wife who is quite vapid, but very loyal and devoted to her husband...mostly for the money I'd say. Pattinson does well in the dual roles, but the voice? It became a lot after a while, very whiney. However, given the character, it fit his personality.

The crew is the middle and lower class, depending on the jobs. A lot of them look down on Mickey because he's an Expendable. They don't see him as human or normal because he's a clone. Always asking, "How does it feel to die?" The only person that really cares about him is Nasha, his girlfriend.

The thing about the clones is each one has a different personality, but still holds the memories of the other ones. Mickey 17 was good hearted and like the others a little slow. When he meets his duplicate, 18 is way more aggressive.

The movie is a bit unfocused while trying to be symbolic of class culture. The primary storyline is the arrival on the planet and the dual Mickey's. Secondary is a large group of alien creatures circling their ship...because the crew stole one of their baby aliens.

The alien planet was a bit bland. It was basically the planet Hoth. Ice planet with not much of anything else. The creature designs were unique, but they looked a little low budget Marvel alien. Like Morris from Sheng Chi.

Morris (Sheng Chi)

MIckey 17 aliens

They look like Morris, but with tentacles instead of wings. They were important to the second half of the story. Mickey figured out all they needed was the baby back. Of course Ruffalo and Collette didn't want to listen and wanted to kill the clones (thems is the rules).

Overall, the story, the sets, the villain...all were pretty bland. I was invested enough, but I was hoping for a little more, a better story.

2/5