Bong Joon Ho has had a captivating run at the box office over the years with hits such as Snowpiercer and Parasite, among others. His latest film, Mickey 17, has a somewhat familiar premise, but the marketing helped to hide a relatively dull film. Unlike many of the filmmaker’s other movies, there’s little for the audience to hold onto here.
Mickey 17 takes place in the future and follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) as he becomes what is known as an expendable. On a long space voyage to an unsettled ice planet, Mickey must take on the most dangerous jobs because if he dies, he can be reprinted (cloned) with his memories downloaded to essentially come back to life.
This is not a new premise, but coming from director/writer Bong Joon Ho it’s expected that there will be a unique twist to the immortality gimmick. Unfortunately, that’s simply not the case here. In fact, the immortality aspect is barely used for a bulk of the film. Instead, the film focuses more on a parody of the Trump administration, and the prejudice Mickey faces as an expendable.
The acting and VFX in the film are impressive in many ways, but they don’t make up for an incredibly average script. Naomi Ackie plays Mickey’s fearsome love interest, Nasha. She’s the brawn of the relationship, and carries the film on her shoulders as the standout in almost every scene she’s in. Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo and Steven Yeun tap into previous characters, Duncan Wedderburn (Poor Things) and Danny Cho (Beef) respectively. There’s more nuance to the performances, but both characters feel the full force of a lackluster script.
Anyone that’s familiar with Mickey7, the novel Mickey 17 is based on, will be especially disappointed. The novel adds a number of interesting aspects to the plot that are completely absent in the film. For instance, in the novel every time Mickey is cloned it’s at a great cost to the new colony. In the movie, new Mickey clones can be made with little to no effort, completely removing a stress point that could’ve added another layer of depth to the shallow plot of Mickey 17.
As the movie begins, it sets the stage for Mickey’s interstellar journey. It prepares the audience for what could have been an epic adventure. What follows is a stiff political satire and civil rights-focused plot that doesn’t offer anything of significance for the audience to engage with. The limited comedy falls flat, there’s no real sense of urgency, and every time it seems as though the plot is about to take an interesting turn, it falls right back to the same uneventful series of events.
There’s a good movie buried somewhere under the limited script of Mickey 17. If Bong Joon Ho had stuck closer to the book, or at least given the audience something more to keep their attention, the film could’ve been another breakout hit for the filmmaker. As it stands, there’s nothing of real interest in Mickey 17, and it’s a far cry from the likes of Snowpiercer and Parasite.
About Mickey 17
Synopsis: A disposable employee is sent on a human expedition to colonize the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Writer: Bong Joon Ho
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 Hours, 19 Minutes
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
- Bryan Dawsonhttps://geeknewsnetwork.net/author/bdawson1/
