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Here's a look at the new movie I saw this week!

Mickey 17 (Theaters)
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and Toni Collette
Synopsis: It’s been a while since we’ve seen something from director Bong Joon Ho. He won for Parasite, which was released in 2019, and hasn’t had a theatrical release since. But that’s not entirely his fault. His follow up film, Mickey 17, finally hits theaters this Friday. But it’s been a long road for the film. It was originally due in 2024 but got pushed to January. It got pushed again to April, then pulled up to March in a swap with Sinners. But delays are nothing new for its star, Robert Pattinson, who hasn’t been on screen since The Batman in 2022. That films sequel has also been delayed, time and again. So, has absence made the heart grow fonder for Joon Ho and Pattinson? Perhaps, but this latest collaboration probably isn’t the exciting return you’d hoped to see. The film is set in the near future—2054—where humanity has developed the ability to travel to remote planets. They’ve also perfected the technology for printing humans, meaning someone could, potentially, never die. Or rather, their death wouldn’t be permanent. That technology and its ethical questions ended up being rejected on Earth, but not in space. Along comes Mickey (Pattinson), whose deal with a loan shark to open a business has gone down in flames. Now, rather than face a gruesome death, he decides to become an expendable on a mission to a remote planet. Unfortunately, that comes with its own series of gruesome deaths. Because he can always be re-printed, Mickey becomes the test subject for every disease and every dangerous situation and job on the ship. That makes the four-plus year journey out to their new home a harrowing one for Mickey, who as we meet him is on his No. 17 body. He looks destined to die again, but a funny thing happens, and he manages to survive. As he makes it back to the ship, it’s clear his return wasn’t expected. He runs into a new version—Mickey 18—creating a dangerous situation. In this world there can never be multiples, and if there are then it’s curtains for the subject forever. Can Mickey find a way out? This film has a solid cast, which includes Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, and Toni Collette, among others. It also has an interesting premise. The trailer made me curious to see how this would all come together, especially in a film written and directed by Joon Ho. The problem is many of the most interesting and funny lines pop in the trailer. The first 30 minutes or so is world-building and backstory. It’s quite amusing and shows all the way Mickey met his fate. But once we’re past that set up and into the heart of the narrative, things slow down. The talented actors are, mostly, given stock parts to play. Pattinson has fun playing different versions of himself with different personalities, but even that schtick wears thin in a film that runs 137 minutes. He’s good but it’s in service of a story that takes too long to get where it’s going. Many of the characters feel over-the-top, particularly Ruffalo and Collette. Their scenes also feel overly long, particularly the third act confrontation, which runs for about 30 minutes. There are some fun moments, and it’s a clever idea, but it doesn’t all come together in a satisfying way. We had to wait a long time for Mickey 17 to be released. It’s a fun concept with a good cast but it wasn’t worth the wait. It’s a fine watch but fizzles after a creative opening sequence.
Rating: R for violent content, language throughout, sexual content and drug material.
Verdict: Two and a half stars out of five