Mickey 17 review: another Bong Joon-ho banger with a wonderfully wacky Pattinson

More Okja meets Snowpiercer than it is the next Parasite – with the goofiness dialled up to 11 – Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 is a darkly funny environmentalist, humanist, anti-fascist tale that’s the perfect accompaniment to these strange times we live in.

Mickey Barnes, played by the increasingly excellent Robert Pattinson, is a loser. And that’s not just figurative – slumping through life with a nasally whine and confused expression, he certainly looks the part – he is also literally a loser. He lost a bunch of money when his ‘friend’ Timo (Steven Yeun, going full slimeball) convinced him that macarons were going to be bigger than burgers. He lost all social credibility when Darius Blanks, the ruthless loan shark, promised to cut off his limbs if he didn’t pay him back. And now, after unwittingly signing up to be an ‘expendable’ employee in a dubious interplanetary colonising mission, he is losing his life. Again. And again. And again.

Watch the Mickey 17 trailer

Mickey 17, 16, 15 …

What Mickey realises far too late is that being an expendable means being scanned and reprinted (cloned) for the sole purpose of being a lab rat in dangerous experiments – that always result in his death. It’s incredibly risky technology, and obviously unethical, but it’s necessary for the survival of everyone on the mission. It’s also very funny to watch Mickey haplessly choke, puke and bleed to death (if you’re into pitch black humour, which I very much happen to be!). He explains, via hilaridepressing narration, that reprinting humans was banned on Earth, but since laws don’t extend beyond Earth, it’s OK out here in space. Hooray?

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Behind the proverbial curtain are failed politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo, going about as Trump as you can go without fake tan and a toupee) and his wife Ylfe (a very hammy Toni Collette). Sir and Madam Marshall have organised this ambitious space mission thanks to some … generous … benefactors, and filled their spaceships with Marshall’s biggest fans, militant do-gooders and poor dolts who otherwise have nowhere else to go.

As the inseparable husband and wife duo, Ruffalo and Collette are eating up every piece of sci-fi scenery and leaving no crumbs. It’s no secret that director Bong Joon-ho is an auteur of anti-capitalist cinema, but these grotesque political caricatures are particularly unsubtle, even for him. With gleaming white teeth and perfectly-pressed pantsuits, the Marshalls rule Niflheim like a commercial TV station – complete with ever-roaming cameras, pre-rehearsed speeches and a bizarre pigeon mascot.

Then comes a second act surprise that edges so, so close to being a recreation of a real-world event of 2024, right down to the familiar headwear of choice for Marshall’s maga – sorry, mega – fans. As a narrative climax, it works well and is very much earned. As a parable for modern times, it’s almost too on the nose. Is Bong Joon-ho psychic, or is the state of play in world politics just that predictable? Either way, I reckon this particular scene explains why the film was denied a proper release date on multiple occasions.

Why Mickey 17 is worth the wait

Despite a lengthy set-up, the scenes of Mickey 17 canter along at a neat pace and don’t seem to drag. That’s thanks to a winning combo of wacky Pattinson voiceover, slapstick comedy (I never thought I’d be so delighted to see RPattz bite it in so many ways), and impressive visual design, that begins with the soon-to-be-colonised ice planet of Niflheim, a white-on-white tundra full of hidden caves and nefarious creatures that really let the VFX team flex their stuff.

Naomi Ackie as headstrong soldier Nasha is a delight, complementing Pattinson’s bummer-weirdo tilt with a grounded and plucky presence. Anamaria Vartolomei is also excellent as her narrative foil Kai – an equally strong soldier who is confronted (but not too much) when her personal interests seem to align with those of the baddies. Along with Timo (Yeun), Kenneth Marshall, Ylfa Marshall and the science team, they expand and colour the world of Niflheim’s sole space station, making it feel like a real, lived-in place. It helps too, of course, that the central conceit of humans wanting to colonise another planet is not too far removed from reality.

As for its mass appeal, there’s plenty in here for Mickey 17 to reach blockbuster status. We humans love a good clone story, after all: from Multiplicity to Moon. And a key part of this tale is that when Mickey is reprinted, he gets to retain all of his memories via an implant – which forces us to question our own humanity. If you are remade again and again indefinitely, which one is the real you? And does it matter?

Mickey 17 may not be Bong Joon-ho’s strongest feature – the aforementioned Parasite, Okja and Snowpiercer will probably hold up better – but it’s a very fun time at the movies, and sails along at a good pace until the lacklustre ending lands with a bit of a thud.

Mickey 17 is in cinemas from 6 March