Mickey 17 is the award-winning director Bong Joon-Ho’s follow-up to Best Picture winner Parasite. Set in the distant future, the poor Mickey Barnes agrees to be expendable for an expedition to a new world, Niflheim. The catch is that he has allowed his body to be cloned and reprinted after he dies, completing dangerous jobs for the colony. But what happens when he goes out for a job and doesn’t die as everyone expects, and he returns to find that they have already created the next Mickey?
Starring Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collete, and Steven Yeun, the cast of Mickey 17 truly elevates this comedic sci-fi romp. The chemistry between Pattinson and Ackie alone adds such a deep layer of humanity and relatability to the outlandishness of the story, and Mark Ruffalo builds off his performance in Poor Things and cranks up the ham and physical comedy to a level that aces the assignment.
Robert Pattinson has been on a generational run of films at the moment, and Mickey 17 adds another massive hit to his resume. You are drawn in to the unique voice that he gives his characters. As he has said in interviews, he feels awkward acting in his accent, so he gives his characters different accents. He truly excels at the absurdity that Bong Joon-Ho throws at him and aces both spoken and physical comedy when the story dials it up. What really impressed me the most was how well Pattinson was able to distinguish each Mickey, especially 17 & 18, the two we see most of the movie. Both are the same person yet feel like completely different people. It’s like each time he is reprinted, a different part of his psyche is channeled, giving each version its own unique personality. While 17 is more meek, shy, and tepid, 18 is brash, violent, and vengeful. Even though they are both played by Pattinson, you really feel like it’s someone else completely.
Mark Ruffalo has really found his niche outside of Marvel movies. As the failed politician turned colony/expedition leader Kenneth Marshall, he embodies the pompous ignorance of political leaders with whom we have become all too familiar. But he also blends the character with that of a superficial televangelist, making for such an easy character to despise. But Ruffalo is so charming and goofy that he eats his screentime, which makes you want him to keep popping up. I hope he continues to take roles like this moving forward because when he’s allowed to stretch his legs, he can really take you for a ride.
Naomi Ackie is such a phenomenal supporting character to Mickey. She plays Nasha, a security agent who falls in love with Mickey when they first get on the ship, and she stays by him through each iteration of himself. She also aces the physical and comedic aspects of the role that were asked of her, but what I want to point out is how she nailed the tenderness of Mickey’s lover that I think really encapsulates one of the many themes Bong Joon-Ho wove into the story.
In the intro of the movie, Mickey 17 gives us the background on how he got into this current situation. We see Mickeys 1 through 16 do their jobs, some ranging for manual labor while most was human testing for the team of scientists on board. Each time we see him die and be reprinted, the movie makes a point of how insignificant it is in the grand scheme of their mission. He signed up to be expendable, so why should anyone care if he dies? Even when he’s reprinted, sometimes they immediately inject him with a virus or gas him with a poison and kill him off before the day ends. Nasha is always there for him, though. We see in a later scene how after the scientists tested a poison on him and they left to celebrate, Nasha went into the chamber with him to comfort him in his last moments.
In this scene, we are coldly reminded that this is still a human being who is being killed by his colony because he had no other option. He is treated like garbage by many of the colony members, except for Nasha, who still sees him as Mickey Barnes, not as some clone.
See, Bong Joon-Ho is excellent at weaving in societal criticisms into his stories, best done in Parasite, but still done well in his other work like Okja and Snowpiercer. Amongst many things he’s trying to say, the one he’s seemed to echo in interviews is an anti-capitalist angle. How as a worker, you are viewed as expendable, that you can die one day and your position will be filled the next by someone new. Someone like Mickey is destitute with not much going for him, and he has no other option than to be subjected to these dangerous jobs that will kill him mercilessly. He is shown no sympathy from others besides Nasha and another scientist because he is at the bottom of the colony’s totem pole. It echos our own society as we see how the lowest members are seen by those wealthier as expendable. Bosses can fire workers at will in many states, and the job carries on with a new worker shortly after. Each life has value, no matter what their role in society is or how much money they have.
Aside from that, he touches on colonialism as this colony comes to this new planet and immediately wants to wage war with the peaceful indigenous species. He touches on the idea of souls and whether two bodies can share a soul or if they’re the same. There is a radical, fascist, religious leader leading the colony who rations out his colony’s food down to the calorie while he and his wife and select guests eat lavish meals. These aren’t given as much depth as the capitalist theme, but they’re still touched on. While in his other work, Joon-Ho gave these themes more of a straight edge approach, but here, they are presented in a more soft, presentable manner. They aren’t going to challenge you as much as you might’ve hoped and aren’t always presented most interestingly, but the way they all tie together is fascinating.
To wrap up, the visuals of Mickey 17 truly stand out as well. The visual effects of the creepers on Niflheim and of the ship in space are quite good, but the set design and production are phenomenal. I loved how the ship felt so dark and dreary, with dog cages meant to imprison the lowly workers. Yet when they arrive on Niflheim, it is so bright, white, and expansive, but they can’t break ground on the colony site, so it is equally uninviting. Once the political leaves change, the ice of the planet melts, and it becomes habitable. The indigenous creepers were pretty cute, and I appreciated their role in the story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even though this went through development hell, I am so happy this was finally released. Bong Joon-Ho is the type of director you can give a blank check to and know that you will get a good movie in return. Here, he crafts a deeply romantic, comedic, and perfectly acted sci-fi movie that touches on a bevy of societal issues we are all facing today. I really enjoyed my time with this movie, and while some may not like it as much as I did, I do think everyone should check it out. To hear more of our thoughts on Mickey 17, you can listen to our podcast episode here!
4/5
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I've always been a movie fan, but I first got big into cinema watching Whiplash when I was younger. That movie led to a greater appreciation of films and got me to dive into the medium. My favorite genre is horror movies, but I’ll always have a secret soft spot for rom coms and musicals. When I'm not podcasting or watching movies, I love working out and going hiking, and I currently work in business analytics with the degree I got from Western New England University.
MY FAVORITE MOVIES: Good Will Hunting, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, Whiplash, Moneyball, Top Gun: Maverick