A Tale of Two Mickeys

It’s funny, this is my second week in a row where I wasn’t planning to write a review. Twice where I have said “screw it, I’m just going to go watch this movie,” only to be hit personally, with something as I am leaving the theater. Maybe someone upstairs still wants me in the game of movie reviews. 

Either way, this week’s movie is Mickey 17, a deep, rich tale of a random schmuck who decides to take a job on a spaceship because his life on earth is going nowhere. Technology has advanced to the point where they can clone people as much as they want, so they use Mickey as a living crash-test dummy and reprint him every time he dies. He dies a lot doing all the dangerous missions like checking if the air on the new planet is toxic or if a human being can survive being exposed to the sun while out in space. Stuff that would be good to know, but that no one would really want to have happen to them. 

And every time Mickey dies, they just print out another Mickey-clone and the cycle continues. Except one day, Mickey 17 is presumed to be dead, so they go ahead and print out the 18th one. Trouble is, 17 is actually alive and well, and even makes it back to the ship in one piece. I won’t spoil the rest, but that’s the premise. Most of that is in the trailer, and I did my best to keep from wandering into spoilersville. 

There’s a lot going on in this movie, but in a good way. Everything weaves together well, with no plotlines that feel like loose strands. It’s all well-knit, like an expensive carpet. The same goes for the themes and messages in this movie. There’s a lot going on in general, and it’s really exciting. This movie is going to be fun for a bunch of different kinds of people for a bunch of different reasons. 

The one reviewer that I watched touched on the political satire in this movie. I’m not so out of the loop that I didn’t notice that the main villain sounds a lot like Trump, but I wasn’t politically involved enough to follow much more than that. I’m sure the movie had a message about all that, but this part of the movie went completely over my head. 

I do know, however, that it will also be fun for the philosophers. I can see the deep thinkers all sitting around afterwards, heatedly discussing human cloning. Are both copies the same person? Do each have their own individual souls? What does this mean for God and eternity? Are we really just meat bags with different sets of memories? There are a lot of key moments and decisions made by different characters that could spark some great conversations. 

There’s also a heartfelt story woven into the bigger picture. Not only is there a romantic relationship going on between Mickey and one of the other crewmates, but the dynamic that evolves between the two main Mickeys is lively as well. Mickey 17 is pretty sheepish and cowardly, while 18 has more than enough backbone for the both of them. 

That’s what I liked most about this movie. Throughout their adventures, 18 is overly-aggressive, insisting he get even with everyone for every wrong they commit against him. 17, on the other hand, only finds his sense of courage when it comes time to stop his wilder counterpart. The two have an interesting back-and-forth, and are each memorable enough that the film didn’t need to distinguish them in any way. They didn’t need to give one a different-colored shirt or jacket or give them a different haircut or anything. They make a few jokes about them being the same, but it isn’t something that stays in the spotlight. I can’t fully describe why, but even with the acting being pretty similar, I always knew who was 17 and who was 18. I’m glad that Pattinson managed to have a career outside of Twilight, because he has incredible talent. This movie deserves a spot as one of his top 5 best roles to date! 

It’s the dialogue between the two Mickeys that was most interesting for me. Not just because it’s the same actor, playing two unique characters at the same time, but because of the way their personalities clash. Like I said, 17 is far more sheepish. He steps up when he needs to, but he lacks something that every person should have: a backbone. 

18 has too much of one, and it gets him into trouble. Granted, it also gets him back out of trouble, but only because 17 has stepped in to do some damage control. The two ultimately need each other and wind up complementing each other well. Without one, the other doesn’t reach their fullest potential and winds up becoming just another clone. 

I wasn’t just intrigued by this dynamic from a distance, though. I wasn’t sitting back in my chair going “hmm, that’s nifty.” This part hit home for me. Movies are often a great way of showing you a mirror of yourself. They paint a picture on a screen and then with a swift tug shout “that’s you!” I had one of those moments watching this movie, and I hope it pivots my life for the better. 

The thing I realized was that deep down, I’m a lot like 17. I’m not so spineless that I let people walk all over me, but I don’t get nearly mad enough when someone crosses me, spits in my face or treats me disrespectfully. I often don’t hold my own wants in high enough esteem. I have gotten by on the kindness of others, but if it weren’t for them, I don’t know if I would have gotten to where I am today. I don’t know if I would have stood up for myself and had my full worth recognized.

Being a douchebag is bad, but so is being a weenie. A lot of times, we justify the weenie though. We point out that they’re nice, sweet and kind, but rarely do we point out that they don’t take care of themselves enough. In actuality, they’re a ship with a leak that never gets fixed. Ultimately, they sink because they can’t get enough of what they want to live happy lives. They’re miserable and eventually make it everyone else’s problem. 

I’m not saying it’s wrong to look out for others, but we should be annoyed when someone treats us like crap. We should get ticked off when someone tries to take away our worth. All of us are worth something and we have to defend that value. There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling someone to back off when they’re trying to intimidate you. That’s just standing up for yourself. 

I hope a lot of you get out to see this one, because it’s excellent. The only people that shouldn’t be watching this are the ones who don’t like profanity, or other R-rated stuff, especially the stuff involving people who aren’t married. There’s one scene near the start that will make you unhappy if you don’t like that kind of thing. It could be worse, and it’s only 5 minutes max out of the 2-hour film, but you should know that it’s there. There are also a few F-bombs and stuff, so if you don’t like that, it may be a bad time. Other than that, this is an excellent movie. I’m already nominating it for one of the best flicks of 2025. If you were on the fence or not planning on seeing it, change your mind right now! And let me know if you wind up enjoying it.

Until Next Time

May Peace be your Guide.