Mickey 17 Review

Directed By: Bong Joon Ho
Written By: Bong Joon Ho; Based on the book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Runtime: 137 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for violent content, language throughout, sexual content and drug material.

Robert Pattinson – Mickey Barnes
Naomi Ackie – Nasha Barridge
Mark Ruffalo – Kenneth Marshall
Toni Collette – Ylfa Marshall
Steven Yeun – Timo
Anamaria Vartolomei – Kai Katz
Patsy Ferran – Dorothy
Cameron Britton – Arkady

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho makes a welcome return to the realm of science fiction with the offbeat, dystopic, space-faring odyssey, Mickey 17. Robert Pattinson leads an impressive cast as the clumsy and charming Mickey Barnes, who must rise to the occasion and become the unlikeliest of heroes.

In the 2050s, the unfortunate Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) takes part in a space-faring expedition to colonize the stars. At this point, Earth looks like an absolute hellscape, and most people are desperate to leave, hoping for a fresh start on a new planet. Mickey Barnes does not have much choice after some bad investments by his unreliable friend, Timo (Yeun), get them green-lit by some sadistic loan sharks. With no other transferrable skills, Mickey signs up for the job no one wants in the human colonists’ spaceship: that of an Expendable.

In Mickey 17, humanity has unlocked the secrets of cloning, a taboo issue, and scientists can only attempt the process during interstellar travel far from Earth. Since space travel is so hazardous, the vessel’s crew utilizes designated Expendable, Mickey Barnes, as their human guinea pig, or rather crash test dummy, to test the effects of high levels of solar radiation exposure, lethal nerve gas, infection of new bacteria on Niflheim [the new planet they seek to colonize], and any other potential accidents. Thanks to the cloning process, Mickey’s memories and data are frequently backed up via brick, and they can remake him as good as new from the vessel’s recycled materials.

Mickey’s job is to die for a living for the sake of humanity. However, after experiencing multiple regenerations, Mickey 17 miraculously survives his latest snafu when encountering the seemingly vicious native inhabitants of Niflheim, the centipede, worm-like creatures dubbed “Creepers.” Due to the strict regulations regarding human cloning, an individual cannot have two clones, or “Multiples,” existing at the same time. The megalomaniacal politician Kennedy Marshall (Ruffalo) leads the outer space expedition, who does not care about the fate of the Multiple Mickeys and is ready to shoot first with the Creepers to colonize the planet in the name of humanity. It’s up to the two Mickeys to prove their worth, holding the key to saving both races and humanity’s salvation.

Bong Joon Ho makes fine use of the sci-fi narrative to explore ideas about identity and existentialism through poor Mickey Barnes. Humanity strictly outlaws the existence of clone Multiples, deeming that two individuals cannot exist at the same time. Mickey 17 uses the Mickey 17 and 18 iterations to explore what defines a person’s soul and humanity. Would a human clone be the same person or individual as their template? While Mickey 17 is generally docile, non-confrontational, and weak-willed, Mickey 18 is more self-assured, confident, impulsive, aggressive, and prone to violence. Although they are both Mickey, each clone becomes a unique individual. Pattinson delivers an excellent performance, imbuing each Mickey with unique personalities and quirks.

Joon Ho utilizes Mickey to explore themes of the cruelty of memory and guilt. To prep for his work as an Expendable, Mickey takes memory-enhancing drugs, forcing him to relive the trauma of a tragic car accident in his childhood in which his mother died. Mickey’s memories convince him to believe he caused the accident and his mother’s death. It’s an interesting metaphor for how memory affects human development and influences our lives, even when one cannot fully interpret the context of the memories and what genuinely occurred in the past.

The bleak sci-fi setting provides exceptional material for social satire. Mickey is treated with a darkly humorous lack of compassion by the scientists, who view him as little more than a human lab rat, and the unscrupulous Kennedy Marshall, who commands the interstellar expedition. Ruffalo delivers a hilarious performance, and the overtly familiar mannerisms and speech cadence resembling a certain commander-in-chief are hard to ignore. The imbecilic Marshall inspires dogmatic fervor in his disenfranchised followers through showmanship. Toni Collette portrays Marshall’s equally batty and sauce-obsessed wife, Ylfa, and it’s a hysterically humorous performance by the veteran thespian. Marshall is so foolish and steadfast in his quest to claim Niflheim, that he fails to entertain the notion that the Creepers, the native species of the planet where the humans are the invaders, are peaceful and pose no danger to humans.

Despite Joon Ho’s penchant for dark-gallows humor, usually involving Mickey, he never loses sight of the human story and Mickey’s plight. Despite “dying” sixteen times and being continually resurrected in the form of human 3D printing, Mickey struggles with the fear and anguish of every death. It’s a greatly nuanced, layered performance, especially when Mickey 18 comes into the picture. Mickey shares a surprisingly sweet romance with another passenger Nasha Barridge, who works aboard the ship as a security agent. The two quickly get together after the start of their mission, with Nasha as the only individual who cares and watches out for poor Mickey.

Mickey 17 suffers from an overly long runtime. Certain scenes tend to drag, and the movie spends significant time on a few subplots and characters that do not create much impact on the larger plot. There’s an instance where Mickey starts a pseudo-romance with another member of the crew, Kai Katz (Vartolomei). After learning about the existence of the Multiples, she attempts to negotiate with Nasha for her silence in exchange for a relationship with Mickey 17. It’s a weird tangent the movie opens, yet never follows through. Other characters, such as Yeun’s Temo, are similarly underdeveloped.

Elsewhere, later scenes in the second half tend to run a bit long and would have benefitted from some tightening in the editing room. There is a satisfying build to an impressive action-packed finale. That said, the movie’s length sometimes runs disjointed with the extraneous subplots and characters.

Ultimately, Mickey 17 becomes a surprisingly hopeful, optimistic story, which is appreciated amid the dismal setting. The underdog storyline for Mickey proves to be a fascinating, uplifting one, and it’s another rewarding cinematic experience from a masterful auteur filmmaker.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Bong Joon Ho crafts a darkly humorous, yet surprisingly optimistic, satirical sci-fi romp about life, love, mortality, and identity amid the stars, even in the bleakest of circumstances. Robert Pattinson leads with a fun performance exploring ideas of individualism and existentialism through both Mickey 17 and 18, who discover their own identities despite being physical clones of the same person.