There is no escape from reality and Robert Pattinson in Bong Joon Ho’s film “Mickey 17.”
Released this past March, “Mickey 17” is Bong Joon Ho’s most recent film since “Parasite,” which landed him Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Editing and Original Screenplay in 2020. “Mickey 17” is a sci-fi comedy set in a future Earth where scientific and technological advances have made cloning and space travel achievable. It was adapted from Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey7.”
Robert Pattinson plays the title’s lead, Mickey Barnes, aka, Mickey 17, 16, 15, 14…and so forth. He’s an “expendable,” which is essentially a disposal person hired to die and be recloned for research. Each number corresponds to a cloned version of Mickey. The research takes place on a spaceship filled with crew members of various talents and specialties who are selected to colonize a new planet. Problems arise when the disposal of Mickey 17, coupled with the acclimation to the new planet, does not go according to plan…
“Mickey 17” is a critical yet humorous commentary on today’s political and social climate held together by Pattinson and an overall strong cast, even as the movie begins to drag toward the end.
the storytelling
“Mickey 17” is not ashamed of what it is—a social commentary. This is its biggest strength. It’s not afraid to deliberately tell you through dialogue, characterization and setting not only what it wants to comment on, but also what side it confidently takes among the controversy. The film brazenly takes sides on topics such as cloning, colonization and political corruption.
Yes, this play is about us.
It’s refreshing though—especially in a world where actions and words can have various underlying meanings or interpretations. “Mickey 17” is in your face with its commentary, making it impossible to ignore.
And it ties it all together through satire. It was a crazy experience to watch “Mickey 17” and laugh about all the ways it holds such a mirror to society by distorting and dramatizing it. But then, realize in the back of your mind that this fiction story could very likely become nonfiction in the future. Yet, I wasn’t too burdened by this at all because in between the reflections were moments of humor and playfulness where the film poked fun at itself.
the acting
Robert Pattinson may look the same from clone to clone, but he excels at differentiating Mickeys through personality and physicality. He moves away from the dark, deep voice of his portrayal of Batman in “The Batman” and Edward Cullen in “Twilight.” Instead, he opts for a higher-pitched, nasally voice that captured my attention from the second I started watching. There is only one Pattinson on screen, but there are several Mickeys, each different from the last that Pattinson easily conveys.
Secondary characters such as Mark Ruffalo’s politician character, his wife, played by Toni Collette, and Naomi Ackie, Mickey’s girlfriend, are also cast members who own their scenes and characters wholeheartedly.
the length
“Mickey 17” clocks in at just over 2 hours, and considering most movies nowadays are around this length, I didn’t notice it that much until the end. The pacing dragged in certain scenes by the end, and I kept thinking we were there when we weren’t. Also, certain scenes didn’t seem to be that essential by the end either, so the length didn’t feel as necessary as other films do. It felt like the movie started to lose a bit of direction as it scrambled to tie everything up.
CONCLUSION
“Mickey 17” is a fun movie full of political commentary with an endearing version of Robert Pattinson at its center. Some movies allow you to escape reality, but “Mickey 17” certainly doesn’t—don’t let the space travel fool you. However, even though there’s no escape from reality or the 17 versions of Robert Pattinson in this film, movies like these create a unique bond between actors, directors and their audience because you realize the world on the screen before you might be a lot closer than you think.