Written by: Bong Joon Ho
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo
Rating: [3/5]
When a particular filmmaker has found so much success in a subject area, they may feel the need to continually expound on it, believing they have more to say. In this attempt, however, they may run into issues when these newer editions don’t necessarily feel as fresh as assumed but rather a lesser imitation of their previous work. That transpires here in Mickey 17, where a master filmmaker crafts a fine movie but ultimately does not measure up.
With not much happening for him, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) signs to join a spaceship crew set to colonize an ice planet as an “Expendable.” This job entails dangerous tasks where if he dies, they simply replicate a new clone of him. When the 17th version of him unknowingly narrowly escapes death, he returns to the colony with the 18th one already in existence, causing a crisis.
Bong Joon-ho cannot make a bad film; his filmography has proven just that over the course of his career. Of all his work, Mickey 17 had the highest anticipation given it served as his first film since his greatest work, Parasite. I did not envy him, as how could one possibly follow up such a world-renowned masterpiece that will live on and continue to sit on lists of the greatest films of all time? Nothing could possibly measure up, but at the very least we have Bong operating in his silly mode as seen before in other projects.
While not necessarily loving this film, there’s plenty to appreciate in the craft category and the world-building. The majority of this film transpires within the ship of his human expedition and maintains this grungy darkness to it. Very befitting given the cynicism involved in why all of these humans have chosen to make their way to this ice planet. Just like much of the lighting within the ship, there’s a darkness to this film and the subject matter at hand, but Bong, of course, tries to walk the tightrope of injecting some humor all throughout. He aims to create a balance between these elements to make audiences laugh but also wince at seeing the brutality humanity can inflict on anything they seek to claim dominion over. A trademark of his and one that mostly works out to the benefit of the film.
The humor on display has its positive and negative elements. On the positive, we have Robert Pattinson and his portrayal of the Mickeys. If there’s anything Pattison loves to do as an actor, it’s to put on a silly voice, and he chews up the scenery as the Mickeys. He very much worked on the exact wavelength; this film certainly serves as one of the better elements of the film. Then we have Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo in their portrayal of the villains leading this expedition. These two embody the rot within this capitalistic endeavor and have this cartoonishly evil demeanor to them. Unfortunately, these performances completely faltered, and this element, more than anything else, displayed how Mickey 17 ultimately feels like a lesser version of Okja. It contains a similar animal rights-focused and anti-capitalistic approach with larger-than-life villains. While great actors, everything Ruffalo and Collete did on screen quickly became exhausting and mostly detracted from the enjoyment the film sought to evoke. Bong rarely misses in crafting great characters, but he did not cook here.
Not a bad film but one that honestly disappointed me in the end, Mickey 17 raised eyebrows when its release date continually jumped around. It made you wonder why exactly Bong Joon-ho, fresh off an Academy Award-winning beloved film, would have his next one jump around and finally have its release hit in the month of February. Now after seeing the final results we can see exactly why. This film contains many elements to enjoy, there’s no doubt about it, but in the end it feels like a pale imitation of his previous works that handed the subject matter at hand more deftly and precisely. Robert Pattinson as the Mickeys definitely brings the entertainment factor and very much matches the world surrounding him, but all of it comes in service of a film that will firmly sit at the bottom of Bong’s filmography.
Films with Josh 
