The film adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey7, Mickey 17 is the long-awaited return of South Korean filmmaker Boon Joon-Ho after Parasite made Academy Award history as the first Best Picture winner that is not in the English language in 2019. The film follows The Batman star Robert Pattinson as Mickey, known as an ‘expendable’, who goes on a journey to colonise an ice planet.
It has been seven years since Okja, Bong’s last film that was mostly in English. But the acclaim and success of Parasite allowed the filmmaker to branch out to bigger and bolder projects. With Bong having received an early manuscript for Mickey7 in 2021, it looked like the stage was set for his return to the director’s chair after a lengthy break to deliver his vision of Ashton’s novel.
The film sets its eponymous character with his sullen attitude, stuck in a crevice in the ice and hoping for someone to save him. His childhood friend Timo (Steven Yuen) appears, but instead of saving Mickey, he leaves him to ‘die’ at the hands – sorry, tentacles – of the Creepers, a creature that inhabits Nilfheim and looks like the giant Ohmu insects from Studio Ghibli film Nausicaa. But shock twist – this isn’t where the film truly begins. Nor even when the title card even drops.
Mickey paints himself as a normal guy with no particular skills on offer, besides an overwhelming sense of apathy. Having to leave Earth to avoid a loan shark (thanks to Timo), he reluctantly becomes an ‘expendable’ of a colonisation mission. If he dies, a clone with his memories intact will be reprinted the following day. With a seemingly nonchalant attitude, Mickey has quiet hopes that he can find his purpose by helping others in establishing new environments and medical treatments. But his thoughts on his new job allows Bong’s dark humour to shine through. He wistfully contemplates the meaning of life only to ultimately die as he is subjected to deadly environments and life-threatening experiments. Rather than fill him with purpose, the continuous wasting of his life further compounds his inner indifference – as an expendable, no-one thinks twice about essentially killing him and when others ask about his role with the repeated question: “What is it like to die?” – it is not from concern but morbid curiosity that indicates a sad fact: no-one cares about him.
Mickey’s defeatist attitude echoes through the screenplay as it also highlights the classist attitudes among the characters, a theme Bong has explored in past films such as Parasite and Snowpiercer. Sleeping in a cold metal structure, colonists eat rationed purees and nutrition blocks while expedition leader Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his equally insufferable wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) have fancy meals in a luxury compartment. In addition, any wrongdoings such as multiple clones are considered a crime unless they serve the greater good, without thinking about the well-being of others – a situation that becomes an issue when the 17th and 18th ‘versions’ of Mickey come face-to-face. Visually, Se7en cinematographer Darius Khondji conveys the perception that humans are the lesser being through picturesque shots of humans lining up within vast spaces or scurrying around aimlessly reinforce the narrative’s classist themes amid Fiona Crombie’s creative production design. This creates a heady combination that lays out the hypocrisy among the colony and draws attention to its thoughts on overly tanned, nonsensical politicians – a sentiment that anti-Trump audiences may appreciate. This also builds up the frustration towards the film’s authority figures, who are mostly apathetic, egotistical but cowardly, making them more detestable.
The strength of the screenplay is also due to Mickey 17‘s stacked casting. Pattinson puts in a multi-layered performance that sees him turn into a comical Jekyll and Hyde of sorts – Mickey 17 is meek and a little unsure of how to deal with actually surviving while Mickey 18 is gruffer, more gung-ho with a potty mouth. When both are on-screen together, the sudden manifestation of his characteristics may feel revelatory, but this is only because Mickey didn’t have the chance to properly live before he is reprinted. Meanwhile, supporting cast members such as Ruffalo, Collette and Yuen are deliciously smarmy in their roles, incorporating humour into their otherwise hateful characters. In contrast, Mickey’s love interest, agent and quiet badass Nasha (Blink Twice‘s Naomi Ackie), brings heart and understanding to bring Mickey comfort and enjoyment in what is a hell-filled and thankless job amid a sea of idiots. She also exudes a confidence that shines in the film’s visually grandiose climax, which flips the classism among the characters on its head and sees Ackie deliver the best speech in the film.
In Bong’s final cut, he delivers action, humour and elaborate set pieces in his biggest film to date. He masterfully balances his trademark elements of dark comedy, classism, and production design but there are some rough edges. The confusion with Mickey’s romances with Nasha and fellow agent Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei) may feel like an obvious comedic device to play with the idea of duplicated characters but ultimately add nothing major to the narrative. In addition, the almost predictable, SFX-filled climax feels drawn out to deliver comeuppances and allow quieter characters such as sympathetic scientist Dorothy (Patsy Ferran) and head agent Zeke (French Dispatch actor Steve Park) to make an impact. Nonetheless, the final act gives Mickey the chance to step up as the hero he needed to become – an opportunity that he had been waiting his whole life for.
In Mickey 17, Bong truly delivers a spectacle that is as deep as it is funny. With Pattinson being the best he has ever been, this sci-fi black comedy will linger on the mind long after the credits roll.
Rating: 
Mickey 17 is out in UK cinemas on 7 March.
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yuen, Toni Collete, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Park,
Runtime: 137 minutes
Country: South Korea, USA
