Based on the book Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 follows Mickey Barnes (played by Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame), a man down on his luck who signs up to be an “expendable” on an upcoming space mission. As part of being an expendable, he is made the star of a new cloning program, in which he will be essentially immortal, as each time he dies, a new copy of him is made, with most of his consciousness and memories being transferred between the copies. However issues arise as one of the copies that was made to die doesn’t, and must find his way through this new situation.
Overall, Mickey 17 is an enjoyable watch, especially for science-fiction or dystopian fans. It has an interesting premise, (mostly) likeable characters, and knows exactly how much information to reveal and when. However, this movie is not without its flaws. The largest example of this is its political message, which can be overbearing at moments, especially if one goes into the movie hoping for an escape. The movie’s other main flaw is in its ending, and in its differences from the book. While not staying true to the source material can work well for movies on occasion, in this case the movie ending abandons any hope of a sequel movie, leaving the second book unlikely for adaptation.
I give this movie four out of five stars, as it is definitely a worthwhile watch, but does still have some flaws. I would say it is not worth the twenty dollars it goes for on Amazon and Youtube, but when the price drops to $10-$15, it would definitely be worth the buy.
