Mickey 17

Oscar-winning writer/director Bong Joon Ho’s latest English-language movie is a delightfully weird sci-fi black comedy, which combines great performances from Robert Pattinson (and the rest of the cast) with absurdist comedy, and an exploration of various philosophical, sociological and ecological ideas.

Premise:  In the near future, to escape a loan shark, Mickey (Robert Pattinson) volunteers to be the ‘expendable’ on a deep-space colony mission run by an egotistical failed politician (Mark Ruffalo) and his controlling wife (Toni Collette).  But being an ‘expendable’ means that Mickey is given the most lethal jobs, and then when he ‘dies’, his memories are uploaded into a new ‘printed’ body ready for his next assignment.  But when one of his bodies unexpectedly survives a deadly assignment, he returns to find that his replacement has already been created.

Review:

Ever since South Korean writer/director Bong Joon Ho’s last film, Parasite, won four Oscars in 2020, audiences have been waiting to see what he does next.  Mickey 17 is a very different film from Parasite – not only is it an English-language film, but it’s also far more accessible to mainstream audiences than his previous social satire.  That said, it is still very weird and eccentric in a way which some people may not gel with – but I found it delightful.

The film is not an out-and-out comedy per se, but it is very funny throughout, thanks in large part to Robert Pattinson’s sardonic voiceover that narrates the events of the film.  The film has a pitch-black sense of dark humour that mocks the absurdity of the situations that arise, but it’s Mickey’s narration that really brings to life the undercurrent of social and moral unfairness beneath the absurdity.

“…Robert Pattinson is superb…”

Robert Pattinson is superb in this film – both as the ‘main’ incarnation, Mickey 17, and as the other copies that appear.  He gives each their own sub-identity within the wider parameters of Mickey’s inherent personality, and he delivers both the character’s sarcastic, fatalist sense of humour, and his pathos and hidden depths.  I knew Robert Pattinson was good (I loved him in blockbusters like The Batman and Tenet), but this was a much more nuanced and difficult role in which he excelled.

The other revelation in this film for me was Naomi Ackie – I knew beforehand that she played Nasha, a security agent on the deep-space mission and Mickey’s girlfriend, but Naomi Ackie’s role is so much more than it sounds on paper.  I don’t want to give too much away about specifics, but Nasha is a far more free-spirited and socially-rebellious character than might be expected, and her lack of filter adds an extra dimension to some of the film’s best comedic moments.  Although her dramatic performance in last year’s Blink Twice also hinted at her potential for comedy (albeit the humour was very dark in that film), here she really gets to showcase her talent for black comedy.

“…Mark Ruffalo’s OTT performance feels only a hair’s breadth away from reality…”

Bong Joon Ho has assembled a great cast around the main couple – even very small roles are filled by talented British actors like Holliday Grainger and Tim Key.  But at the centre of the social satire at the heart of Mickey 17 are the power couple played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette.  Mark Ruffalo’s performance in particular is intentionally over-the-top as the failed Right wing, evangelical politician Kenneth Marshall who, despite everything, still has a fanatical cult following that are prepared to join him on deep-space colonisation mission – ten years ago, his performance would have seemed totally detached from reality, but in today’s political climate, his OTT performance feels only a hair’s breadth away from reality.  Toni Collette, meanwhile, is clearly having a great time playing the power behind the throne, as Ylfa Marshall continuously manipulates her husband to ensure they get the life that she feels they deserve.

Steven Yeun rounds off the main cast as Timo, Mickey’s ‘friend’ from back on Earth, who may not necessarily be someone who Mickey can rely on.  Steven Yeun does a lot with his relatively small amount of screentime, and brings some layers of nuance to Timo that may have been missing in the hands of a lesser actor.

“…a character-driven original sci-fi movie delivering laughs & suspense…”

The production design on Mickey 17 is very impressive – the colony ship itself draws contrasts between the industrial, almost prison-like aesthetic of the ship’s working areas and the (admitted limited) luxuries afforded to the Marshalls, while the ice world of Niflheim (named from Norse mythology) that the mission hopes to colonise is also evocatively realised on screen.

This film may not appeal to everyone – it deals with a lot of ideas and concepts, and so some may find the middle section of the movie a little overloaded, while others may struggle with the movie’s dark comedy, or even have issues with the tone of Pattinson’s or Ruffalo’s performances.  But for me, although the film may be an acquired taste, I loved its tone and humour, and I loved that this was a star-studded, character-driven original sci-fi movie that delivered laughs and suspense while also still having something meaningful to say.