Comparison is the thief of joy, an adage that aptly sums up the potential response to Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17. The quirky sci-fi movie marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Parasite, a film that galvanized audiences and critics with its searing take on privilege and wealth. The South Korean director has worked in English previously, including on 2013’s Snowpiercer, but it’s impossible to watch Mickey 17 without considering his prior efforts—particularly the masterful work on Parasite. That inevitable comparison is perhaps unfair.
MICKEY 17 ★★★ (3/4 stars)
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Written by: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo
Running time: 137 mins.
Mickey 17 was directed and written by Joon-ho based on Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey7, and casts Robert Pattinson as the titular Mickey Barnes, a so-called expendable on a human mission to an alien planet. Mickey is attempting to escape the murderous threat of a loan shark alongside his best friend Timo (Steven Yeun), but has no marketable skills. Timo signs up for the Nilfheim mission as a fledgling pilot, but Mickey’s only option is to sell himself as a living experiment. He’s there to die, again and again, and then to be reprinted. The constant cycle takes a toll on Mickey, although it’s a delight for the audience to watch him seared to death in space radiation knowing he’ll be back with his body and memories intact.
Mickey’s only solace on the four-year journey to Nilfheim is Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a security agent he immediately falls in love with. She’s a bright spot amongst a group that doesn’t really impress Mickey, something he recounts in the constant voiceover narration. The team onboard the ship is at the mercy of Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a camera-loving politician who wants to create a “pure” society away from Earth, where he failed to be elected twice. He’s accompanied by his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) and a group of yes men, including Preston (Daniel Henshall), who is always ready for the next PR moment. The futuristic details, like Marshall controlling the staff’s calorie intake to conserve energy, are compelling, even if Ruffalo and Collette sometimes seem like they’re in a different movie than everyone else.
Really, though, it’s Pattinson’s performance that sells Mickey 17 and makes it such an enjoyable ride. The actor has previously showcased his predilection for oddity in movies like The Lighthouse (not to mention his voiceover work in The Boy and the Heron). Joon-ho lets Pattinson off the leash and it’s absolutely captivating. After Mickey survives a perilous situation on Nilfheim involving the native creatures, the Creepers, he discovers a new Mickey has already been printed, resulting in two of himself wandering the ship (and Nasha’s bed). The original Mickey is quieter and “softer,” but Mickey 18 is something of a psychopath. The dynamic is fascinating and Pattinson plays each with a complex understanding of their differences. It’s comedic at times, but also vulnerable, evidence that Pattinson is more of a character actor than the Hollywood heartthrob he’s been made out to be.
Marshall is ostensibly the villain, although that set-up doesn’t fully emerge until midday, after the ship lands on snow-covered Nilfheim and the team discovers the Creepers. Ruffalo milks the role with fervor, seemingly ridiculing wealthy politicians, but the social satire is occasionally lost. The climatic standoff between the Mickeys, Marshall and the Creepers is drawn-out and visually muddled, although it’s satisfying to see how the two Mickeys reconcile existing as one person in two bodies. Unlike Snowpiercer and Parasite, which were obvious in their thematic critiques, Mickey 17 isn’t always clear in its message. Ackie, a highlight of the film, has a great moment where she declares that the Creepers are not the aliens, the human are—a convincingly idea that isn’t carried through the entire story. But maybe not everything movie needs a grander purpose. Joon-ho delivers a lively, dynamic film with clever details and a lead performance that, if released later in the year, could be an awards contender. Comparisons aside, Mickey 17 is a remarkably solid and compelling sci-sci flick, with an absurdist flair that can only come from a filmmaker like Joon-ho.
