Mickey 17

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'Mickey 17' is one of those weird titles where the trailer makes it look like something totally up my alley, but the final product, while perfectly fine, didn't quite hit as anything genuinely unique. I would say this is a lot like taking 'Starship Troopers' and 'Edge of Tomorrow' and blending them together, as it's mostly about humanity's struggle against "space bugs" along with an individual who can, essentially, regenerate (with the help of futuristic technology.)

I pretty much went into this knowing what to expect, story-wise, so a lot of it hinged on Robert Pattinson's performance, as he's one fine actor I'll fight for while so many others still see the sparkly vampire from 'Twilight,' and frankly need to move on. His acting here is solid, too, playing two versions of the same person with distinct, individual personalities; Mickey 17, the prominent Mickey who narrates the story and proves to be a bit of an awkward dumb guy, scared of most things, and Mickey 18, which is basically his bad-ass side incarnate.

So, what's with the numbered system on Mickey? Essentially, Earth develops a cloning technology that gets banned on Earth due to Multiples, which is probably self-explanatory. The technology is then only to be used in space exploration, using individuals they dub "Expendables," whose job it is to do all the dangerous and deadly stuff because they can "print out another one," using DNA and a lot more high-tech talk that tell how things like memories, personality, etc. are also restored.

Meanwhile, Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) and his friend, Timo (Steven Yeun), are running from a dangerous loan shark to whom they owe money after a failed business venture. On the run, the pair sign up to be crew on a colonization ship headed to Niflheim. While Timo manages to sign up as a shuttle pilot, Mickey signs up to be an "Expendable." On the mission, he goes through several experiments that kill him. They keep bringing him back until one day, his 17th incarnation gets abandoned on the planet and left to be food for what they dub "Creepers," which is probably something many 'Minecraft' fans won't be too fond of.

After being left for dead, and without me saying too much, Mickey 17 manages to survive and make it back to the ship, where he meets Mickey 18. He finds himself amid a Multiple problem while the colony's leaders, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), instill a rule of never being allowed Multiples, which means one of them will have to die. So some of it involves the pair of Mickeys working together to survive, but a good chunk of it is also about Mickey 17's experience with the Creepers, again, without saying too much.

I haven't mentioned one individual yet here: Mickey's girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie). She's probably one of the more interesting characters throughout the film, as she constantly alternates between being thought of as a potential backstabbing villain and a potential teammate and hero. Kudos to the film for keeping me guessing on her character. That's the kind of character creating I can really enjoy: make them very middle-ground and make me wonder how things are gonna turn out. I could put Mickey 18 in the same category.

While I really did enjoy the film, there's something about it I can't quite put my finger on. It could be seeing the whole cloning idea done again, or it could be a bit of the somewhat irksome character of Mickey 17 (even if it does show more of Pattinson's acting flexibility), or it could be the whole bug alien thing. But I'll have to see this a few more times for it to really sink in, and it's good enough that I'd be willing to see it multiple times. My criticisms of it come from seeing too many movies. This could be a fun ride for everyone else, especially if you have a dark sense of humour.

4/5

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