Cinepals - Just Watched MICKEY 17! | Non-Spoiler Review | Robert Pattinson | Bong Joon Ho

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Jaby and Cortney give their non-spoiler thoughts on Bong Joon Ho's latest film "Mickey 17" fresh out of the theater! In Mickey 17, a disposable clone assigned to perilous colonization tasks confronts existential dilemmas when a duplicate is mistakenly created, challenging the nature of identity and expendability. Mickey 17 is directed by Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer, The Host). The main cast includes Robert Pattinson (The Batman, Good Time, The Lighthouse) as Mickey Barnes, a disposable clone facing existential challenges. Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, The End of the F**ing World*) portrays Nasha, Mickey's significant other. Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight, The Avengers, Foxcatcher) plays a character inspired by various historical politicians and dictators. Toni Collette (Hereditary, Little Miss Sunshine, Knives Out) portrays the wife of Ruffalo's character, adding depth to the narrative. Steven Yeun (Minari, The Walking Dead, Nope) is also part of the ensemble cast. SOCIAL MEDIA: ~CORTNEY WRIGHT~ TWITTER: @CortneySWright INSTAGRAM: @CortneyScottWright ~CINEPALS~ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CinePals  Insta: https://instagram.com/TheCinePals Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCinePals

What's going on, everybody? We just saw Mickey 17 in IMAX, if you can see that up there. If you're going to watch Mickey 17, IMAX is a fantastic way to watch it. It looks beautiful. It's shot in what looks like a taller format, it feels like. It really popped off the screen. It sucked me right in. It's a wild movie. I'm joined by Courtney Wright, by the way. Hello, hello. So I didn't see a single trailer to this, at least not that I can recall. You said you saw a trailer. I did. So I did not know what to expect going into this film. All I knew is Robert Pattinson is in this.

Bong Joon Ho directed it. And I was like, well, that's an interesting combination. The poster looks corky. Let's see what happens. And a corky, it definitely was. Out of respect for you guys, I'm going to keep this as non-spoiler as possible. I'm going to maybe touch on some of the themes with Courtney, how I felt about the acting, the effects, all that stuff. Like the broad strokes of everything and just the general feeling.

But I'm not going to dive into the story much more than just the premise. So let me see if I can set this up correctly. I just watched Koi do his non-spoiler review, and he spoke for no. nine minutes straight without taking a breath. And I'm like, oh my lord, what a man. Let's see what I can do here. A Mickey 17 takes place in the future, I think approximately 2050 AD. It's dealing with a crew of humans who are on a ship, going through space, trying to find

a planet. Your main character is this guy who keeps getting replicated. He keeps getting subjected to different human experiments to see how humans endure certain situations, how they can come up with solutions to different circumstances, two different pathogens or viruses that show up. So he is the reason why humans are able to survive because they keep creating solutions based off of him. He comes across something that he can't unsee

and then complexities arise from there. How was that? I mean, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. You know, this movie, it definitely gives a very different take on like the concept of cloning or the idea of several different versions of the same person.

So when I saw the trailer, I was like, okay, I think I know what I'm getting, and it is exactly what I expected, but I will say there was so much heart in this movie that I really found the lead character, Robert Pattinson, I found him endearing, and I was really rooting for this character. And what you were saying about your non-spoiler version, the only thing that I would add to that is it's really about this character's journey to understand himself. and what exactly to be alive means? The first thing I noticed when the film started was Robert Pattinson's voice. I didn't know the voice he was going to choose when he signed up to do this character,

and it just jumped out at me. And honestly, initially, I thought that someone else was doing his voice for him. I was a little bit confused because that sounds nothing like any of the Robert Pattinson's I've ever heard in my life.

Yeah, it was a little frustrating. At first, when I heard it, it was a little jacked. Oh, I fell in love with it right away. I just didn't know it was actually him. I didn't. So I was like, whoa, he is, his vocal ability is insane to me because I've heard the broad range of Robert Pattinson voices at this point, from Twilight to Batman to this. I'm like, God dang, that's crazy that he has that ability. I can't say anything else besides that.

Otherwise, I'm going to spoil something. I just really adored his character and how quirky he was. He was like the underdog in all the circumstances in the movie. And I think that's what makes him so accessible as a person. And he plays it so well for being this. this dude that I know is not that guy in real life. I bought him as this guy who's just like, you know, hung dog look on his face.

The whole, like, but that's the, that's the ability of an amazing actor to lose themselves in a role. And it's so hard to do it when you have so many different versions of a character. You know, I always think of like my favorite actor to do it thus far is Tatiana Maslani in Orphan Black to play, who plays several different clones. I thought that Robert Pattinson, what he did in this was very, very, it was wonderful because to your point, like the voice did grow on me because I accepted this is Mickey, you know, like I accepted this is who he is, how he talks, how he moves. And then to

see different versions of that character have different mannerisms was amazing, like on a masterpiece level, like a mastery level as an actor. He is amazing. So I've seen three Bong Joon films at this point. I've seen the host. I saw that way before Bong Joon Ho was cool in America, and then I saw Parasite and now this. For me, I would rank it, and I'm, this is going to be controversial after this film comes out. I would rank it, the host, which is already controversial to put on top, and then Mickey 17 and then Parasite for me. In that order? In that order of like, if I was to revisit these films, I've watched the host like three times. I love that film. And so I really admire Bong Joon Ho and his style. And so there are comedic elements to the film. I think

that's clear right off the trailer, if you've seen the trailer. I feel like that's not something they would hide. It's clear in the poster as well. I mean, just like his expression in the poster. Moderately clear in the trailer. Oh, is it? Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, you know that there's something that is a little bit off, a little different, and you're not sure if you're supposed to laugh at it, but I will say that there are moments you absolutely, they find comedy, and it's fantastic. That way you just described that is exactly what the experience is like when you watch the host, because there are stuff that happens where you're like, am I supposed to find this funny? And it actually is deliberate. You are supposed to find it funny, and there's a lot of moments

in this film that's like that, that is unequivocally dark humor. And so if you don't like dark humor, you're not going to enjoy this movie. And so... Yeah, it's definitely different. You know, as you said, in a quirky, roundabout way. But it's absolutely endearing, and I know that you're really going to enjoy it. I am wildly excited to see what audiences feel about this film, because I know without a shadow of a doubt, it's going to be divisive. The film comes out strong about halfway through the film of putting its cards on the table and saying, this is what we're

here to say. It has no shame in putting out there what it's trying to say. Courtney, even turned to me at one point and goes, is this about this? And I'm like, that's exactly what this is about, Courtney. And it's not shying away from it whatsoever. It's in your face with the message. And it's not just one message. There's like multiple messages

in this film that is talking about. Yeah. And I don't know how much of this is inherently Bong Joon and his personal philosophy. Or actor choices. Or actor choices. Or the book, because it's based on a book. Yes. And so this definitely makes me want to read the book just because the film is so wild. And it goes to places I don't expect.

It's definitely going to be the most talked about movie once it comes out, just because it's so different. I promise you, if you watch this film, it'll be the most weird different movie you have seen this year, guaranteed, even given the rest of 2025, it's going to be the weirdest thing you see this year. I promise you. In a good way. Yeah, in a good way, but also, maybe not so good ways.

Yeah. No, no, no. The reason I said that is because. I really enjoyed this. Like, once you buy into this is the world that's been created, then you understand the quirk and the weirdness, and you're just there.

Like, the acting performances overall, like, as a cast, like ensemble, fantastic. I would say that the film veer is on the longer side. It feels longer at a certain point, and it's just because I didn't necessarily know where it was going. It doesn't follow, you would know, you'd be able to

speak to this better than I do. Obviously, this is non-sportless, so we won't be too specific. it doesn't really follow the natural hero's journey trajectory. There's definitely that beat of the hero can't turn back. You know, I want to become a Jedi, Master Obi, or Obi-1. So, you know, you have that moment where the hero, what is that called? The hero's journey. The hero's journey. But, like, he hits a point at page 27 or whatever where it's like, okay, this is no longer an option. This is the only option, right? Where Luke decides to become a Jedi. Like the rising action or the climax? I guess it's the rising action. I don't know these terms as well as

but in terms of structure it's like there is that beat in the film where it's like oh this is the direction and he has to go and there's no turning back now and then the film gets really effing weird and it's like where are we going i'm not saying it's a bad thing and i'm just let me just get through this one thought it's like i just was like i have no idea where this is headed but i'm definitely strapped in and i'm on for this ride anyway go ahead no what i was going to say is i definitely think that the hero's journey is what our hero character like mickey is following because he has to fight against himself in order to, and I don't mean that literally, I mean fight against his own internal nature in order to make a decision of what I want to do. So it's definitely

like that internal battle, you know, of can I do this? Should I do this? What do I do? That he definitely goes through. So it's absolutely that, that, you know, traditional hero's journey. The Joseph Campbell thing. So I said earlier, this is a sci-fi film and, you know, you're dealing with a bunch of people in space and stuff. The visual effects in this is remarkable. Talk about watching something in IMAX. The thing about IMAX and the screen is it's not going to lie, right? You're seeing everything.

So if there's flaws, you're going to see the flaws. There's no hiding it. And the visual effects is so stunning. I was just like jaw dropping. You'll be asking yourself how the hell they pulled this off. How does it look this good, this convincing, this realistic wall to wall? There isn't a single instance in this film where I was like, that looked fake. the entire time I was on board for it.

The one thing I was going to say about the IMAX, in terms of the world, like when you're traveling through space, and they finally land on the planet that they're getting to, seeing that on IMAX is absolutely stunning, because it's the littlest minute detail that you can see on the character's face, from the costume, to everything,

and especially when they're on the ship. Because it can be, like, for me, when you only have, like, a minimal amount of space to, to, like, showcase, i.e., the ship that they're traveling or their quarters or what have you, but they find a way, like, Bonghoon Joe. Bong Jo. Yeah, okay. Bong Joon-ho. I just want to make sure I said that right.

We're a little dyslexic on his name. So sorry. I probably been saying Bong-ho-June the whole time. Now you got me messed up. Bong-Jun-ho. That's what I think I said that. I hope I said that. Anyways, what he did well was to really showcase that, that we could, we could, we,

could feel the grandiose nature of it, even though it was a small, compact place. Like, I could see all of the, whether or not they're in, like, a group setting or individual, like really close contact. Like, I just, everything was fantastic. I could see in the IMAX. We see Mark Ruffalo there. I suppose it's okay. We see Steve Ewan there. I suppose it's okay to talk about some of the faces we see on the poster. I want to be very careful how we talk about them. All I'll say is... Naomi Acky... Naomi Acky...

Is that how you say her name? Naomi Acky did a fantastic job. Very convincing in her role. Steve Ewan, always good. Tony Collette did a wonderful job. Mark Ruffalo, I wonder how everyone's going to feel. I want to hear what you said... What you feel before I say what I feel.

Go ahead. I feel he definitely made a very strong character choice. At times, it did feel like he was putting it on very strong and it, in times when I turned to you and I was like, is that what I think it is? It kind of turned me off at times, but once I leaned in. Maybe it's supposed to. No, not in a negative way, like, turn me off like, I don't like this. Like, turn me up because it was so, such a grandiose choice. But then I realized this is who this character is and this is the reason that we have our feelings about him. Not just the mannerisms or the actions or

even the things that he says, it's really about what his overall arching goal and plan for, you know, his actions in the movie, which, you know, like, you need to be this, like, ridiculous character. Yeah. There is something that happened in real life that we all saw in the news and you see it happen in this movie. And it's so weird to see it in the movie. And it's like your brain goes wait is that what is it referencing it is referencing that that's crazy that it's referencing that real life thing and so it's unabashedly shamelessly going this is what this is about yo and so mark ruffalo's choices as this character i like mark ruffalo i've liked him for a long time and i think he definitely makes bold choices in this film i don't know that those

choices necessarily gel with my uh i don't know i don't know if i like it that's the short of it i'm trying to find a nice way to say it i don't know if i like what he did for me is Like, I don't know that we needed it per se. Like, I understand why he did it and I accepted it. And like I said, it worked ultimately for the choices that he made. But if he had made a different choice, would I have liked that better? I think yes. But I understand why he made the choice that he did.

Yeah, I get it. It's not lost on me. It's hard. Yeah. No, it's... We get it. It makes sense based on... Once you understand what's happening, it makes sense why he's doing that.

It just feels so caricature to me. me that it doesn't feel real like the way Robert Pattinson feels real, like the way Naomi Acky feels real, or Stephen Ewan, or Tony Colette. Well, yeah, Tony Colette was actually perfectly writing that line of like caricature and real throughout the entire film. And for me, this is the second time I've watched Mark Ruffalo do a character that was so over the top. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. The last one was pretty little things, whatever that film was called. Oh, yeah. I forgot what it's called, where what's her name, one best actress. Yeah. I I wasn't sure how I felt about him there. Emma Stone, yeah.

And so here, again, I'm like, that's a choice. I don't know, it's fun. You know, the whole vibe is very big when it comes to him, and I think that is the point. There wasn't ever an instance except for maybe one scene where I'm like, oh, there's an actor who knows what he's doing. There was one scene like that. But I think that most people watching it will enjoy what he does. He's definitely entertaining. Yeah, he's definitely entertaining.

You can't take that away from him. Whether or not you love this film, it will definitely be something you talk about. It'll definitely be something that stays with you. This is very unique. It is definitely one of those unique films I've ever seen, and I hope that you all watch it and watch it in IMAX. Thanks so much for hanging out, you guys.

Hopefully you enjoyed this non-spoiler review, and looking forward to hear what you guys think of it. I'm Jabby Kauai. This is... Courtney Scott Wright. Peace out.