Bong Joon-ho, the Academy Award-winning director of the critically acclaimed Parasite, has at long last released Mickey 17, a delightfully bizarre sci-fi comedy.
Taking place in the future, the film follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) as he looks to make a new life for himself far from Earth aboard a vessel set to colonize a new planet. He is an Expendable, meaning he is often sent on incredibly dangerous and inhumane missions, and whenever he dies, he is reprinted 20 hours later, retaining all his memories.
Through a surprising turn of events on a mission, Mickey doesn’t die, but since he is presumed dead, a new one is printed. So now we have two Robert Pattinsons running around, leading to a highly enjoyable, incredibly strange adventure.
Pattinson brings his A-game as Mickey 17 and 18, performing as two very different characters simultaneously. He manages to expertly portray not just the meek, awkward 17, but the cold, uncaring 18. He manages to steal every scene he is in, which is most of them, being the main character and all.
That’s not to say the rest of the cast is lacking, however. Naomi Ackie does great in her role as Nasha, while Steven Yeun pops up every now and then as the entertaining Timo, who is constantly out for himself – although, unlike Yeun’s other popular roles, Timo is far from invincible. Mark Ruffalo is the other main highlight of the cast, portraying the bumbling, yet ruthless Kenneth Marshall to near perfection, while Toni Collete does a solid job as the sauce making-obsessed Ylfa.
On the filmmaking side, Mickey 17 is incredibly well-crafted. Director Bong Joon Ho knows exactly when to opt for a sweeping wide shot to perfectly show the scope of these strange locales, while still knowing when to push the camera in for deeper character moments. The script is also pretty tight, and does a great job at fitting in messages on colonization and capitalism, the latter of which feels right at home Bong Joon-ho’s other works, particularly Parasite.
The only thing that didn’t fully work for me was the pacing, as it felt very slow in the first half, and then it feels as if a switch randomly flipped halfway through, and the movie started to blaze through major points. Some thematic elements get a bit lost in the shuffle, though not to any major degree.
Overall, however, the odd pacing does little to hamper my enjoyment of Mickey 17. It takes its wacky premise and runs with it, combined with great performances and direction. It’s a film that has a lot to say, and does mostly succeed, even if the strange pacing hampers the analysis a bit.
Rating: 8.5/10
