Film review: ‘MICKEY 17’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
Korean writer/ director Bong Joon Ho’s latest excursion into misanthropic weirdness, Mickey 17 is certainly ambitious, mixing science fiction, jet black comedy, farce, action and political satire. That, however, is its problem, the film is a mess. Mickey 17 flails about in all directions never settling on a clear or satisfying approach and it isn’t especially funny, thrilling or politically insightful.
Based on the Edward Ashton novel, Mickey 7, the film plunges us into a dystopian future in which the world is an even more dismal place than it is now. Capitalising on the people’s discontent are crazed politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his creepy wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) who are attempting to create a new settlement on the distant planet Nilfheim. With thousands of people eager to escape Earth, the couple have a readymade and compliant population of colonisers. One of the refugees boarding the giant spaceship to Nilfheim is Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) who is trying to escape a violent loan shark with a penchant for chainsaws. Mickey inadvertently signs up to become an “Expendable”, not a member of a dodgy action movie franchise but a kind of slave/ test subject who is placed in deadly situations, invariably killed then repeatedly resurrected via an instant cloning process called “reprinting”. Seemingly consigned to a miserable never-ending hell of painful death and rebirth, Mickey’s fortunes dramatically change when he meets badass soldier Nasha (Naomi Ackie) and Nilfheim’s insectoid indigenous inhabitants.
This is another case of a film that tries to be too many things and ends up being none of them. The goofball humour might appeal to some moviegoers but there’s nothing particularly witty in any of it. The attempted comedy also detracts from the film’s effectiveness as sci fi and almost kills the sense of otherworldly wonder. That said, Bong Joon Ho still conjures a few remarkable visuals including Nilfheim’s giant slater bug-like inhabitants massing outside the spaceship.
The central conceit of Mickey’s resurrection isn’t quite as revolutionary as some may think, as we’ve seen similar concepts explored in films like The Prestige, Edge of Tomorrow and Duncan’s Jones Moon. As with those films Mickey 17 touches on a few philosophical issues such as the nature of identity and the self but it doesn’t address these with enough depth. Similarly, Mickey 17 hints at a commentary on capitalist exploitation but doesn’t delve into it adequately. Again, intellectually stimulating fragments are lost in the mess of ideas.
Also, critically, Pattinson doesn’t generate the necessary pathos as Mickey. The character is the sort of beaten down schlub Joaquin Phoenix normally plays and the film desperately needed him. While Pattinson deserves credit for playing multiple versions of Mickey and giving them slightly differing personalities, he’s a little too quirky and not someone about whom we desperately care. Given the chaotic nature of this film, we can’t blame Pattinson too much; just about every performer struggles to make sense of their character. Ruffalo (as much a pompous, extravagant weirdo as he was in Poor Things) occasionally evokes the speech patterns, mannerisms and obsession with tv image of a certain president but it’s a patchy satire that doesn’t land particularly meaningful blows and is so forced it becomes irritating. Similarly, Toni Collette chews the scenery as the manipulative Ylfa and while at times she’s amusingly unhinged, it’s such an outlandish performance it becomes tiresome, particularly as she keeps rerepeating a gag (possibly a reference to Ho’s Okja) about turning the creatures of Nilfheim into sauces. The most tolerable performance comes from Naomi Ackie as Nasha who appears to be the only sane person on the spaceship and makes a kickass hero and empathetic lover for Mickey.
Mickey 17’s sci fi/ comedy mashup will probably appeal to some filmgoers, especially devotees of Ho’s previous works. Others will likely find its 137-minute length and scattergun approach a sizeable chore.
Nick’s rating: **1/2
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction/ Comedy.
Classification: M.
Director(s): Bong Joon Ho.
Release date: 6th Mar 2025.
Running time: 137 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.