Mickey Versus Mickey: When Cloning Goes Corporate

The ice planet scenes hit you with this washed-out grey-white that Darius Khondji clearly spent hours calibrating. Watch the entire performance even though the first scene appears hazy because of the fogged glass effect.

Look, Pattinson playing two versions of himself works. Mickey 17 shuffles around in beige jumpsuits Catherine George designed, all patched and worn. Then Mickey 18 shows up in a pristine version. Instant visual storytelling. The costume work carries more narrative weight than half the exposition dumps about colony protocol.

Ruffalo's politiBrian Marshall? The performer delivers a slurred Trump impersonation which exists between comedic satire and amateur theater performance. The system operates at its highest point until it reaches a specific limit where it starts to work again.

The cloning concept creates discomfort within me. The film presents ethics in a way that is unexpected because it shows minimal concern for this subject. More how they use this brilliant premise mostly for slapstick. The main story begins after Pattinson dies sixteen times because each of his deaths serves as a comedic ending. The practice of disposability creates a problem because it allows the repetition of traumatic events which could have been explored. Instead, montages.

But then Timo finds Mickey 17 at the bottom of that ice cavern: "Oh shit! Your flamethrower's still good. Not a single scratch."The casual cruelty of caring more about equipment than his supposed friend dying of hypothermia. That's when it clicks.

The color improves drastically on the ship. The sterile white and industrial gray colors become toxic green and emergency orange when danger emerges. Every Marshall scene drowns in sickly yellow light that makes his skin look jaundiced. Smart.

Can we talk about those Creeper aliens? Design looks like Gremlins fed through an AI trained on Lovecraft. Oddly derivative for Bong. The way they touch Mickey creates an unexpected sense of gentleness which surprises viewers.

(Mickey crashes his mom's car as a kid because he pressed a button, and this haunts him through seventeen deaths?Bit on the nose.)
The main comedic theme of the film remains consistent through its depiction of human existence being treated as worthless yet people strongly protect their physical belongings. "According to Timo, you should be sliding out of the asshole of one of those Creepers right about now," Mickey 18 tells Mickey 17. The vulgarity serves its purpose because it shows the language that people would actually use when they experience the same worthlessness as the characters do.

The story loses its rhythm because both Mickeys decide to hide their identical life situations. Goes on forever. Bong presents a dinner scene where Mickey 17 receives experimental food which causes him to become ill through disgusting close-up camera work under yellow Marshall-light illumination that makes everything appear spoiled.

The ending goes completely off the rails with thousands of Creepers surrounding the colony ship. Feels rushed. Bong seemed to recall that he needed to create a climax at that moment. Still, when baby Creepers emerge from that ceremonial rock, the practical effects and CGI combo sells it.

Honestly? Messy but fascinating.