Review: Antimatter Blues

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

At this point, I'm convinced that this series is just one that publishing decided, arbitrarily (as it's wont to do, as insinuated in R.F. Kuang's Yellowface), to hype up with a film deal ready to go before the first book was even published. And what a way to hook all the cinephiles with the promise of a film adaptation (retitled Mickey 17) written and directed by Bong Joon-Ho as his follow up to one of the best movies of the century, Parasite.

I will still watch the movie that Bong gives us, which is still slated for release in March 2024 (that is, if David Bloody Zaslav doesn't decide to suddenly yank the film's release as he's been doing too often lately, because he's proven time and again that he has no problem cheapening the WB brand and tossing its good name into the sewers to make a quick buck.)

But I've now accepted that this will absolutely be a case of the movie being superior to the book. Or, in this case, books, such as it were. It's pretty clear now that Mickey7 and Antimatter Blues really ought to have been released as a single book, as both are quite short, weak with their world building, and don't really do their thought provoking themes justice. I suspect that Bong will adapt both books into a single film, since, like I said before, I'm convinced he's not going to commit himself to a full on film franchise should Mickey 17 be a resounding financial success (unlikely, though, given its box office numbers will almost certainly be blunted by its close proximity to Beyond the Spider-Verse.) I expect Bong will do a better job with the adaptation, giving Mickey and the other characters some much needed brains, and the movie some much needed teeth both physical and philosophical.

But for me, even if it's as good as Parasite, a Bong adaptation of this series will always remind me just how monumentally boneheaded the source material is, with its paper thin characters, annoying sense of humor, and conflict that's way too easily solved.

This future humankind really ought to find a different planet to move in on, 'cause Niflheim just ain't it, chief.

View all my reviews