Director: Bong Joon Ho
Writer: Bong Joon Ho, Edward Ashton
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun
Synopsis: Mickey 17, known as an “expendable,” goes on a dangerous journey to colonize an ice planet.
After gaining true critical acclaim and acceptance (like winning four Academy Awards), a director may face a double-edged sword. On one side is the supposed blank check. When you win an Oscar, a studio may support you in making whatever you wish. On the other side are the ridiculous expectations. Post-Oscar, those expectations get raised to near impossible levels. And this is where Bong Joon Ho sits with the release of Mickey 17. And for better or worse, Director Bong made exactly the movie that he wants, expectations be damned.
In the not-so-distant future, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) and his friend Timo ( a delightfully grimy Steven Yeun) sign up to board a spaceship after fleeing from a loan shark. Unfortunately for Mickey, the only way he can join is to become an “expendable,” meaning he is a disposable worker who is cloned so he can be reproduced after being worked to literal death. This technology has been banned on Earth, due to a horrific crime, but is being used in outer space by a twice-failed politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette). The film picks up four years after the beginning of the voyage as they arrive at the planet Niflheim. Mickey 17 (the 17th version of our protagonist) is thought dead at the hands of the native creatures of the planet, eventually known as Creepers. Of course, at this point, Mickey 18 (also Pattinson) is created and when 17 returns, the problems begin as two expendables are not allowed to live at the same time.
Although much of this plot setup is science fiction in nature, Mickey 17 is, at its heart, a romance. Mickey’s partner, Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who is a security agent on board, has been with him since the beginning of the journey in all of his numerical iterations. The movie depends on their connection and thankfully, the chemistry between Ackie and Pattinson is palpable. Through a montage of their relationship, we find moments to enjoy between the two of them, so when both Mickey 17 and 18 are in scenes with her, we run through a gamut of emotions: excitement, wonder, fear, concern. Despite the outlandish nature of much of the film, some of the quiet moments, like Mickey adjusting Nasha’s uniform, are among its best. Nasha is the only one who seeks to understand Mickey, instead of simply seeing him as a tool to be used for the mission. Bong Joon Ho, as a director and writer, must find a way to balance the comedy and drama and luckily, this is what he has done for his entire career. He, along with his wonderful cast, manage to create a world in which we can laugh while also rooting for these characters to ascend to a better situation.
This is also, of course, a movie that focuses on the evils of capitalism and the horrors of what we, as humans, do to our environments. The violence enacted on the Creepers is both disturbing and unsurprising and lets us know exactly who to root for. This has been covered in his previous films, and some viewers may see his messages as “too on the nose” or repetitive, but that is purposeful. Director Bong is not trying to be subtle, as shown especially through Ruffalo and Collette’s over-the-top performances. It would be easy to see these characters as direct corollaries to our current leaders in America, but I think that would be missing the point. Instead, they are symbolic of humanity’s worst instincts and how easily we (regardless of nationality) can be corralled by bad actors, in general.
Mickey is all of us, and not in the sense of his journey being our own. But Mickey is seen as corporations see us. We are to be used, discarded, and replaced. All the better if our old memories and skills can be implanted so they don’t have to waste money and time retraining a new employee. The companies know that we have no choice but to work if we want to survive, so they push us to the brink. You’ll work an 8 hour shift? How about 12 instead? And for less money. What are you going to do, quit? They know that we cannot survive if we do. Mickey’s story is a heightened one, but not an unfamiliar one.
Pattinson’s portrayal of both 17 and 18 prove that he is one of the very best actors working today. Everything from the accent choice to his willingness to be both foolish and aggressive make these characters full. None of the scenes featuring both Mickeys feels out of place or false. Even if the film did not delineate who is who in a physical way, we are aware of their differences; how they walk, how they talk, their attitudes. This is because of a combination of Pattinson’s abilities and Bong Joon Ho’s direction (along with Director of Photography Darius Khondji). Visually, the film is on par with Bong Joon Ho’s best work. It combines the creature effects of Okja and the setting of Snowpiercer, all while creating something that feels new and fresh.
As the story moves forward, it moves away from comedy without truly leaving it behind. The balance is everything. There is a clear message being taught here and Bong Joon Ho does not shy away from being didactic. Humanity has proved repeatedly that we need lessons, that we miss the obvious. In some types of film, subtle symbolic work has an impact. Mickey 17 is not that kind of movie. We need to be told what is wrong with our world before we destroy it and others like it. More importantly, we need to remember the importance of the self. We cannot let personal guilt, corporate greed, and insecurity rule us. We are better than that. Director Bong gives us a gift; forgiveness of the self, the ability to push back against a horrific system, and most of all, the importance of love.
With Mickey 17, Bong Joon Ho shows us that he is disinterested in giving a film that is thought of as “the next step” in what we want after Parasite. Instead, he takes the opportunity to return to ideas that he deeply cares about like the treatment of humans and the world around us. He mocks those in power while still remembering that many of them are to be feared. But he never forgets that, to move past our fear, we must have something worth fighting for. As long as we have each other, we cannot be defeated by the elite. There is a way out and forward.
