Mickey 17, A Review
James C. Rocks
Described as an "uproarious sci-fi comedy", "Mickey 17", Bong Joon Ho's first film since his Oscar-winning "Parasite", has a great concept that is primarily down to ideas developed from Edward Ashton's award-winning novel, "Mickey7".
Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is exposed to radiation, made to breathe in toxic fumes and is exposed to lethal pathogens. His fate is to die again and again, aboard a spaceship, for the good of one of mankind's missions set to colonise a new planet before being shoved into a furnace and "reprinted". The Niflheim mission, led by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Rufallo), a failed politician now televangelist, who gives nonsense speeches with his most faithful wearing red caps. Toni Collette and Steven Yeun Bong star alongside Pattinson and Rufallo in Joon Ho's sci-fi comedy.
"An absurdist, anti-capitalist, Trump-mocking masterpiece." Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent
"A charming space oddity for these unusual times." Helen O'Hara, Empire
Having read Edward Ashton's novel late last year, I was thrilled it was coming to the big screen and very much wanted to see it... just four days after its release, I got that opportunity.
I'm generally not a fan of science fiction comedy and in my view the film's biggest problem is that, as a comedy, it really wasn't all that funny... there's nothing wrong with humour in science fiction but, with rare exceptions, feel it should rely on situational humour and in the case of "Mickey 17", with so many issues it could have (arguably should have) focussed on, it should have been much darker. That said, this was my first Joon-Ho film and from what I understand, his style tends towards the excessive.
In technical terms the film has exactly the kind of qualities expected of a Hollywood science fiction blockbuster being visually impressive (the cold and frozen wastes of the ice planet Niflheim were beautiful) as well as backed by sound effects and a score that boosted the film while not intruding on or distracting from it.
As a concept, the film isn't particularly original with its central core of cloning; cloning has featured in numerous films such as "Moon", "The Island", "Alien Resurrection" and "The 6th Day". In novels it's been around considerably longer, being featured in such classics as "The Boys From Brazil", arguably in "Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and of course the film is based on the novel, "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton. Indeed, one of my favourite series is BV Larson's "Undying Mercenary", a series which features a soldier being killed and reborn over and over again.
Earth (in the novel it was a planet called Midgard) is clearly a place people want to escape from and some are desperate enough to travel to a new planet. Despite cloning technology being essentially banned on Earth, humanity finds a use for it in so-called "Expendables"; people who agree to undertake dangerous (usually lethal) missions but get reprinted (cloned) and their memory/personality reintegrated after their death. Mickey Barnes is desperate to escape because he's massively in debt to a vicious gangster who is happy to take recompense from his flesh and, having little to offer the space emigration program, signs up as an expendable. In his new expendable role, both on the outward journey and on his new home of Niflheim, Mickey is tasked with the most dangerous, usually fatal, missions and those missions, if they aren't fatal, often become so on the whim of the ship's science crew or management. As the film opens, we meet the seventeenth iteration of Mickey i.e. he has died sixteen times previously, repeatedly exposed to lethal substances including the planet Niflheim's atmosphere, hence the name of the film.
Even though it has some action-oriented scenes, I wouldn't classify "Mickey 17" as an "action film" but there is a fair bit of violence and other stuff many might consider distasteful including a great deal of vomiting. The titular character, Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson, is acted well in both his shy and cowardly #17 and more aggressive and outgoing #18 variants and he is romantically involved with Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a caring but sex-obsessed and self-serving individual who is initially excited by two Mickeys until she suddenly becomes more important for no truly explicable reason. I wasn't expecting the film to have much suspense as I'd read the novel, apparently an early version, and expected the film to follow broadly in its footsteps which it kinda did so its suspense (or rather mild curiosity) was found in the changes Joon-Ho made.
The film is allegorical in the sense that it attempts to make a number of political and social points, with the expedition's leader Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) clearly meant as a comedic buffoon, mimicking the recently elected US president, Donald Trump. I mean, it's great mocking Trump but "Mickey 17" doesn't do it awfully well... I think Joon Ho was aiming for satire but ended up doing parody and not particularly good parody at that. There are several other comedic roles as well including Marshall's wife, Ylfa (Toni Colette), a somewhat pointless character that was never in the novel.
Largely set on ice bound Niflheim the novel's story was excellent but the film diluted its concept in several major ways the main one being Joon-Ho's decision to make it an outright comedy... yes, the novel was funny but its humour was darkly cynical and it wasn't specifically a comedy, at least to my mind. Following the novel's plot, the film was unevenly paced, with a first act essentially one long voice-overed flashback to Earth and the four-year journey to Niflheim... there is a better way to do flashbacks where you use conversation between characters and the director would have been better using the moment when there were two Mickeys, along with Nasha and Kai, to explain things, perhaps mixing it in with some memory flashes from Mickey. Such a scene could even have included the amusing idea of a man arguing with himself about which of them, in personality terms, was responsible for the mess they'd landed in. Regardless, when a film has to rely on that much exposition to inform the viewer what is happening then one has to wonder if its director has bitten off more than they can chew. The second act was almost pure slapstick comedy with Mickey almost dying after he eats cultured meat at a private dinner with Marshall and his wife.
With Niflheim already home to another species, the third act attempts to tie the film up, something it achieves in only general terms, even if I never quite understood the point of the dream sequence within it or exactly how Nasha managed to end up in the position she finally does.
The film certainly isn't boring but, despite a good story, backed by decent effects, audio and support from good actors, the film was too long, uneven in its execution and there was far too much exposition. It's a film that can't decide whether it's science fiction, action, parody or straight-up comedy and, as such, fails to be really good at any of them. I can't remember whether this was addressed in the novel, but Mickey is repeatedly asked (a comedic prop, one assumes) what it felt like to die which is odd because with recorded backups carried out before death one assumes it unlikely Mickey would have any recollection of such events.
In some ways the film opines on how humans treat others, highlighting human greed and desires, class, politics and exploitation with the mission's crew facing ethical dilemmas especially when faced with Niflheim's native species. From what I've read about him, it also touches on other Joon Ho favourites, exploitation, capitalism, class and politics.
Even though I understood Joon-Ho's attempt to shine a light on world events, a serious subject, the film shouldn't have been a comedy... in my opinion, it just didn't work as well as it would have if it had been darker and more serious. I kinda get the satirical idea including mockery of the new US president that Joon-Ho and his senior leading actors, Rufallo and Colette, were going for but, despite laughing a few times, felt they didn't really achieve it. Something of a waste because the film could've been so much better, so much cleverer. My friend who accompanied me to the cinema suggested that the film badly needed Paul Verhoeven as director and asked me to imagine if the clever satire of Starship Troopers or Robocop had been there, something I find hard to disagree with.
The film also showed no interest in exploring deeper philosophical subjects like the nature of consciousness, identity and even souls.
Having read Edward Ashton's novel late last year, I was thrilled it was coming to the big screen and very much wanted to see it... just four days after its release, I got that opportunity.
I'm generally not a fan of science fiction comedy and in my view the film's biggest problem is that, as a comedy, it really wasn't all that funny... there's nothing wrong with humour in science fiction but, with rare exceptions, feel it should rely on situational humour and in the case of "Mickey 17", with so many issues it could have (arguably should have) focussed on, it should have been much darker. That said, this was my first Joon-Ho film and from what I understand, his style tends towards the excessive.
In technical terms the film has exactly the kind of qualities expected of a Hollywood science fiction blockbuster being visually impressive (the cold and frozen wastes of the ice planet Niflheim were beautiful) as well as backed by sound effects and a score that boosted the film while not intruding on or distracting from it.
As a concept, the film isn't particularly original with its central core of cloning; cloning has featured in numerous films such as "Moon", "The Island", "Alien Resurrection" and "The 6th Day". In novels it's been around considerably longer, being featured in such classics as "The Boys From Brazil", arguably in "Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and of course the film is based on the novel, "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton. Indeed, one of my favourite series is BV Larson's "Undying Mercenary", a series which features a soldier being killed and reborn over and over again.
Earth (in the novel it was a planet called Midgard) is clearly a place people want to escape from and some are desperate enough to travel to a new planet. Despite cloning technology being essentially banned on Earth, humanity finds a use for it in so-called "Expendables"; people who agree to undertake dangerous (usually lethal) missions but get reprinted (cloned) and their memory/personality reintegrated after their death. Mickey Barnes is desperate to escape because he's massively in debt to a vicious gangster who is happy to take recompense from his flesh and, having little to offer the space emigration program, signs up as an expendable. In his new expendable role, both on the outward journey and on his new home of Niflheim, Mickey is tasked with the most dangerous, usually fatal, missions and those missions, if they aren't fatal, often become so on the whim of the ship's science crew or management. As the film opens, we meet the seventeenth iteration of Mickey i.e. he has died sixteen times previously, repeatedly exposed to lethal substances including the planet Niflheim's atmosphere, hence the name of the film.
Even though it has some action-oriented scenes, I wouldn't classify "Mickey 17" as an "action film" but there is a fair bit of violence and other stuff many might consider distasteful including a great deal of vomiting. The titular character, Mickey, played by Robert Pattinson, is acted well in both his shy and cowardly #17 and more aggressive and outgoing #18 variants and he is romantically involved with Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a caring but sex-obsessed and self-serving individual who is initially excited by two Mickeys until she suddenly becomes more important for no truly explicable reason. I wasn't expecting the film to have much suspense as I'd read the novel, apparently an early version, and expected the film to follow broadly in its footsteps which it kinda did so its suspense (or rather mild curiosity) was found in the changes Joon-Ho made.
The film is allegorical in the sense that it attempts to make a number of political and social points, with the expedition's leader Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) clearly meant as a comedic buffoon, mimicking the recently elected US president, Donald Trump. I mean, it's great mocking Trump but "Mickey 17" doesn't do it awfully well... I think Joon Ho was aiming for satire but ended up doing parody and not particularly good parody at that. There are several other comedic roles as well including Marshall's wife, Ylfa (Toni Colette), a somewhat pointless character that was never in the novel.
Largely set on ice bound Niflheim the novel's story was excellent but the film diluted its concept in several major ways the main one being Joon-Ho's decision to make it an outright comedy... yes, the novel was funny but its humour was darkly cynical and it wasn't specifically a comedy, at least to my mind. Following the novel's plot, the film was unevenly paced, with a first act essentially one long voice-overed flashback to Earth and the four-year journey to Niflheim... there is a better way to do flashbacks where you use conversation between characters and the director would have been better using the moment when there were two Mickeys, along with Nasha and Kai, to explain things, perhaps mixing it in with some memory flashes from Mickey. Such a scene could even have included the amusing idea of a man arguing with himself about which of them, in personality terms, was responsible for the mess they'd landed in. Regardless, when a film has to rely on that much exposition to inform the viewer what is happening then one has to wonder if its director has bitten off more than they can chew. The second act was almost pure slapstick comedy with Mickey almost dying after he eats cultured meat at a private dinner with Marshall and his wife.
With Niflheim already home to another species, the third act attempts to tie the film up, something it achieves in only general terms, even if I never quite understood the point of the dream sequence within it or exactly how Nasha managed to end up in the position she finally does.
