Bong Joon Ho has something he needs to get off his chest. In the interim between 2019’s critically acclaimed and award-sweeping thriller/comedy, Parasite, and now, the astute mastermind filmmaker has had more time to ruminate on the minutia of the human condition amidst the capitalistic society we live in. And to articulate those thoughts, he’s found a sort of spiritual successor in Edward Ashton’s sci-fi novel, Mickey7, as the source for a suitable follow-up to his previous commentary on societal hierarchies and classism.
Bong’s latest film, Mickey 17, introduces us to Mickey Barnes, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, an “expendable” employee assigned perilous tasks on the icy planet Niflheim. Each time Mickey perishes, a new iteration is printed, retaining most of his memories but grappling with the existential weight of his disposability. As we follow Mickey’s plight, Bong delivers another socially impactful story that is both hilarious and insightful on the cult of personality and the human condition.
Mickey 17 premieres March 7th in the United States.
Review – Discovering the Self Worth of Humanity
Space exploration is at the heart of Mickey 17; a necessity in Mickey’s universe, as Earth is becoming a wasteland and millionaire political despots (and their radical followers) seek greater influence among the stars. The millionaire in question, Kenneth Marshall—played by Mark Ruffalo as an homage to similar living public figures you’d recognize—is seeking both public redemption as well as emotional validation through the expedition with his secretly controlling wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), in the aftermath of two failed elections.
Mickey isn’t doing all of this out of the goodness of his heart though; in reality, he’s an untalented screw-up, drowning in debt after starting a failed macaron business with his sometime-y friend and partner in crime, Timo (Steven Yeun). Owing hundreds of thousands to Darius Blank (Ian Hanmore)—an intergalactic loan shark and crime boss who gets off on homemade snuff porn—Mickey and Timo assess the Niflheim exploration as their ticket to a fresh start. One of Bong’s biggest skills is his prowess in knowing when to use subtlety and when to go big: the comedic moments are perfectly exaggerated, and the social commentary—the financial and moral separation between the unbelievably wealthy and the incredibly desperate—tempers the comedy as a perfect through-line for the duration of the film.
No sci-fi film would be complete without love story, and Mickey 17 has two of them. Firstly, Mickey falls in love with fellow higher-ranking passenger Nasha (Naomi Ackie), and the two have an intense connection right away. The second one is Kai Katz (Anamaria Vartolomei), chosen by Kenneth and Ylfa Marshall themselves as the ideal candidate to repopulate their adopted planet; she’s the symbol of tall, blue-eyed, European perfection. A not-so-subtle hint at the wealthy and elite’s historical affinity for eugenics, it’s another quick observation from Bong and author Edward Ashton on the unfailing workings of classism even millions of miles away from Earth.
Robert Pattinson delivers a nuanced performance, capturing the internal conflict of a man caught between his programmed purpose and a expanding sense of self-worth. Playing two versions of the same character, with wildly different personalities, Pattinson does an excellent job of never making it feel like we’re seeing too much of him; the performance is always refined and never egotistical and it helps audiences get lost in the performance. I can’t think of a more well-rounded cast in a film thus far in the year, with Naomi Ackie having a breakthrough series of films of late, Steven Yeun adding his skill and charisma, and Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo bringing both an over-the-top and accidental sort of comedy to the screen.
Story-wise, I mentioned Mickey 17 felt like a spiritual successor to Parasite for a reason. I don’t think it was accidental that Bong Joon Ho chose an adaptation—this one in particular—as his next film. Mickey7, originally published 3 years ago, deals with many of the same themes of classism, hierarchies and moral dilemmas of Bong’s previous movie, but in a more Hollywood-friendly package. Science fiction is a great genre, not only for the visuals, but the flexibility. Just as George Lucas’s Star Wars dealt with political unrest and guerrilla warfare framed as knights and wizards, so does Mickey 17 deal with the degradation of human life, morals and what people are willing to put themselves through for survival.
What Mickey 17 does vastly differently than Parasite is give us clear, cut-and-dry heroes and villains. While heroes might be a strong term given the circumstances, there’s no shortage of self-serving (and self-sabotaging) opportunists aboard the Niflheim expedition. And this is where we see all the contrasts and compliments of human behavior collide.
Jung Jae-il, frequent Bong collaborator and the film’s composer, does an outstanding job with crafting a score that’s both quirky as well as sweeping. There’s a certain whimsical sort of sensibility that Asian cinema is not shy to lean into, even when dealing with the heaviest topics, and the music reflects that. Every instrument has a character and that character reinforces the mood but always retains a unique personality.
With a runtime just over 2 hours, Mickey 17 feels overlong and a touch repetitive at times. Watching Mickey fall out of the printer repeatedly is entertaining, until its not; once we get the gist, the revival sections could’ve easily made the chopping block. And while the human printing aspect of the script is the central driving plot, the galactic colonization element has been done with more depth and sensitivity in other films, including in James Cameron’s Avatar.
Mickey 17 isn’t uncharted territory. It’s about settlers invading “undiscovered” land and kicking out the natives. What Mickey 17 does differently is halt the settlement in its tracks to show the natives our humanity, overturn the hierarchy and self-reflect that we’re literally all in this together—whether we have two legs or twenty.
Pros
- Stellar Casting
- Another career highlight for Robert Pattinson
- The CGI, compiled by several companies, is gorgeously rendered
- A smart, comical commentary on the cult of celebrity and the human condition
Cons
- Repetitive scenes
- Overlong runtime
- While realistic (people would be just as self centered under the circumstances), the lack of more existential dialogue left some territory unexplored given the heavy topic of the film
Rating – 4/5 Pocky
Elijah Isaiah Johnson is a writer/illustrator/animator. His most recently published works include the Amazon best-seller Nightmare Detective, Noir is the New Black, the Comixology Indie best-selling series Leaders of the Free World, The Formula and much more.
