Mickey 17: Film Review
Four years after winning four Oscars for Parasite, director Bong Joon Ho is back with the quirky sci-fi Mickey 17.
Set in 2054, Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, who signs up to become an “expendable” on a mission to the ice planet Niflheim. Mickey is used as a crash test dummy/guinea pig, thrust into dangerous situations that he probably won’t survive, such as being exposed to radiation and injected with a virus. He’s treated like a disposable clone – rather than a person with thoughts and feelings – as he gets reprinted whenever he dies. After he is rescued from a certain death by a native lifeform, Mickey 17 returns to the ship and discovers he has been accidentally reprinted.
Mickey 17 is unusual, often absurd and surprisingly funny. Some people might struggle to get on its wavelength but I was fully onboard from the get-go thanks to Pattinson’s idiotic accent, the tone of the narration and the editing. I found myself laughing more than anyone around me. The tone is all over the place – sometimes light-hearted and silly, sometimes bleak and serious, and sometimes horrifying – but Joon-Ho is in control of it and it somehow works.
Unfortunately, the film loses its way a little in the final act. I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t as solid as the rest and I started to become aware of the 2 hour 15 minute runtime. The majority of the film breezes along at a clip but the final act feels too long and drawn out. Plus, it loses its bonkers tone and becomes more of an action sequence.
I am fascinated by the roles Pattinson goes for. He loves to sign up for crazy stuff and Mickey 17 is no exception! He is hilarious here and gets to do a lot of physical comedy, with a particular standout being a dinner scene in which he reacts badly to fake meat. And he has double the fun playing Mickey 17 and 18, who are more different than you’d expect. 17 is meek, mild and simple, whereas 18 is dark and vengeful. He sets them apart by using slightly different voices and giving 18 a menacing vibe (18 also has a different front tooth). I thought I wouldn’t get past the weird accent (it’s a bold swing), but I did eventually.
He is surrounded by a star-studded supporting cast. Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette chew the scenery as the rich leaders of the mission. I could not take him seriously with his spray tan and massive white teeth. Joon Ho has said that he wasn’t inspired by any active presidents but it’s easy to see parallels to Trump. They both seemed to be having a blast playing these awful privileged people. I also enjoyed Naomi Ackie as Mickey’s badass girlfriend Nasha and Steven Yeun as the worst friend ever, and I will always be thrilled to see theatre star Patsy Ferran on my screen.
There is connective tissue between Mickey 17 and Joon Ho’s earlier films Snowpiercer and Okja in that it’s a sci-fi film with plenty to say about society, class and privilege and the way we treat animals. It may not be perfect but it’s weird, wacky and more fun than I expected.
In cinemas from Friday 7th March
Rating: 4 out of 5.
