Mickey 17: Movie Review

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackles, Steven Yeun, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette
Director: Bong Joon-ho

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho's take on the 2022 novel Mickey 7 from Edward Ashton is an intriguing affair, one that, in parts, doesn't feel fully coalesced.

Despite a stellar performance from Robert Pattisnon and a grotesque OTT teeth-laden turn from Mark Ruffalo, with a viperous Toni Collette whispering in her ear, the sci-fi comedy feels unnecessarily drawn out in parts and frustratingly thin when it could have been taut.

Pattinson is Mickey Barnes, a financially destitute drifter, who signs up to become an "expendable", a clone worker (not one of the Stallone-led fighting force, hellbent on revenge) as part of a mission to colonise a far-off world.

Given the worst jobs on the ship, Mickey's treated like dirt - with the additional humiliation that every time he dies, he's brought back to life in a new body with the old memories.

However, after dying 16 times, Mickey ends up surviving a seemingly fatal encounter on the planet of Nilfheim and ends up back on the ship only to discover that a new Mickey - Mickey 18 - has replaced him.

But multiple versions of clones co-existing are a crime - leading Mickey fearing for his own future.

Mickey 17 has plenty of goofy edges, but it's beset by the fact it wants to bring a more existential edge to its Live, Die, Repeat core philosophy gag. Once again, Joon-ho offers up a critique of the societies we live in (as he did more successfully in Parasite) but doesn't really say much different with the core message - other than it's bad.

Thinly veiled attempts like having Ruffalo behave like a Donald Trump figure based on current events is mildly amusing, and Ruffalo embraces the flourish - but one can't help but feel that this character feels thin and lightly sketched.

More interesting is Pattinson's effectively playing fast and loose with the comedic edges required and adding depth to the poignancy of the plight. With colleagues continually asking what it's like to die, and framing another's death as bleak in comparison to Mickey's do-it-all-again job and approach, there's potential for a more philosophical edge here that Joon-ho doesn't quite seize on.

But despite that, there are plenty of visuals that stand out and some slug-like creatures that are more cute than the human inhabitants of the ship on the way to Nilfheim. 

Perhaps if Mickey 17 had embraced one of its elements a little more strongly - be it the comedy, the pathos or the excoriating societal takedown - it would have been a lot more effective.

As it is, in parts Mickey 17 feels like a pale imitation of what's just gone before it. It's pretty to look at and seems to hit all the right visual notes - but its core is hollowed out from overmining its own premise.