Warning! Spoilers ahead for ‘Mickey 17’
After winning several Oscars for his 2019 film ‘Parasite,’ South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho had the world’s eyes on him for his highly-anticipated follow-up. Entrusted with more than double the budget of his previous films, Bong was reportedly awarded a level of creative freedom that very few directors receive with a big studio movie (all it takes is winning the most prestigious filmmaking prizes for a movie many hail as a modern masterpiece).
Adapted from Edward Ashton’s book ‘Mickey 7,’ the highly ambitious ‘Mickey 17’ doesn’t just toe the line of wickedly humorous satire – it stomps across it completely. With the amount of topics Bong attempts to include in this sci-fi black comedy, it’s inevitable that some fall flat – as there’s only so much depth you can achieve with multiple plot lines in just a little over two hours of runtime. ‘Mickey 17’ is a film that, if considered only in conjunction with ‘Parasite,’ may seem like a confusing project for a director like Bong to make now. But when looking at Bong’s other work like ‘Okja,’ ‘Snowpiercer,’ and especially ‘Barking Dogs Never Bite,’ the Robert Pattinson(s)-led film – including all its triumphs and its failures – is actually the exact film Bong Joon Ho would make when given a blank check to bring his outrageously creative visions to life.
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“This Is The Skin Of An Expendable, Bella…”
The catalyst for almost all of the surreal events in‘Mickey 17’ is essentially Mickey’s docility – his willingness to let anyone take advantage of him if it pleases them. Robert Pattinson’s Mickey is the ultimate people-pleaser taken to the extreme, exacerbated by his choice to apply for the job of an ‘Expendable’ to gain passage on a colony spaceship in 2054. In this near-future world, a controversial new technology is developed that stores a person’s memories, thoughts, and personality to ensure that future clones can be ‘printed’ repeatedly. A technology so problematic that it became banned on Earth, each spaceship is only allowed one ‘Expendable,’ assigned the most lethal tasks, almost certainly ending in death – a job that establishes Mickey Barnes as a human lab rat. The concept of this technology, and the subsequent questions surrounding Mickey’s humanity and individuality is explored rather cleverly – hinging on Pattinson’s nuanced performance as the many versions of Mickey.
Dying excruciating deaths in the name of science doesn’t end up being too bad for Mickey when he falls in love with security agent Nasha, played by a charismatic Naomi Ackie. However, everything changes when Mickey 17 is left for dead and Mickey 18 is subsequently printed – only for Mickey 17 to return to the ship and insist on being allowed to live, despite the existence of ‘multiples’ being extremely illegal. This is where the best moments of ‘Mickey 17’ truly appear, as the debates and questions surrounding the ‘Expendable’ concept are masterfully explored through Mickey 17 and Mickey 18. Mickey 18 is more aggressive, confident, and angry than any previous version of Mickey. Pattinson pulls off two phenomenal performances as he acts with himself, creating two characters that are technically the same person – yet distinguishably different. Any explanation as to why Mickey 18 is so different are not spoon-fed to the audience by Bong, but rather left ambiguous and told entirely through subtle details.
Too Little Of A Good Thing – Too Much Of Everything Else
In any other film, the potential of this human-photocopier storyline might dominate the entire movie – but ‘Mickey 17’ doesn’t stop there. Mark Ruffalo’s failed-politician-turned-ambitious-coloniser Kenneth Marshall and his wife, Toni Collette’s Ylfa, serve as the primary antagonists, leading the expedition aboard the spaceship – an expedition to colonise the snowy planet Niflheim. But wait – there’s more. It’s soon discovered that the planet is already inhabited by (incredibly designed) bug-like creatures that Marshall dubs ‘Creepers’ – a species that Marshall insists needs to be wiped out to make way for the colony. The creatures themselves move and look fantastically, giving ‘Mickey 17’ its creative sci-fi element, along with the planet Niflheim itself. However, the introduction of more and more ambitious plot lines is where the movie begins to falter.
The brilliance of ‘Mickey 17’ rests in how its characters interact and exist in relation to each other. Mickey 17 continuously fails to stand up for himself – even when deceptively fed experimental meat and subsequently treated with experimental painkillers (both of which only bring agonising pain). It’s Nasha and Mickey 18 who value Mickey 17’s personhood more than he does – with even a ‘Challengers’-esque scene developing as Nasha immediately accepts both Mickeys as the person she loves. As per ‘Okja’ and ‘The Host,’ it’s clear that Bong has a thing for designing fascinating new creatures. When given a huge budget and full creative freedom, it’s understandable why ‘Mickey 17’ has such visual grandeur – who wouldn’t take the opportunity to let their imagination run wild?
Everything that occurs in the second half of ‘Mickey 17’ is entertaining and cinematically remarkable – but it reaches its climactic final showdown with a lot of loose ends that go unresolved, leaving you to wonder if it’s even possible to satisfyingly address everything with barely an hour of runtime left. Giving more time to explore how the two Mickeys and Nasha ultimately coexist would have ripple effects on the type of movie ‘Mickey 17’ becomes, but it’s this aspect that hits the hardest in the film.
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What ultimately makes ‘Mickey 17’ worth watching is the performances delivered by the whole acting ensemble. In sci-fi films, it’s imperative for the audience to fully buy into the world of the movie – and achieving that goal largely rests on developing characters who undeniably belong in the world. After all, why would the audience invest in a story that the actors themselves aren’t convinced of? Pattinson’s rather distinctive accent has become a polarising topic – but something that’s irresistibly delightful. The voice is pure ‘funky lil’ guy’ – something Mickey 17 truly personifies. Additionally, Pattinson manages to make the aggressive Mickey 18 feel like a natural extension of the ‘whole Mickey,’ in that he’s the Mickey who finally takes everything that’s happened to him and actually acts on what he may want deep down – payback.
The relationship between Nasha and every version of Mickey is similarly powerful. Ackie and Pattinson’s chemistry creates a connection that acts as one of the most important signifiers that every photocopy of Mickey is still a whole person. A particular moment when Nasha angrily demands to be allowed to hold Mickey as he’s being slowly exposed to a toxic gas not only exhibits the depth of their feelings, but also signifies how Nasha (like Mickey 18) firmly believes that Mickey’s role as an ‘Expendable’ doesn’t strip him of his humanity.
The biggest elephant in ‘Mickey 17’s’ room is Ruffalo’s Trump-like Kenneth Marshall, who hams it up in every scene he’s in – orating his monologues as flamboyantly as if performing Shakespeare. Marshall and Collette’s Ylfa are the ultimate parody of the obscenely rich and powerful couple who draw a cult-like devotion. Ruffalo and Collette hold nothing back and know that these characters are repulsively ostentatious. However, the key aspect that makes these characters not fall into the territory of unconvincing parody is that their existence is believable enough that whatever outlandish thing they do doesn’t seem out of place.
What Was Expected From ‘Mickey 17’?
As of now, the box office performance of ‘Mickey 17’ has been floundering – especially considering its large budget. With the dreaded phrase ‘box office bomb’ being thrown around, it raises questions about what people expected the film to achieve. Even with Bong Joon Ho’s accolades and Robert Pattinson’s star power, ‘Mickey 17’ is a sci-fi concept with black comedy elements that veer close to gallows humour. While the film may be based on a novel, it definitely fits more into original concept territory rather than established IP. ‘Mickey 17’ has many of the hallmarks of a future ‘cult classic’ – but at the end of the day, this was a big-budget studio picture. There’s still time for the film to build word-of-mouth and draw more ticket sales. However, after the unbelievable success of ‘Barbenheimer,’ the lifespan of ‘Mickey 17’s’ cinema run could be a rather sobering look at the post-COVID status of how much power the terms ‘auteur’ and ‘movie star’ still carry.
Born in Korea and raised in Hong Kong, Min Ji has combined her degree in anthropology and creative writing with her passion for going on unsolicited tangents as an editor at Friday Club. In between watching an endless amount of movies, she enjoys trying new cocktails and pastas while occasionally snapping a few pictures.
