'Parasite' director Bong Joon-ho struggles to present a cohesive vision in this sci-fi comedy
Mickey 17 is Bong Joon-ho’s third English-language film, his first being the pretty great Snowpiercer and his second being the pretty alright Okja (I’m aware that Okja has its die-hard fans. I am not one of them). Of course, neither of these movies are a patch on Parasite, which won four Oscars—including Best Picture—at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Paradoxically, we all know that a movie winning Best Picture at the Oscars isn’t actually any indication of quality, but in this case it was well-deserved. Parasite is an incisive examination of class, greed, and pride in Korean culture. Its nuanced thematic reasoning is matched only by its dark sense of humour, and the result was a movie that became an impressive hit globally.
Naturally, expectations were high for Mickey 17, but expectations are a cruel thing. Was I wrong to think that Bong Joon-ho would be able to bring some of the exceptionally smart writing he displayed on Parasite to a high-concept movie about clones? Maybe. But with Robert Pattinson in the lead role, surely it wouldn’t be a total disaster.
Hey Mickey, You’re So… Fine
In order to escape a tricky financial situation, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) joins a space expedition as an “Expendable”—a labourer who is put into dangerous situations and cloned every time he dies. When a mix-up creates a new clone while Mickey 17 is still alive, the resulting “Multiple” infraction puts Mickeys 17 & 18 in the crosshairs of politician/cult-leader Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo).
The first thing you’ll notice about Mickey 17 is the voiceover by the titular character. You’ll notice it for two reasons. One is that Robert Pattinson has adopted a whingy, high-pitched register for the character in order to capture his meek personality. The second reason is that the voiceover doesn’t seem to end.
On one hand, the voiceover works because Pattinson is so expressive and in-character as he narrates the multiple sequences that lead to him signing up to become an Expendable and meeting his girlfriend Nasha (Naomi Ackie). On the other hand, this spoon-feeding of backstory is incredibly lazy and keeps the audience at a distance during the moments where we should be emotionally connecting with Mickey.
Clone Bores
There is comedy in these early moments though. The movie makes a real argument that hell is contractual employment overseen by bureaucrats, and watching Mickeys 1 through 16 meet their end in various grisly manners, narrated all the while by a Mickey 17 who has accepted that this life is punishment for past misdeeds, is simply fun.
As passably entertaining as the first act of the film is, I was looking forward to when the movie would drop the voiceover and truly begin. After all, I didn’t really know what the movie was about. Sure, there were two clones when there should only be one, but how would this create conflict? What were the clones going to be doing?
Well, initially, Mickey 17 makes a big show about how calories are scarce and how there’s only enough food onboard the colony ship to feed a precise number of people. So maybe there’s a struggle to keep both Mickeys fed and sustained? Even Nasha brings up this issue when she firsts finds out that she has two boyfriends now.
Alas—no. Despite the many, many instances of Mickey 17 telling us that food is scarce early in the story, this scarcity does not play any role later in the plot or pay off down the line in any way.
Aha! Here we go! Steven Yeun’s character is dealing drugs on the ship, and Mickey 18 wants to kill him! Look, he’s about to—no, wait. For a second there, I thought the movie would be about the Mickeys covering up a murder, or investigating a crime with their cop girlfriend, but no. Why is Mickey 18 so much more aggressive than 17? A default in the clone system, maybe, or—hm? No reason given? Doesn’t even get mentioned? Ok.
Well, what about this? A woman called Kai has a crush on Mickey and is offering to ‘share’ the clones with Nasha and—oh, this gets brought up in one scene and is never mentioned again? Not even thematically? Interesting choice…
May Thy Clone Mooch and Mutter
‘Okay, Kieran, we get it,’ I hear you say. ‘What’s the movie actually about, then?’
Uh, aliens that look like a cross between a sandworm from Dune and a woodlouse, mostly. Yeah, so the aliens inhabit the planet that the colony ship lands on, and Donald Tru—uh, I mean Kenneth Marshall wants to start a war with them. Marshall also wants to breed a ‘pure’ race of humans and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) wants to make sauces from the aliens. Yeah, like dipping sauces? For food?
It really doesn’t take long for Mickey 17 to completely lose sight of why any of us went to see the movie in the first place: the clones. Bong Joon-ho simply can’t think of anything interesting to do with the premise. Mickey 17 is also severely hindered by his milquetoast personality that results in him being dragged from scene to scene and being given no concrete goals for most of the movie.
Obviously—very, very obviously—the movie is trying to find humour in parodying the spineless politicians of our time, their yes-man lackeys, and the wealthy’s obsession with aesthetics, but it’s all incredibly one-note. This attempt at social commentary is so ham-fisted it baffles me that it was written by the same person who wrote Parasite of all things.
We're also never given a strong reason for why Mickey and Nasha are an item. The movie makes the brave choice of putting us in a position to dislike Nasha on occasion, but for reasons I cannot fathom. The arc of their relationship is profoundly dissatisfying, as is Mickey 17's relationship to Mickey 18.
This Is The Skin Of A Clone, Bella
Look, it’s not all bad. It is, at times, even quite impressive. Robert Pattinson is doing incredible work here. Despite looking identical, there is never a doubt about which version of Mickey you’re looking at. Pattinson is in complete control of his performances (even if it still rankles that there is no reason given why the Mickeys act so wildly different. It’s just poor worldbuilding—sorry, I’ll stop).
The visual effects are also stellar—there are some incredible one-take shots that include performances from both Mickeys that would make you believe that the filmmakers actually found a way to clone Pattinson. The colony ship also looks great, as do the costumes, the hair and make-up—honestly this film is a technical masterpiece.
The movie feels textured and real and was clearly made with passion... in every regard except the writing. There's plenty to like here in terms of filmmaking, and if you're looking for something silly and well-made to divert your attention for a few hours, Mickey 17 is your guy. Just forget that this is the director that made Parasite and you should have a better time than I did.
Thanks for reading my review of Mickey 17. If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.