Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Written by: Bong Joon-ho
Run Time: 2 hours 17 minutes

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There have now been five films to win the Oscar for Best Picture since Parasite (2019) did, and while several have been wholly worthy of this prestigious accolade, none – Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023) comes closest – have felt just as special as Bong Joon-ho’s modern masterpiece. These five films are also an indicator of the five long years that Bong has made audiences wait for his next film. Therefore, it would be simply erroneous to class the arrival of Mickey 17 as anything other than especially eagerly-anticipated.

The film follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a young man on the run from a violent loan shark who volunteers for a space mission. He applies for the role of ‘expendable’ meaning that he’ll have to perform incredibly dangerous tasks that could likely cause death. Thankfully, advancements in technology mean that his body can be reprinted or cloned before he dies, allowing him as many attempts as necessary to complete his various tasks. Four years into his job the 17th iteration of Mickey gets abandoned on Niflheim, the icy planet the mission plans to colonise. This sets off an unfortunate chain of events including a premature cloning that means multiple Mickeys exist simultaneously.

In the years since the Twilight film series has concluded Robert Pattinson has made consistently interesting choices when it comes to picking his film roles, and Mickey 17 is no exception. It’s clear that he’s having a total blast playing Mickey, this awkward, yet really endearing weird little guy. And what’s even better is that the nature of the story allows for Pattinson to really flex his acting muscles by portraying two different versions of the same character, Mickey 17 and Mickey 18. This showcase of versatility is thoroughly entertaining and makes these portions of the film particularly playful.

However, despite the film’s central live, die, repeat premise there’s actually a lot more to Mickey 17 than meets the eye. Bong’s screenplay – adapted from Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey 7 – traverses familiar territory, combining themes and visuals from some of his greatest hits. The spaceship much of the film is set on feels reminiscent of the train from Snowpiercer (2013). The mission leaders – a very cartoonish Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette – live in luxury while the remaining crew are on strict rations. While the native creatures or “creepers” of the snowy planet they eventually arrive on have a striking resemblance to the cute super pigs of Okja (2017), both of which eventually fall victim to human greed and cruelty.

Mickey 17 certainly isn’t short on ideas then, but it lacks the focus to convincingly combine them together. What starts as an intriguing contemplation on life and death – albeit with too much first act exposition – becomes a grander political satire. Although, this too is suitably entertaining thanks to the aforementioned Ruffalo and Collette. Playing failed political candidate Kenneth Marshall, Ruffalo unmistakably models his performance on one distinctly deplorable POTUS. He plays him right on the edge of too much, while Collette is more controlled as his puppeteering wife Ylfa, delivering a masterclass in cunning and camp.

The more interested Mickey 17 becomes in exploring its colonisation storyline (making many valid points in the process) the more the main premise gets forgotten about. No doubt the hook that has got audiences into their seats in the first place, it’s reasonable to expect that some viewers might be disappointed with the sidelining of this central concept. Bong doesn’t forget it altogether though and does make efforts to integrate it into this new narrative direction, ultimately coming full circle in the film’s final moments. Be that as it may, it’s not done as successfully as one might expect from a director of Bong’s calibre.

Perhaps it’s fitting though, considering the pair of Pattinsons present, that there are two distinct films fighting for the spotlight. Both are intelligent and offer astute observations on morality and mortality, but become bloated when brought together. With such riotously entertaining performances at every turn though it’s easy to forgive the screenplay’s slight shortcomings, because Bong is well and truly back and he’s as boisterous as ever.

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Star Rating: ★ ★ ★

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