I wanted to like it for basically everything going for it - premise, Pattinson, Bong, sci-fi, āoriginalā film - but came out pretty much as bitter as I have ever after a film. Iām not one to do it, but I was close to walking out on it.
There are some touches of what the film could have been, some moments maybe. But on the whole it felt like a train wreck where Iād bet that people knew on set that it just wasnāt going to work.
At some point I noticed there was a good amount of yelling from the actors (Iām wondering if thatās just me) and canāt help but suspect it was the director or actors trying to find energy in scenes that were struggling. Or maybe that happened in the edit. Then thereās Ruffulo and Colletteās satirical characters that just didnāt land and felt dumb and amateur (along with Poor Things, Iām thinking Ruffulo is just not good and āoriginalā film makers would do well to stay away)
All up, I think itās embarrassingly bad, or āobjectivelyā bad. No real depth, no coherence or pacing or well directed momentum, much of the comedy doesnāt land, characters and plot often feel like afterthoughts, and it got boring too.
I think this movie review (from a pleasantly non-hype yt channel) says it better than I can.
Whatās funny is I think a lot of people want this to be good. For the sake of original, fun, quirky, satirical films (and honestly, me too). But are stuck confronting a film thatās only making that situation worse not better and which represents the risks that studios need to accept not the successes they donāt understand).
Am I off here? I was pleased to find the review I linked as it seemed to match my thoughts.
EDIT - epilogue
And on the point about the fate of films ā¦ I saw this in the cinema (somewhat in support of original films) and dragged a friend too.
It was expensive. There was bad behaviour in the cinema (people taking photos with flash of each other!). And the film was bad, IMO, in a way that I feel people should have been more honest about (like I said, I think people wanted this to be good). Plus my friend doesnāt trust my choice in movies any more.
Itās really put me off going to the cinemas TBH. Iāll see how I end up feeling over time, but I think this might have been the straw that broke my back on the whole cinema thing. In part, sadly, because I donāt get how the film was that bad.
Echoing others that this isnāt a horrible movie. I enjoyed the ride. If you want to watch a better version of this movie, maybe try Moon.
I struggled with Moon and actually thought it didnāt live up to the word-of-mouth hype at all. 6/10 for me.
I think it was probably more momentous at the Sundance debut.
Yes I think itās a much more impactful film if you watch it totally blind. Itās a shame you didnāt get to experience that.
Interesting comparison. I think Mickey 17 is trying to be something different from Moon, with some overlapping themes. Iād say itās more Starship Troopers and fifth element with moon-like themes.
They are definitely different movies. I find Starship Trooper and Fifth Elementās humor to be a bit more of their time. The best thing I can compare it to quality wise would be like some of the Netflix movies that have come out in the last few years.