To escape from a loan shark, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) signs up for a colony expedition as an Expendable. He gets assigned hideously dangerous jobs, dies, and a clone is printed in the lab. Despite over a dozen miserable deaths, Mickey is doing okay, until he is left for dead on the surface of a planet and survives. By the time he gets back to the colony ship, Mickey 18 has already been printed. Having two copies is illegal so now Mickeys 17 and 18 have to figure out which one gets to live and which one gets recycled.
Bong Joon Ho wears his heart on his sleeve when he makes movies. You never have to wonder where he stands. Depending on how much you agree, that could be great, could be not. But it is very clear. I respect it. I also love that he just doesn't care how hot people are and will let them be incredibly weird. Mark Ruffalo in this, Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer, he never misses a chance to let gorgeous people be characters. That's got to be really fun if you're sick of being typecast.
Speaking of Weird Little Dudes, Pattinson is carrying this entire movie while playing multiple versions with distinct personalities. He does a great job, but also shout-out to my girl, Toni Collette, because she never gets the recognition she deserves. Her character is creepy and evil and deeply weird and it works. Ruffalo gets the big, dramatic moments, but Collette is the backbone anchoring them both.
It's currently streaming on HBO Max.
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