Review: Mickey 17

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Bong Joon Ho's latest, "Mickey 17," is his third dystopian science fiction film that focuses on disparity and authoritarianism after "Snowpiercer" and "Okja." It's also his first since the Oscar-winning "Parasite," which also told a story of the haves and have nots.

The picture works for the most part and is, on the whole, enjoyable, although it also one of the director's more minor works. If "Parasite" and "Memories of Murder" represent the South Korean filmmaker working at his peak, and "Okja" and "Snowpiercer" are his second tier, his latest is more on the level of "Mother" or "The Host."

The film pulls some elements from our current political climate. Mickey (Robert Pattinson) and his partner in crime (Steven Yeun) are on the run from a gangster after their plans for a restaurant fall through and they can't pay him back. They hop a ride aboard a ship heading to a distant planet. 

Timo (Yeun) is talented enough to land a gig as a pilot, while poor Mickey ends up volunteering to be an "expendable," an individual who is basically used as a guinea pig and dies over and over again. His memories and DNA are used to print out a new copy of him and he basically picks up where he left off each time a new version of him is created. The deaths are presented as comical and absurd - viruses, being stranded in space, etc. - and he comes to view death as an annoyance.

On board the ship, Mickey meets Nasha (Naomi Ackie), with whom he falls in love, and the mission into space is led by a lunatic former politician named Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo, still in "Poor Things" mode) who failed at an attempt to run for office and has a massive ego, but is all the while pretty unintelligent - sound familiar? His wife (Toni Collette), who is obsessed with making sauces, is nearly as bad as he is.

However, Mickey is sent on a mission that leads to a cave where is presumed dead after being surrounded by a large group of creatures that Marshall nicknames "creepers." But rather than kill Mickey, they help him out of the cave. All the while, a newer, more arrogant version of Mickey (18) has been printed out. When 17 and 18 meet, they become enemies, vying for Nasha's attentions and making several attempts to snuff each other out.

There are some interesting elements in the film about the lower class rising up against the upper crust - which eventually comes to a head due to Marshall's intolerable behavior - but the subtext revolving around the creepers that has to do with colonization and immigration are more subtle, almost to a fault. 

Pattinson deserves credit for his commitment to such a wacky performance, portraying two very different versions of Mickey. Having gotten used to him playing more serious or stoic roles over the years, this performance enables the actor to stretch his comedic muscles. 

Overall, I was mostly amused by "Mickey 17" and, as is customary for a Bong Joon Ho film, it's great to look at. After a film that leaves so much to chew on like "Parasite," it seems inevitable that the follow up might pale a little in comparison. In terms of the director's sci-fi output, "Snowpiercer" and "Okja" are superior. "Mickey 17" is fun and plays with some interesting ideas that are relevant to our increasingly dystopian society, but it's more of a lark when compared to its director's overall body of work.