With any surprise Oscar winner- particularly one that sweeps above the line categories and includes both Best Director and Best Picture- the next project from that winner often comes with a heavy price. The raised expectations and revisionist history of their work is laid upon that next film, forcing it to shoulder the burden of culmination be it fair or not. After a tumultuous release schedule, “Mickey 17“ arrives with all of those strings attached. Bong Jun-Ho’s extremely weird, ambitious sci-fi political satire comes to us not on its own terms, but on all of the aforementioned criteria we’ve assigned to it. Along with an unfettered ambition and sort of blank check filmmaking, it struggles to solidify itself as a true individual project, the weight of all Jun-Ho’s work holding it back from being as unique and singular as it is trying to be.
And boy oh boy, is “Mickey 17” trying to be a lot of things all at once. It shouldn’t come as a surprise; Jun-Ho’s work has always been polarizing. It was simply punctuated by massive renown and award dominance that reshaped everything before it and after it. While it seems unfair to judge this flick across a filmography rather than a film alone, it speaks to a larger picture of how much winning major awards still have an effect that follows filmmakers into the rest of their work. And while it is important, it shouldn’t be the focal point of “Mickey 17,” merely a contextual interpretation of the work and where it falls in a championed filmmaker’s legacy. There’s a lot to like in this latest outing, and regardless of how you come away from it two things remain abundantly clear: Bong Jun-Ho is really good at making movies and Robert Pattison has the juice. It is a showcase for both of them, a messy political satire that loses itself in its own ideas that is also expertly crafted and a showcase for a now can’t miss performer.
Based on the 2022 novel “Mickey7” by Edward Ashton, “Mickey 17” is a black comedy sci-fi satire written, directed, and produced by Bong Jun-Ho. It’s the kind of film only someone with clout behind them can make, and the experimental risk should be applauded. We are living in a soulless time for cinema in which most movies are content, so allowing something like this to exist is welcomed, important, and necessary even if the end result is a messy affair. On its surface, is a relative straight forward dystopian sci-fi story. Earth is struggling with unemployment, crime and unlivable weather. A radical church group partners with a failed politician who fancies himself a god to run a cloning trial labeled “Expendables” to establish a new colony on an off world planet called Niflheim. Mickey Barnes, an affable down on his luck drifter inadvertently signs up to be that expendable, and is essentially the human guinea pig to establish life on the new planet. He dies, is brought back, and dies again. That is until his 17th clone is only left for dead, and returns to the ship only to find his replacement, 18, and together they begin the fight to live a life taken from them.
There’s no subtly in its satire, with Jun-Ho being incredibly aggressive with his themes. Colonialism, manifest destiny, industrialization, church and state and class warfare and the follies of the billionaire class are all ever present and doesn’t take much or long to know that that is what this film is about. Unfortunately, “Mickey 17” belabors its points and loses its way the longer it goes on. Jun-Ho clearly has a lot of interests and ideas about politics, manifest destiny, colonialism, politicians, the crumbling of the American Empire, and yes, the horrifying future billionaires want. You can’t tell me he didn’t look at Amazon workers and think, “What if they just worked til they died but they could be brought back to work again the next day?” It’s the kind of villanous dystopia we see in most sci-fi films, and it feels eerily relevant and pointed at some very particular individuals. Mark Ruffalo as failed, over the top, narcissistic Ken Marshall is clearly an amalgamation of very specific people that are instantly recognizable, and Pattinson’s Mickey is clear representation of the exploited working class.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these ideas, just that they often collide and crash against the filmmaking prowess Jun-Ho possesses. It’s messy and a good 30 minutes too long, but it is also expertly crafted, demonstrating a visual flare that captures lighting and VFX and excellent production design. Add to that great performances from everyone including Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Anamaria Vartolomei, and Tim Key and you’ve got a solid outline for a great black comedy. But while it has a strong cast, it’s far too busy to give them anything of note to do. The overstuffed side plots with countless characters convolutes an already imbalanced film, and exacerbates some of its imperfections. Simply put, “Mickey 17” is more “Okja” than “Parasite,” and I would argue that the former feels far more contained and streamlined despite both films sharing very similar frameworks.
In the end, the film has a lot a to like even if a lot of it doesn’t entirely work together. It is surprising to see such a meticulous filmmaker let his film get away from him, but I’ll take risky, messy Bong Jun-Ho over 90% of the shlock that comes out year after year. It may rank near the bottom of his works even when you strip away the unfair burdens mentioned earlier, but it’s still a showcase for Pattison who sinks his teeth into the material and really goes for something different. He’s probably the most successful part of “Mickey 17,” and much of the core of the film centers around his character and the ideas of self and which one we want to survive. It’s by far the most interesting aspect of the films’ many ideas, the “politicians are stupid” and “churches shouldn’t lead space expeditions” and “kill all the billionaires” motifs (present in most of his works) being less interesting and more redundant than effective.
It is funny and weird, a bold swing from an acclaimed director that doesn’t quite all come together cleanly but is better for existing than not being made at all. If for nothing else, Bong Jun-Ho knows how to make the cutest yet disgusting creatures ever put on screen, and “Mickey 17” is full of them. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
“Mickey 17” is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer below.
