Breaking copies: "Mickey 17" with Pattinson has reached Russia
Bong Joon-ho had to wait six years for a new work after "Parasites" won Cannes and the Oscars. Filming of this sci-fi blockbuster satire was completed back in 2022, but the world premiere of "Mickey 17" took place only in Berlin this February. The release was released internationally on March 6 and failed miserably. Last weekend, "Mickey" began showing in Russian cinemas as a pre-screening service. Izvestia watched the tape on the big screen and came to the conclusion that the commercial failure of Bong Joon-ho's work speaks more about the quality of the audience than about the film itself.
What are the similarities between "Edge of the Future" and "Mickey 17"
A little over a decade ago, Doug Lyman's film "The Edge of the Future", a kind of periphery of "Groundhog Day", failed in the United States. Tom Cruise's hero, with the help of sophisticated cyber armor, tried to defeat the aliens and each time he died, he was resurrected on the same day in order to rush into the same battle again with the experience gained. $100 million at home could be considered a disaster, considering the funds invested in production and advertising. Perhaps the Americans just didn't want to see their idol die in the frame over and over again.
The year 2025 has arrived, "Mickey 17" has been released, and after its first week in the United States, it has less than $30 million. There is no data on the second weekend yet, but fees are unlikely to have increased. At the same time, it is not so easy to understand why the film failed.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
Is this a high-quality Sci-fi? Definitely. What is only an incredibly authentic view of the planet Niflheim (taken from Scandinavian mythology), where eternal frost reigns and creatures like worms from the "Dune" live.
Is there a star cast? The magnificent Robert Pattinson, who has one of the best roles of his career, and the grotesque senator played by Mark Ruffalo, with his wife played by multiple Oscar, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominee Toni Collette.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
Is this a political satire, as always by Bong Joon-ho? Of course. And it's not for nothing that there are always people in red baseball caps at senator's rallies: the hero combines the features of Trump and Mask. However, it should be said that in 2022, when filming took place, even the genius of satire, Bong Joon-ho, could not imagine how his prototypes would behave towards the release of the picture. As a result, the senator, even in the most acute moments, seems to be a pale likeness of those from whom he was copied. At the same time, already in 2022, a Korean came up with an unsuccessful assassination attempt for this hero during a rally, and even the slight wound received by the character is very similar.
Signs of satire include the fact that the prologue hints at parallels with "The Squid Game," and the whole film similarly criticizes a capitalist society where a poor man's life is worth less than a bottle of sauce on a rich man's table (sauce is an important theme of "Mickey 17," but it's difficult to discuss it without spoilers).
What is the movie "Mickey 17" about
The plot of the film is easily described in a few phrases. Mickey, the loser, escaping from the sewers, volunteers for a space expedition to colonize the icy hell of the planet Niflheim. Mickey's position is unique, he is the only "consumable" on the space station. This means that he is the main experimental rat. Before the experiment, Mickey is backed up, and when he dies, a full copy of him is printed on a 3D printer - and you can continue working.
Due to this daily feat, it is possible to calculate the viruses of the planet and find an antidote, test various chemicals and do a lot of useful things. The dim-witted Mickey has learned to take death in stride, and at the station he has a passionate affair with the beautiful Nasha, who is not bothered by the fact that each version of Mickey is slightly different from the previous one.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
Everything goes smoothly until the moment when one of the Mickey, the seventeenth, survives and meets his new copy, and according to the law of the station, this means that both must be destroyed.
A faithful heir to the traditions of the new wave of Korean cinema, Bong Joon-ho is quite merciless towards his characters, he kills them mercilessly and naturalistically, and just the sight of a naked Mickey falling out of a 3D printer once again can make you feel uncomfortable.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
This immediately cuts off some part of the audience.: no matter how much Pattinson's girls love him, not everyone will agree to go to a movie where, firstly, he plays a fool, and secondly, he also freezes, vomits, constantly convulses - he just doesn't defecate in the frame.
The film could be a body horror, but there's too much humor in it for that-much more than in last year's "Substance." The script has an overabundance of false leads, two, if not three, finales, and a duration of almost two and a half hours, although there are not enough events for such a duration. In short, it is difficult to condemn all the opponents of "Mickey 17", they are absolutely right when they scold the imperfections of the film.
What is the value of "Mickey 17"?
Something else is much more interesting. When viewers start discussing this picture after watching it, it turns out that everyone understands what it is about in different ways. What especially confuses the cards is that the tape contains references to the past works of Bong Joon-ho, much more integral, but very different "Through the Snow", "Okche" and "Parasites". On the other hand, it is "Mickey 17" that finally makes it possible to accurately formulate just the basic idea of the most successful Korean director in history.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
The problem is that reason, or more precisely, a cynically rational approach to the world, always leads to a global catastrophe. Let us recall the rigid commitment to speed for the sake of humanity's survival in "Through the Snow", the breeding of the ideal "meat" animal in "Okcha", the amazing symbiosis of rich and poor "Parasites" — and we will see that Mickey-17, the futuristic Prince Myshkin, a naive but kind idiot, is considered by Bong Joon-ho to be the only hope of mankind. for survival. His blissful ignorance, his maximum vulnerability, his gullibility turn him into a travestied messiah, because he sacrifices himself on the altar of humanity without asking for anything in return, and he does it obediently and joyfully — in the name of eternal life, because then they will print a copy anyway.
Of course, this is a risky joke by Bong Joon-ho with both Christianity and Buddhism at the same time, but his obvious position is that the world inevitably rests on such righteous people, and those who accurately calculate all the risks and act for sure lead to hellfire. Which, by the way, is also present in this film, contrasting with the Niflheim ice sheet.
A shot from the movie "Mickey 17".
It is difficult to say how large the Russian audience of "Mickey 17" will be, empty seats at almost all sessions in Moscow are a bad sign for the release of pre—show service. Fortunately for the film, it has a beautiful poster with many portraits of Pattinson and a dynamic trailer — they are practically the only advertisement for the release in the current situation. Edward Ashton's novel "Mickey 7", based on which the film was shot, was published in Russia, but it's not a hit at all. But there aren't a lot of big premieres right now, so "Mickey 17" shouldn't get lost in movie theaters, you just need to be prepared for black humor and fiction, which is not so fantastic if you think about it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
