Double trouble

Sci-fi dark comedy

Storyteller 7 Cinemas

Rated R for violent content, language throughout, sexual content and drug material.

Science fiction movies don’t always have to dazzle audiences with cool looking spaceships, bizarre aliens or superhuman characters, but they, like any art form, have a subtle obligation to present something novel that makes us look at our present day world in a different way.

While Bong Joon Ho’s dystopian feature “Mickey 17” feels a bit like Terry Gilliam’s 1985 brilliant masterpiece “Brazil,” it’s thankfully only a glancing blow. In some ways it also grazes some stories in the late but lamented “Heavy Metal” magazine, but again it’s slight. Where it strikes a solid blow is taking all the aforementioned elements regarding cool spaceships, fascinating aliens and altered characters — while adding an interesting dollop of disquiet twisted around a comedic center.

The movie is about a schlub, a nobody named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) who gets talked into joining a colonization mission heading to a far off planet called Nilfheim along with his ne’er-do-well pal Timo (Steven Yuen).

Timo signs on as a pilot, while Mickey joins as an “expendable,” which means he will be sent on numerous extremely dangerous assignments with each one ending in his death, hence the numbers after his name. Although he admits he is scared every time he dies, the tech exists to reconstitute his body, mind and memories in a reprinting device. So, after each death, he comes back good as new.

The trip to Nilfheim, where a mad politician named Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his equally mad wife Yifa (Toni Collette) plan to build a fantasy kingdom, is long and arduous, but it becomes bearable when Mickey meets and falls for a security agent named Nasha (Naomi Ackie). Once on the planet, which is deemed nearly uninhabitable due to extreme cold and snow, the crew also discovers an indigenous life form. These huge tardigrade-like creatures are dubbed “creepers.”

Kenneth Marshall immediately deems them worthless and in need of extermination. One day, an accident reveals to Mickey that might not be true.

It’s also right about that time that Mickey is reminded that multiple printouts are forbidden, which suddenly complicates his life tenfold when an error occurs in his own reprint process.

Pattinson is brilliant as the hapless Mickey, revealing an interesting range that requires minor but vivid acting choices to seamlessly identify which version of Mickey he is, Mickey 17 or Mickey 18. Under the direction of multiple Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), working from an adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel “Mickey7,” the film is a joy to watch, something for which the genre has been starving.

Also showing this week at the Mitchell Storyteller 7 Cinemas

NEW RELEASE: Rule Breakers (PG). Drama. Not Previewed.

Directed by Bill Guttenberg and starring Nikohl Boosheri and Christian Contreras, this film is about a visionary woman dares to teach young minds to dream. When their innovation draws global attention, their success sparks hope — and opposition.

Last Breath. Rated PG-13. Tempo grade: A-

The Monkey (R). Horror. Not previewed

Paddington in Peru (PG). Family. Not previewed

Captain America: Brave New World (PG-13). Super-hero thriller. Tempo grade: C

Dog Man (PG). Family. Tempo grade: B+

Anora (R). Adult romance. Not Previewed

The Unbreakable Boy (PG). Family. Not previewed

These films are showing daily at Mitchell Storyteller 7 Cinemas, 110 Old Talpa Cañon Road. For tickets, showtimes and additional information, call (575) 751-4245 or visit storyteller7.com.

Showing this week at the Taos Community Auditorium’s Big Screen

Anora (R). Adult romance. Not previewed. Screening Friday (March 7) and Saturday (March 8).

Nickel Boys (PG-13). Drama. Not previewed. Screening Friday (March 7) and Monday (March 10).

I’m Still Here (PG-13). Brazil conflict drama. Not previewed. Screening Saturday (March 8).

No Other Land (Not rated). Palestinian documentary. Not previewed.

The Bibi Files (Rated R). Documentary. Screening (Sunday (March 9).

Features a post-screening talk with the filmmakers.

Oscar Shorts -Animation (Not rated). Screening Sunday (March 9) and Wednesday (March 12).

Oscar Shorts -Live Action (Not rated). Screening Monday (March 10) and Thursday (March 13).

Becoming Led Zeppelin (Not rated). Music documentary. Not Previewed. Screening Thursday (March 13).

For dates, times, tickets and additional information about Movies on the Big Screen at the Taos Community Auditorium call (575) 758-2052 or visit tcataos.org. The venue is located at 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, behind the Stables Gallery of the Taos Center for the Arts.

Films described as “not previewed” contain synopsis from imdb.com or studio/distributor /venue notes.