The Plot: Down on his luck, Mickey (Robert Pattinson) signs up for a space colonisation programme. The catch is that he’s an expendable, hired to do the dangerous jobs in space and on the ice planet that leader Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and partner Ylfa (Toni Collette) have earmarked for a new human colony. Each time he dies, he’s ‘reprinted’ and carries on as before with the same memories from the previous clones. Version 17 survives an incident with the native lifeforms and then encounters Version 18 (Robert Pattinson), complicating matters…
The Verdict: After scooping four Oscars five years ago for Parasite, one might think that director Bong Joon Ho could easily rest on his laurels and leave it at that. Maybe he did just that for a while and took a well-deserved break during the pandemic, but now he’s back in business with his latest offering Mickey 17. It’s evident that doors in Hollywood have opened wide, with Bong now working with Warner Brothers and their plentiful resources to bring his vivid imagination to life. Orson Welles was right – a movie studio is the greatest electric train set a boy ever had. It’s evident that Bong is having fun with Mickey 17, laying down tracks and running his characters in their carriages at high speed into red lights and risky situations but then pulling his camera back to get the bigger picture. Bong is controlling the terminal and that’s just fine with him.
Mickey 17 is based on the book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, adapted by Bong himself as a light satire on the folly of human behaviour when faced with the unknown and why humans must always think they’re right. The emphasis here is on the light aspect, with Bong playing around with the comedic potential of human clones as they bump off each other. With each copied clone, Mickey loses a part of himself to the point where Mickey 17 is something of a loser. He’s ready to accept his inevitable fate but also shows some resilience. Mickey 18 is different still, allowing for Robert Pattinson to delineate his multiple performances by tweaking each version but maintaining the whiny, Steve-Buscemi inspired voice from Fargo. He’s delightful throughout, anchoring the film while keeping the character on the right side of audience sympathy as Mickey sets out to right some wrongs.
It’s interesting to note that, rather than move forward with something new, Bong is essentially going back to his roots with his memorable monster movie The Host. Mickey 17 is not as sharply directed or as emotionally satisfying as that film though. It often resembles a cuddly Starship Troopers with the vicious takedown of the American military reduced to a winking footnote. It’s about oversized personalities here rather than all-conquering corporations. Instead, the objects of fun here are Mark Ruffalo on a roll playing foppish idiots after Poor Things and a flighty Toni Collette obsessing over secret space sauces. The ensemble of actors hold the film together, even though it’s evident that the seams are visible and starting to rip. It’s quirky in just about the right tone without sending it over the edge into more meaningful territory.
That ultimately is what Mickey 17 has to offer. It’s a Bong hit with a fun sci-fi romp angle bolstered by Pattinson’s dual performances, but the afterglow soon passes and the film isn’t all that potent or memorable. It’s Bong with his shoes off and wielding his electric train set with glee, which is enough to make it an entertaining return to the director’s chair.
Rating: 3 / 5
Review by Gareth O’Connor
In short: Bong hit
Directed by Bong Joon Ho.
Starring Robert Pattinson, Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette.