Entertainment
Robert Pattinson’s Electric Sci-Fi Adventure Is Officially an HBO Max Sleeper Hit
When Parasite defied the odds to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards (a very cool and well-deserved win), it raised the stakes for Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up film. So, when it was announced that he would be making an English-language sci-fi comedy adapted from Edward Ashton’s Mickey7, people were excited. And while Mickey 17 was well received by critics, it was a major bomb at the box office.
Mickey 17 has a 78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 73 percent from users (meaning this isn’t a “critics oversold it” situation). However, it only made $133 million off of a reported $118 million budget, which is quite bad. Luckily, the movie has found new life streaming on HBO Max, where it has consistently appeared on the platform’s top 10 list. That makes Mickey 17 a certified sleeper hit.
What Happens in ‘Mickey 17’?
In the far-ish future, a man named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson, doing one of the weirdest voices in movie history) joins the crew of an expedition planning to colonize a frozen planet called Niflheim with his friend Timo (Steven Yeun). Mickey’s job is to be an “Expendable,” which means he gets exposed to deadly conditions/pathogens/whatever so the ship’s crew can learn from his death. He is then cloned and his memories are uploaded into the new body so he can continue his work, with the main protagonist of the movie being the 17th Mickey — hence the title.
Tasked with capturing one of the creatures that lives on Niflheim, Mickey 17 falls into a pit and is left to die (because cloning him is easier for everyone than trying to rescue him). An 18th Mickey is “printed” back at the colony ship, but Mickey 17 returns and convinces the new clone that they should both stay alive so they can make their lives easier (even though the survival of multiple clones is against the rules). Along with Mickey’s (both Mickeys’) love interest, played by Naomi Ackie, they somewhat inadvertently help orchestrate a rebellion against the tyrannical, Trump-esque politician (Mark Ruffalo) who leads the colonization mission with his Lady Macbeth-esque wife (Toni Collette).
Why Was ‘Mickey 17’ a Flop?
While the reviews for Mickey 17 were positive, its RT score isn’t in the 80s or 90s. That means it wasn’t overwhelmingly positive, so prospective moviegoers might’ve been turned off by the marketing or the general buzz surrounding the movie. Some of us love to see Robert Pattinson play a total weirdo, for example, but his The Batman was his last movie before Mickey 17, so perhaps people were put off by the fact that he’s not cool in this movie. (One could argue that his Batman is as much of a weirdo as anyone, but that’s still a cooler movie than Mickey 17.)
With Mickey 17 now on streaming, the barrier of entry is a little lower. You’re not committing yourself to buying a ticket and sitting in a theater for over two hours with Pattinson’s character’s bizarre voice, you’re just hitting a button on your remote and settling in on your comfy couch. Then you can take the time you need to get used to his voice and give yourself over to what the movie is doing and what it’s saying about capitalism and the way our world treats workers.
- Release Date
-
February 28, 2025
- Runtime
-
137 minutes
- Producers
-
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Marianne Jenkins, Dooho Choi, Jesse Ehrman
You must be logged in to post a comment Login