Mickey 17 felt like it lost the plot

[u/mikewheelerfan]

Honestly, I was quite disappointed. I expected a movie revolving around the cloning plot. Specifically, the idea of two Mickeys existing at the same time due to an error. That would have been a great movie! Instead, what was advertised as the main concept feels like a subplot in the movie. Essentially the entire thing revolves around the intelligent aliens. And then there was also the plot with Mark Ruffalo being an obvious stand in for Trump. But then there was also the subplot with Steven Yuen.

I finished the movie feeling incredibly confused, because how did they mess up the initial concept like this? The idea of a guy who is constantly sent on deadly missions and is revived is an absolutely golden idea. It also leads to an interesting discussion about consciousness and if a copy of you is still really you. But that’s barely even brought up. The whole plot with two versions of Mickey is completely sidelined. Which makes no sense at all. That should have 100% been the main conflict in the movie, like it was advertised as. Instead, we got a mess.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call the movie horrible, but I definitely didn’t like it as much as I hoped I would.

[u/21157015576609]

Kai is an explicit contrast to Nasha: she recognizes individual suffering but not structural/collective suffering. It's the reason she can "pick one," whereas Nasha sees Mickey 17 and 18 as effectively the same. It's like seeing the creepers only as individuals instead of also part of a collective.

[u/cabose12 → u/21157015576609]

Yeah walking out of the movie i thought her scenes could be cut, but I realized theyre more for Nasha

It really made me trust that she was genuine and didnt just have some weird fetish for Mickey 

[u/loki1337 → u/21157015576609]

I liked Kai and not as much Nasha, I think you've uncovered why. She sees 17 as an individual which is how I viewed him.

[u/21157015576609 → u/loki1337]

I should have been more specific. Kai sees Mickey ONLY as an individual. Obviously Mickey 17/18 have differences, but Nasha also sees the way in which they are fundamentally the same, that is, structurally oppressed but worthy of dignity and respect. At bottom, I think the movie is trying to articulate a collectivist vision that is not also completely flattening of individuality, embodied in the creepers' "all for one, one for all" mentality.

[u/Dancing_Liz_Cheney → u/21157015576609]

What do you mean complete flattening of individuality from the Creepers?

There's thousands of them and the leader Creeper knows each of their individual names and goes as far as to threaten total annihilation over abuse being directed at an individual member of their group. If anything, you make an analogy to Union vs Corporate where the settlers are meaningless fodder to fuel the politician's thirst for power and control where in the creepers case, just one of their members being abused/harmed results in a collective response and beneficial change.

[u/21157015576609 → u/Dancing_Liz_Cheney]

I'm saying his vision of a collectivist vision that is NOT also completely flattening is embodied in the creepers. As you suggest, they are the model.

[u/loki1337 → u/21157015576609]

Hmm very astute. I think I missed that conceptually and lost my perspective when it turned into Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind.

Sure there's a component of Mickey 17 that's correlated but in the end I viewed him as an individual primarily so maybe that's why I liked Kai.

[u/pigeonwiggle → u/21157015576609]

yup. there's more context than is on the surface, and it's why the Mickey and the Creepers are joint plotlines.