'Mickey 17' review: Bong Joon Ho's sci-fi comedy makes Robert Pattinson expendable for the greater good

Warner Bros. Pictures

Is it just me or is this prequel to 'The Expendables' franchise not what you expected? Also, you would typically add the $ at the end; you wouldn't just remove an entire letter or rename the whole thing. Well, maybe that is a discussion for another time since there's enough to talk about when it comes to Mickey 17, writer-director Bong Joon Ho's (this is how it's spelled in the credits if you're wondering) leap towards the future, which is an adaptation of Edward Ashton's novel 'Mickey7'.

Robert Pattinson stars as the titular Mickey Barnes, who in 2054 signs up to be an "expendable" for a colonising space mission to a planet called Niflheim, meaning that he's given all the dangerous objectives and cloned whenever he dies. Complications emerge once his 17th variant survives an "alien" encounter unbeknownst to others, and he runs into "Mickey 18" (also Pattinson) when he gets back to the spaceship. The cast includes Naomi Ackie as security agent and Mickey's girlfriend Nasha, Steven Yeun as his friend and pilot Timo, Mark Ruffalo as the mission's evil head honcho and religion-pilled politician Kenneth Marshall, Toni Collette as Marshall's malicious wife Ylfa and Anamaria Vartolomei as fellow security agent Kai Katz who's got the hots for Mickey.

As someone who's recently written about trajectories that movies have, and how much rarer it is to see something pick up the pace after a rough start, Mickey 17 comes at an ideal time to help clarify some of those thoughts. Bong has struggled to translate his style and language in his English-language projects into something that is as compelling as his Korean-language films, and the first 30 minutes of this film shares many of those downfalls. You'd usually smell blood in the water when you get an almost unforgivable amount of narration—which thankfully is nearly enjoyable at times thanks to Pattinson's enthusiastic voice work—and haphazard character introductions, but slowly but surely, Bong manages to find the right puzzle pieces in his adventurous mix of sci-fi, dark comedy, satire and creature feature as the story moves along.

Structurally and flow-wise, the film is still oftentimes a mess since much of the (elaborately narrated) setup doesn't really matter once we get to the absurdity, while there are also lots of ideas and tangents introduced and abandoned, which is why there isn't proper propulsion from one scene to the next. But the middle section especially is when Bong and his collaborators truly lock in. The ideas that end up sticking on the wall are related to Marshall's god complex (isn't that ironic?) that is guiding him to oversee a "pure" colony, the young working class led by Mickey having to stand up to the disillusioned, genocidal elites in power in order to stop them from creating even more destruction after doing so back on Earth, and challenging problematic ideologies even if you're putting yourself in harm's way like Mickey does.

You can interpret these instances reflecting real-life political figures in different countries, the outcome of relying on capitalism or even our relationship with nature and the animal kingdom, but nevertheless, you definitely get the sense that the movie has more on its mind than simply its entertainment value. That is not to say that those things don't come hand in hand because they certainly do as the tonal balance between the wackiness, physical comedy and serious topics is deftly handled by Bong and editor Yang Jinmo. It's a farce when it needs to be but you also get the impactful character moments when you're supposed to feel something.

What helps massively in this equation is that the cast is bringing way more charm to the table than this kind of movie requires, although it's not surprising considering Bong's filmography and what he gets out of his performers. Pattinson separates his two Mickeys expertly, whether that's with his voice, posture or body language, but he also proves to be an eccentric slapstick lead when that is asked of him. Ackie and Vartolomei give their characters more individuality than what is on the page and both are fun presences here, whilst Ruffalo and Collette are the ones who are making big choices—not all of them land but there are more hits than misses, and more importantly, Ruffalo in particular is consistently very unpredictable in his scenes so it's hard to take your eyes off him. Only Yeun is sadly a bit too one-note from the main cast, but again, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

As far as the design, world-building and staging go, it's all rather stellar work and superior to most sci-fi and comedy out there right now. Fiona Crombie's production design is atmospheric and detailed, and not only does it transport you to a different time but it also serves as a playground for the comedy. The sets blend finely with the VFX (supervised by Dan Glass), which are also responsible for the seamless effect of two Pattinsons on the big screen (another shoutout to his performance, too, since he's often acting against a body double and himself). Bong's frames that he creates alongside cinematographer Darius Khondji are always interesting and lively, whether that's accomplished with great blocking, beautiful light, neat camera moves or all of those things at once. Plus, you get some unique little (and big) creatures that ought to delight viewers.

So, even if it takes a while to get the ball rolling and the story is a bit all over the place, it's hard not to enjoy the swings taken here and appreciate the original voice that Bong commands with, no matter what the budget is. The tongue-in-cheek approach, the technical wizardry, the artistry behind the performances and images: it's all quite captivating when it comes in such a unique package. No one will likely hail this as Bong's one true masterpiece, but thanks to its heartening singularity, slick style and solid performances, including Pattinson's, it's worth voyaging to the cinema.

Smileys: Production design, Robert Pattinson, originality, tone

Frowneys: Structure

Mickey 17? More like Goofy Fun 17 because that is what it truly is.

4.0/5

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