For the past six years, there has been much clamor around “Mickey 17.” Being director Bong Joon Ho’s first film since “Parasite,” a film so monumental its influence is still felt since its 2019 release, there has been some intrigue in seeing what the three-time Oscar winner would do with an American studio backing him. Add the constant push-back of its release — thanks to Warner Bros. long post-production process and competitive fears — people have been wondering what exactly this film would be.
Is it a film so daring that the American film studio has no idea what to do with it? Was it a $118 million misfire that made Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav want to bury it under the rug? The answer is more underwhelming and strange than what would be expected.
Not strange as in the film has an unrestrained nature in itself, more in terms of direction. Based on the sci-fi novel “Mickey 7” by Edward Ashton, it is a zero-to-hero story of Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a bona-fide loser hoping to run away from loan sharks with his “friend” Timo (Steven Yeun) after a bad business deal. His luck arrives in disgraced politician Kenneth Marshall’s (Mark Ruffalo) plan to colonize a planet far away from the violent goons chasing him, deciding to join Timo in applying as a crew member in Marshall’s spaceship.
Where his luck ends is in the only position left that he can apply for, the un-glamourous role of an Expendable. In this job, he would be forced to go through the most dangerous assignments that will surely kill him, only to be brought back through a cloning machine and be given another life-threatening mission to do. This leaves Mickey in a never-ending cycle of exploitation; before they can even start colonizing, he is killed several times by having to be exposed to radiation, viruses and the numerous failed vaccines for those viruses.
Because of his lowly position, the only interest any of the crew members have towards him is in asking “What’s it like to die?” with the same tone that a kid in middle school would come to someone and say “My friend really likes you.” That is, except for Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a security agent that Mickey is in a secret relationship with since Marshall and his machiavellian wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) banned members from having sex due to potential loss of calories. Why Nasha is deeply into Mickey is never fully explained.
If this is a lot to explain, imagine how Mickey exposits all of this information (and more) in the first 20 minutes. It is after that point where the inciting incident starts: Mickey, in his 17th incarnation, is left for dead by Timo while exploring the ice planet Niflheim. He is unexpectedly saved by its native creatures (giant, tardigrade-esque aliens which Marshall refers to as “Creepers”), an act that Mickey’s low self-esteem treats as an offense. Once he makes it back to the ship, he is met with his biggest challenge yet. It turns out that while he was gone, scientists have already reprinted an 18th version of Mickey, unintentionally creating “multiples” which is a fatal offense that ensures Mickey will be killed and never cloned again.
A premise full of possibilities, “Mickey 17” tries to do as much as it can to the point of feeling overstuffed. There’s Mickey 18 trying to kill 17 before anyone finds out; a love square between the Mickeys, Nasha and crew member Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei), with the women fighting over the two; a case of mistaken identity, with the Mickeys having to pretend to be the other when dealing with the ship’s occupants; and the duo becoming more involved in the fascist politics of Marshall and rebelling against it.
Bong Joon Ho does all of this, yet with less of an impact compared to “Parasite.” In this regard, the film becomes fascinating to explore in terms of what ideas it entails. With Mickey’s established persona as a cowardly hero, Mickey 18’s resentment and rage is interesting in analysis, as if he is the repressed Freudian Id to 17’s superego that wants to enact revenge on those that the latter passively allowed to be taken advantage of.
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Studios
In form, the fact that this is Bong’s version of a Hollywood blockbuster is another avenue to explore. It shares traits that his other works have — the anti-capitalist action-satire nature of “Snowpiercer”, the constant tonal-shifts of “Parasite”, the use of creatures ala “Okja” and “The Host” — but also feels diluted. The shift of “Mickey 17” going from a dark comedy to a “save the animals and screw facism” pro-environmental story is a lot messier than “Parasite”’s black-comedy-to-thriller tone. The anti-capitalist themes are made more obvious, down to Kenneth and Ylfa Marshall acting as a Donald Trump/Nancy Reagan supercouple that give a sieg-heil-style salute to their crowd of supporters. It would’ve been a fun idea if it wasn’t so sadly unfunny.
But what’s most perplexing lies within the film’s presentation. Despite a large budget, “Mickey 17”’s depiction of space is kept in an ugly grey color palette and a mixture of close-up/medium shots. Since this is a film from Bong Joon Ho and acclaimed cinematographer Darius Khondji, it must be a choice instead of a limitation. For the most part it does work; the small-scale camerawork and muted colors adds to Mickey’s isolation, subverting the romanticism of space that is often seen in films like this. But it just ends up sacrificing any visual appeal.
What saves this from being a complete waste is that, thankfully, it is entertaining. Robert Pattinson goes all in when acting as 17 and 18, clearly having fun talking with another weird accent and playing two weird roles. The supporting cast, while more limited in character, have moments to shine, such as Yeun portraying a two-faced character or Ackie giving her love-interest character some presence. With Ruffalo and Collette, between Kenneth’s faux-Trump impression and Ylfa’s overplayed eccentric obsession with sauces, their characters get exhausting to watch despite being played by great actors.
With all of this in mind, “Mickey 17” can only offer a light time with such a weighty premise. Although it was expected to be Bong Joon Ho’s blank-check film, it’s really a cool-down from the hot success of his prior film. Even if studio interference can be blamed for how messy in tone the story gets, it rather feels like Bong simply wanted to have some fun in making a Hollywood comedy. It follows the structure perfectly with a lovable loser going through a vast challenge, saving the day and getting the girl. But instead of being cynical with its story like his
other works, “Mickey 17” is weirdly hopeful. Essentially, it’s the idealistic younger sibling of “Parasite.”
As an exercise in Hollywood filmmaking, Bong turned in an interesting result. The ideas should have fared for a better movie, yet the film leaves room for thought in its form. For what it is, a crowd-pleasing sci-fi romp, it’s not half bad.
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