Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

A copy of a copy.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 9, 2025

What do you get when you borrow elements from films like Edge of Tomorrow, Moon, Oblivion, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Starship Troopers, and put South Korean director Bong Joon Ho at the helm? Something that should have been quite a bit better than Mickey 17, a visually ambitious but dramatically meh sci-fi black comedy. It has more than a few great moments, sure, but also falls head-first into the trappings of his lesser work like 2017's surprisingly awful Okja with a fairly uneven tone, questionable casting, and almost backwards momentum.

Set in 2054, Mickey 17 first introduces us in media res to Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a disposable worker who has signed his life away to join colonists bound for the ice-planet Niflheim. He's known as an "Expendable", or a person who's knowingly sent into perilous situations (similar to animal testing like mice or even Laika, the Soviet space dog) because they'll soon be "reprinted" as a duplicate version of their former self with identically transferred memories but slight personality differences. You name it and Mickey's probably died from it, while the unconcerned team of scientists on board objectively just keep printing out new versions of him. Despite all of his horrific deaths thus far, Mickey has enjoyed a few bright spots including a relationship with sexually adventurous security agent Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie), who doesn't seem all that bothered by having multiple versions of the same boyfriend.

Mickey's latest mission involves vaccine testing to subvert Niflheim's native pathogens, which eventually works and leads to a field trip to nab one of the planet's only known inhabitants, big furry insect-like beasts they call "Creepers". It's a nickname dreamed up by Donald Trump Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a narcissistic politician and de facto leader of the ship whose wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) appears to be calling most of the shots. Now in his 17th iteration, Mickey suffers a terrible injury after falling into a crevasse... but unknown to his mission partner and old Earth buddy Timo (Steven Yeun), who leaves him for dead, Mickey doesn't die; instead, he's secretly saved by the Creepers and even pushed back up to safety. Back on the ship, Mickey 18 (Pattinson, seemingly recycling his voice from The Batman) is promptly printed out and, though he's visibly a much more aggressive and confident version of his timid former self, it's otherwise business as usual and Nasha doesn't seem to mind either. There's only one problem, though: Mickey 17 finds his way back to the ship, and "Multiples" are against the law for reasons we'll know soon enough.

There's even more to Mickey 17, but also a lot less. Here we've got a movie that concerns itself with no shortage of themes and targets, from individuality to animal/human rights and class division (all par for the course with director Bong Joon Ho)... but it doesn't dig very deep below any of those surfaces, choosing instead to be a mushy and formless big-budget experiment that doesn't really end up saying much. Worse yet, it's absolutely loaded with cheap exposition and absolutely terrible voice-overs, not to mention baffling establishing text like "2 1/3 years later". Several over-the-top performances fall mostly flat, and the core story -- adapted from a 2022 novel by Edward Ashton -- channels much of its energy into the wrong places and doesn't have the sense to wrap things up before we notice.

Even so, Mickey 17 is rarely dull. The sci-fi visuals are mostly polished and build its world in short order. Pattinson, obnoxious as both main characters can be for completely different reasons, does a fine job of making them feel like separate people. I didn't hate it, obviously. Yet there's quite a bit missing and its poor box office reception isn't at all surprising, as Mickey comfortably slides in the category of "interesting flops" that might -- might -- get better with age. Die-hard fans of the director will probably find more to like here, but it would take an awfully long and well-constructed argument to convince its critics that Mickey 17 is on the same level as Snowpiercer (which has its own flaws, believe it or not, but hides them a lot better), Parasite, Mother, Memories of Murder, or even The Host.

Warner Bros. offers Mickey 17 in separate 4K and Blu-ray editions as well as a preferred Steelbook combo pack, all of which serve up proportionately outstanding A/V specs and a small but enjoyable collection of extras.

Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from the Blu-ray edition, available separately.

Warner Bros.' UHD presentation of Mickey 17 ticks all the boxes for a top-quality transfer, with this beefy 100GB disc offering more than enough real estate for the 137-minute film and several extras to breathe comfortably. Sure, the film has its drawbacks but visuals clearly aren't one of them, as the relatively seamless blend of sporadic CGI elements and dystopian production design work overtime to create a future world that's easy enough to get lost in. Everything carries over cleanly to this 2160p/HDR10/Dolby Vision transfer as it's highlighted by razor-sharp fine detail, excellent depth, accurate color representation, and a very smooth appearance than nonetheless looks true to its source. Darkness and shadows hang heavy over most of the interior scenes, which nonetheless hold steady with precise shadow details and no stray signs of banding, macro blocking, or other compression artifacts. The HDR layer obviously doesn't fall into "light cannon" territory, which suits the material just fine and, in comparison to the separate Blu-ray (which is perfectly solid its its own right), produces an image that much closer to a true theater-quality experience.

Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In another news that will shock absolutely no one, the default Dolby Atmos mix is another winner. It overwhelmingly offers clear dialogue mixed cleanly with crisp front-field effects and convincing background ambiance, most of which takes place within spaceship interiors (both crowded and isolated) while occasionally breaking away to the seemingly hostile ice planet and its chilly winds. Stylistic flourishes are here too, with sporadic inner monologue and a few other heightened conversations moving sharply to the side and rear channels for dramatic effect with or without any added echo. Action scenes are rare but light up all available channels as expected, with plenty of room left for LFE activity as well as Jung Jae-il, who's most known for his previous contributions to both Parasite and Squid Game. Height channels are used about as often as you'd think, largely for a handful of battles and location-based echo, but consistently make their presence known at key times during the film. Overall, this is a capable and robust mix that clearly hasn't been overcooked and runs right in line with typical reference levels, so crank it up and enjoy.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and applicable extras below.

Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork, a matching metallic slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The included bonus features are short and surface-level but worth a once-over.

• Behind the Lens: Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 (11:35) - Key members of the cast and crew -- including writer-director Bong Joon Ho (speaking in his native Korean with English subtitles), original author Edward Ashton, and actors Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, and Toni Colette, among others -- speak briefly about the film's story, its adaptation, the characters, and social themes in this brief but enjoyable featurette.

• Mickey 17: A World Reimagined (9:47) - This like-minded lightweight featurette, which includes comments from many of the same participants, focuses more on the atmosphere and production design.

• The Faces of Niflheim (8:03) - Another short featurette cut from the same sessions, this piece goes into slightly more detail about Mickey 17's characters and the casting process.

• Trailers (2 clips, 4:44 total) - Two separate trailers for the film -- a true rarity on new-release WB discs!

Mickey 17 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Many acclaimed directors before Bong Joon Ho have ridden a massive wave of commercial and critical acclaim to get carte blanche from a major studio... and failed to meet or beat box office expectations. The jury's still out on whether or not Mickey 17 deserved to flop, but it's clearly not on the same immediate level as the director's better (and smaller) work. Even so, it has a few inspired ideas and great moments and, while I definitely wouldn't recommend this one as a complete blind buy, die-hard fans of the cast and director may find more to like here. They'll at least be appreciative of Warner Bros. 4K and Blu-ray packages, which both offer terrific A/V specs and a few decent bonus features, yet for total newcomers this one's firmly stuck between "stream it first" and "maybe when it's on sale".