‘Parasite’ filmmaker returns with ‘Mickey 17’
Writer/director Bong Joon-ho returns to movie theaters after a historic win at the Oscars five years ago with “Parasite,” this time with “Mickey 17,” a big-budget science fiction English-language film starring Robert Pattinson. It adapts the novel by Ashton Edward, and hews closer to his more satirical work, which happens to have been his previous English-language films “Snowpiercer” and “Okja.”
Set in the year 2054, Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a down-on-his-luck loser trying to evade his loan shark after his macaron business (the brainchild of his friend Timo [Steven Yeun]) fails. To do this, he boards a spaceship with a crew and passengers that may or may not belong to a corporatized cult, led by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette).
The wealthy couple, after losing Kenneth’s last two elections, have opted to try and colonize the planet Niflheim. Mickey has signed up to be an “expendable,” and not the kind who hangs out with ’80s action stars. No, this kind means that he is subjected to all manner of violent and terrible and painful ends, researching ways that one can die in space and on Niflheim. You see, every time Mickey dies, he can be “reprinted” from a backup made of his memories, consciousness, and his personality. The 17 in his name comes from which iteration we are seeing.
Of course, in typical Bong humor, the printer sometimes acts up like a dot matrix printer from the prior century, with “paper jams” and such, and this can result in slight differences in Mickey’s behavior, like clinginess, moodiness, and so on. Despite all his misfortune, Mickey has found love on the ship in Nasha (Naomi Ackie, “Blink Twice”), and a sympathetic colleague in Dorothy (Patsy Ferran), one of the scientists who oversees his printing.
Man’s relationship to nature
In his first-ever solo screenwriting credit for a feature-length film, Bong is able to cram so many elements and themes into “Mickey 17,” and yet, miraculously, it holds together. There is a coming-of-age story, a love story, and a science fiction adventure that speaks to man’s relationship to nature. There’s also wicked satire in the Marshalls, where multiple audiences will see their own particular inept politician of choice.
Timo is an agent of chaos, inspired by De Niro’s turn in Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” (Scorsese is an idol of Bong’s who he lovingly gave tribute to when he received his Best Director Oscar).
The printing and expendability of Barnes is a dark mirror to how wealthy industrialists see the working class. Class has ever been a favored theme of Bong’s, and it retains its bite here, but leavened with generous helpings of black humor.
He’s also found such game coconspirators in his actors. Pattinson adopts yet another unexpected accent; in fact, he takes on several as you’ll see when he has different personalities on display. Ruffalo and Collette tap into the energy Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal displayed in “Snowpiercer” and “Okja,” respectively, though there is a morbid sweetness to their devotion to one another.
There’s also Bong’s predilection for creatures. The native species on Niflheim are dubbed “creepers” by the humans, and they look like croissant-shaped tardigrades. Using the same creature designer as he did on “Okja” and “The Host,” Bong gives the “queen” or mother of the creepers an interesting personality. At one point, when Barnes asks how she knows his name, she coyly replies “Secret.”
“Mickey 17” is a mad circus with a skilled craftsman as its ringleader. Bong uses his masterful mise-en-scene to keep things engaging and surprising throughout, ably assisted by cinematographer Darius Khondji (“Seven”), his extra-game cast, and supportive crew (he brought his “Parasite” composer Jung Jae-il and editor Yang Jin-mo).
As a first project post-Oscar, it’s a bold move, with his biggest budget and stars yet, and outrageous ideas that don’t even get the full examination they might in other works. This is not a negative, it’s just that the core of the story is Mickey and Nasha and every other enticing aspect has to be in service of that. With a breathless climax and much food for thought, “Mickey 17” is a feast of delights.
