- by Peter Farmer
- The Guardian
- Issue #2137
“You’ll love this film, it’ll be great for your Communist newspaper.” I’ve scratched the person who gave me that tip from my list of trusted advisors. Mickey 17 is good fun, but it doesn’t have a lot for communists, other than the following profound insights:
Insight One: Bosses can be bastards
Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is desperate to get away from earth, so signs on to an expedition to a faraway planet as an ‘expendable.’ That means an imprint of his entire body and mind is taken, after which he’s sent on a series of certain-death missions. After each death, he’s reprinted from a machine that looks like a cat scanner and works like a printer overdue for replacement. A lot of the fun is watching him casually putting up with various grisly fates. The film is based on a 2022 sci fi novel (Mickey 7), but the basic set-up (if there are copies of me, which one would be the real me?) has been around since some philosopher had a moment’s thought about the ‘beam me up, Scotty’ scenes in the original Star Trek.
Insight Two: We’re in for a lot of Trump impersonations over the next four years
Mickey’s expedition is led by Mark Ruffalo, playing a corrupt, not very bright, self-centred US Senator who’s a cross between Donald Trump, and a sleazy televangelist (so more Trump). Ruffalo seems to have prepared for the part by watching Stephen Baldwin’s Trump parodies, but there are moments of Jimmy Swaggart. Toni Collette does a good job as the manipulative wife who tells Ruffalo what to do when he gets confused.
Insight Three: It’s wrong to judge people (and aliens) by appearances
I don’t want to spoil Mickey 17 to the extent that it’s possible to spoil a film that telegraphs its punches so clearly, so will just say not everyone is what they seem.
Insight Four: It’s wrong to be a rapacious colonist, try being a nice one instead!
This I knew from the deeply terrible Avatar which spent a fortune as well as hours of my time letting me know that evil colonisation is bad. Mickey 17 is shorter and much more fun than Avatar (as are most movies), but in case we missed Avatar’s lessons, we get them again. If you must colonise, do it nicely!
That’s about it for this communist. There’s a faint hint that life’s unfair on earth, and that’s why so many people are willing to volunteer for a colonisation effort led by an idiotic personality cult leader (there are shades of Elon Musk and Mars here). Other than that, all is Robert Pattinson being likeable, Naomi Ackie being absolutely brilliant as a hotshot Space Agent who’s also Pattinson’s love interest, and Steven Yuen as Pattinson’s cheerful but sleazy friend. The movie is worth seeing for Ackie’s performance and because it’s fun.
