Mickey 17
Can Bong Joon-ho replicate the success of his earlier works, or does Mickey 17 fall flat?
After years of being stuck in production hell, Bong Joon-ho has finally released Mickey 17, but many critics and casual moviegoers have mixed thoughts. In its first weekend, the movie has failed to recoup its budget, but that isn’t an indicator of overall quality more often than not. Following the delays, it would be easy for expectant viewers to build up unrealistic expectations – constantly teased for years with the singular promotional image on Twitter – but is the reaction a result of baseless hype or has Director Bong been too self-indulgent with this piece?
To escape debt after starting a macaron shop, Mickey (Robert Pattinson) signs up to a space expedition to another planet as an “expendable” – a person that can be reprinted and refitted with memories when they die. This allows for Mickey to work in hazardous environments and undergo cruel experimentation to further science, all at the behest of the imbecilic Commander Marshall (Mark Ruffalo). The movie explores Mickey’s role on the ship, what it means to be a person, and what it means to no longer be one. Early in the movie, Mickey (in his 17th body) finds himself stranded in an ice cave and has to trek back to the main base, only to find that the colony has already printed a new version of him, Mickey 18. At risk of being discovered as vilified “multiples”, the two Mickeys fight but ultimately both work together alongside his (their?) partner, Nasha (Naomi Ackie) to confront the human printing program and Commander Marshall’s leadership.
The relationship between Mickey and Nasha is a strong element of the story that felt believable and was enjoyable to watch, but there is an evident lack of development in some of the other characters. The clearest example of this was that of Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei), another worker on the Niflheim colony. Her character goes from being a strange love triangle interest for Mickey, before turning on a heel to become an enforcer of Marshall’s force only to disappear from the story completely, returning in the epilogue seemingly completely fine. Even when she is in the story, the nature of her feelings toward Mickey and her character’s alignment are inconsistent. Also, many elements of the plot seemed to contradict pre-established logic. This type of criticism is usually my least favourite when it comes to reviewing a movie as it’s easy to poke holes in a story and it feels the kind of comment one makes when there’s nothing left to say about a story, but when the plot holes make some plot decisions unnecessary or lessen the themes, it goes from an over-cynical snarky comment to a genuine flaw in the film that actively distracts the viewer during the watching experience. The pressing conflict in the film’s final act comes about in a natural way but gets resolved too straightforwardly and conveniently.
Several plot threads, such as the trade of an illegal drug aboard the colony, which seems only nominally illegal with many higher ups admitting to casual use, become discarded very quickly and their inclusion is left as a point of confusion. To highlight something the film does well, the character of Timo (Steven Yeun) is a good example of characterisation done well. The kind of person that his character represents is relatable and his relevance to the story, while maybe falling off a little in the third act, felt a lot more intertwined than that of Kai. The conclusion to his story is given more screen time and is consistent with how he’s presented throughout the film, which works far better.
It’s not a plot that treads completely new ground in most areas – aside from falling on a few common tropes the film itself is an adaptation of the similarly named book Mickey 7 - but that allows for Director Bong to focus on more thematic choices rather than making decisions purely to develop the plot. The story is conducive to this methodology; there are many ethical and philosophical questions posed by the human printing machine and the existence of multiple Mickeys. The film even touches on non-cloning related themes like the purpose of sex as purely for reproduction, pleasure, and as an act of rebellion. But this is where a lot of the film’s flaws in this area lie. The film only touches on these themes in fairly surface-level ways. There were scenes that raised interesting issues, like what death might mean to Mickey 17 now that 18 has already been printed, but the film doesn’t bring it up again. The entire story is backdropped by an allegorical story about intelligent native peoples being subsumed and killed under colonialism, which causes the story to seem focused on neither half entirely, leaving the viewer wanting more. These choices may be intentional by Director Bong to allow the audience to discuss with each other but when considering the far more singular thematic coherence of an earlier work like Parasite, this seems like an excuse when it’s clear that he is capable of writing well-structured think pieces.
It’s creepy how many parallels can be drawn to modern day America. There are even what seem to be parodies of Elon Musk’s strange obsession with extreme pro-natalism
The antagonist of the film, Commander Kenneth Marshall is a bumbling, self-obsessed, idiotic leader of a cult of personality followed by a sycophantic, eunuch-esque, unelected second-in-command, with the whole operation being a confusing combination of a government, a church, and a company. It seems that Director Bong is making a direct, if not a little derivative, parody of the current Trump-Elon US government, until you realise that the film was finished in 2023, years before the current American hellscape. With the film even mirroring an assassination attempt the leaves Marshall scarred and the nonsensical, religiously-rooted hatred of a group of people for a personal trait that they had no say in deciding (the “multiples”), it’s creepy how many parallels can be drawn to modern day America. There are even what seem to be parodies of Elon Musk’s strange obsession with extreme pro-natalism. Although, this might say more about how the current American landscape is a cliché of exaggerated stories and tropes like the scheming vizier to a weak, posturing emperor. A compelling part of the story is that the reason that this expedition and many others happened in the first place is due to the degradation of the Earth to what can only be assumed to be the effects of climate change. This is only alluded to in a single scene showing a dust storm battering the outside of a recruitment centre, being shown from the inside of the building. The lack of focus in this case seems entirely intentional as a smart way of expressing the quiet resignation of governments and companies and the ease at which they give up on Earth. Compare this to Interstellar, where the problem of the dying Earth is completely unfixable, showing many scientists trying and failing, with the search for a new planet necessary for humanity’s survival. This parallels the nonsensical views of men like Elon Musk and his obsession with his “Occupy Mars” plan while completely ignoring how he and others like him are largely responsible for the decline of the planet. It’s a depressing stance for the movie to take, but it’s a compelling and realistic one. Fixing the Earth’s climate (or even stopping it from getting worse) is never even mentioned, with it already being seen as a foregone conclusion.
Each iteration of Mickey is distinctly different, although most iterations are seen only briefly in flashbacks. The major Mickeys that feature are Mickey 17 and Mickey 18. For large portions of the film, there are no physical differences between the two variants, but it’s never hard to distinguish them due to the incredible performance by Pattinson. Even when not speaking, both Mickeys have such clear differences in body language that sometimes you forget that they are in fact played by the same actor. This recent pivot for Pattinson going from roles like Edward Cullen and Cedric Diggory to roles like Mickey or the titular bird from The Boy and the Heron is really inspiring and it’s amazing seeing Pattinson showcase his clearly well-practiced acting chops, which, as an added bonus, often feature silly voices. As Marshall, I think Ruffalo might have gone too far with the persona of the vainglorious ex-politician. I think an over-the-top performance was necessary but the level at which Ruffalo hammed up his performance for comedy detracts from some of the emotional stakes when it doesn’t stop or change in scenes talking about his planned genocide or torture. Toni Collete, playing Marshall’s wife Ylfa, was incredible, however. Her performance was far more reined-in while still being ridiculous. I do think the character of Ylfa was wasted and didn’t have enough of an impact on the story, but Collete is not to blame for any of this as she still brings her all to a role which wasn’t perfectly planned out.
Battling thematic inconsistency, strange characterisation, and distracting performance, Mickey 17 still manages to be a fun watch that does end up inspiring thought and discussion over the central concept, which can only be considered a success. Without spoiling too much, the film touched on interesting perspectives on the clichéd concept of a planet’s natives and does a much better job than a film like Avatar did. The majority of the performances and plot beats are compelling. I’m glad that the film did finally release, and it was absolutely worth a watch.
