‘Mickey 17’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
Opening in theaters on March 7th, ‘Mickey 17’ is Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning 2019 movie ‘Parasite.’
Yet if you were to pick a film that feels more in the mode of his latest effort, ‘Mickey 17’ is more along the lines of his dystopian pic ‘Snowpiercer,’ given its futuristic setting and examination of imbalances in society between the haves and have-nots.
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Does ‘Mickey 17’ replicate the success of the director’s previous movies?
When you have the reputation of a Bong Joon Ho, the pressure is naturally on to follow what has come before. The Korean filmmaker certainly has his obsessions, and here he’s expressing them once again through science fiction satire.
If you were to compare this to anything outside of his canon, it would probably be the work of Terry Gilliam, who himself played well in the arena of satire blended with dystopia. Yet given the Oscar-winning status of ‘Parasite,’ this feels like a more minor effort from the director.
Script and Direction
Bong here is adapting the 2022 novel ‘Mickey7’ by Edward Ashton, taking the basic concept of an “expendable” worker aboard a spaceship (and later on the icy colony world of Niflheim) who has essentially signed up for lethal duties and to be printed out each time as a copy of himself.
Complications arise when Mickey –– the 17th “copy” as per the title of the movie –– survives his latest, seemingly fatal mission and returns to his colony ship, only to discover that the 18th copy has already been printed and the current version isn’t exactly thrilled to be sharing resources or the affections of the woman Mickey has come to love, Naomi Ackie’s Nasha Barridge.
This is Bong in full quirk mode, much as he was in ‘Snowpiercer,’ looking to blend comedy with social issues and poking fun at the corrupt excesses of those in charge (in this case, Mark Ruffalo’s Kenneth Marshall, a failed politician-turned-spiritual leader and businessman who is sponsoring the mission and bears distinct tonal resemblance to a certain current occupant of high political office.
The issue with ‘Mickey 17’ is that it’s often tonally confused, trying to blend its message with the wacky weirdness surrounding its title character’s existence. It doesn’t always gel that naturally, and Bong as both writer and director could have benefitted from tighter editing, the movie sometimes drifting off on tangents that add little to either the humor or the points that he’s trying to make.
Stylistically, it’s certainly committed to an offbeat blend of corporate soullessness and the organic side of the planet where the colonists end up. And the movie also lets montage do a lot of heavy lifting here, filling in a lot of information in a short time.
Cast and Performances
The movie’s focus is, of course, on the various Mickeys, all played by Robert Pattinson (albeit mostly as the 17th and 18th incarnations). Despite being genetic copies, each Mickey is subtly different –– the 18th, for example, is pushier than the 17th.
In general, though, Pattinson gives them all an appealing sad-sack quality in a mostly vanity-fee performance that is always watchable. The actor has been doing compelling work for years, signing up to collaborate with interesting filmmakers and Bong is no exception.
Still, there are times when Mickey as a character comes across as more a collection of ticks than he does a man –– though that’s more down to the script than Pattinson’s acting.
Mark Ruffalo is clearly having fun playing Kenneth Marshall, the preening, dumb leader of the colony ship whose only thought is how he’ll look good to those around him. It’s a fine, funny performance, though poor Toni Collette is left with much less to do as his wife, Ylfa –– aside from a couple of standout moments, she feels largely wasted.
Much more impactful is Naomi Ackie, no stranger to space-borne genre work after ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘. She takes full advantage of playing security agent Nasha, who is a badass with a soft side that finds romance with Mickey. She gets plenty to do in the movie, and makes the most of it.
Around the central characters are a fun bunch of supporting types, including Steven Yeun as Mickey’s sleazy childhood friend Timo, who is only too quick to let him down. Credit also to the likes of Patsy Ferran as friendly scientist Dorothy and Tim Key, who has a small but memorable role as a Marshall obsessive who ends up dressed as a pigeon to support one of his odd pronouncements.
Final Thoughts
This won’t make the top three of Bong’s best movies, but it certainly still has its charms. Sci-fi satire is a tough genre to pull off, and here he delivers something that, if it sometimes feels like a poorer copy of this other work, is worth seeing.
OPeZhE2zH1JqrhIaplHJG5What’s the plot of ‘Mickey 17’?
Adapted from Edward Ashton’s novel ‘Mickey7’, the new movie stars Robert Pattinson as an “expendable” –– a disposable crew member on a space mission, selected for dangerous tasks because he can be renewed if his body dies, with his memories largely intact.
With one regeneration, though, things go very wrong…
Who is in the cast of ‘Mickey 17’?
- Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes / Mickey 17 / Mickey 18
- Naomi Ackie as Nasha Barridge
- Steven Yeun as Timo
- Mark Ruffalo as Kenneth Marshall
- Toni Collette as Ylfa Marshall
- Holliday Grainger as Gemma
- Anamaria Vartolomei as Kai Katz
- Thomas Turgoose as Bazooka Soldier
- Angus Imrie as Shrimp Eyes
- Cameron Britton as Arkady
- Patsy Ferran as Dorothy
- Daniel Henshall as Preston
- Steve Park as Agent Zeke
- Tim Key as Pigeon Man
List of Bong Joon Ho Movies:
- ‘Barking Dogs Never Bite‘ (2010)
- ‘Memories of Murder‘ (2005)
- ‘The Host‘ (2007)
- ‘Mother‘ (2010)
- ‘Snowpiercer‘ (2014)
- ‘Okja‘ (2017)
- ‘Parasite‘ (2019)
- ‘Mickey 17‘ (2025)
Buy Tickets: ‘Mickey 17’ Movie Showtimes
Buy Bong Joon Ho Movies on Amazon
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