Mickey 17 review – A movie of multiples

If Late Stage Capitalism has taught us anything with its swathe of indiscriminate job cuts, it’s that people are disposable. But also, intellectual capital is important, so how do you harvest that while churning through employees? That’s one of the many questions prodded in new science fiction comedy Mickey 17, from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (for Parasite), although the dark satire is sharper on the page than in actual execution.

Set in the 22^nd Century, Mickey 17 centres on Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a downtrodden everyman who needs to get off Earth ASAP following the failure of a business venture funded by a brutal loan shark. With “friend” Timo (Steven Yeun), who got the pair into the situation, they sign up for a space colony mission, undertaking a four-and-a-half-year journey to the remote snow planet of Nilfheim to establish a settlement.

Desperate for an out, Mickey signs up to be an Expendable, a position that is one part disposable grunt and six parts human lab rat. Basically, whether it’s through dangerous tasks or scientific experimentation, it’s Mickey’s job to die, at which point he’ll be reprinted from recycled organic material and have his memories reuploaded to his new body. Problems arise, though, when, 17 iterations in, he’s mistakenly believed dead and reprinted. Even far from Earth, Multiples are illegal and grounds for instant extermination. Though security guard girlfriend Nasha (Naomi Ackie) would like to have some fun first.

Mickey 17 is tonally all over the place, bouncing between sly parody, absurdism, madcap physical comedy and, especially in its final act, drama as the human invaders face off with the planet’s caterpillar-esque native species. The tonal diversity isn’t a problem though; its unpredictability adds to the film’s oddball appeal.

Rather, the film’s biggest issue is that it lacks focus, leading to a sense of superficiality. ADHD in approach, Mickey 17 raises issues only to skip away to something completely different a minute later, instead of exploring what is already spotlighted. Like why exactly is Mickey 18 so different in personality to all previous Mickeys?

Without having read the novel – Mickey7, by Edward Ashton – on which it’s based, it’s hard to tell if the movie’s overstuffing stems from its source material, or crept in during the adaptation process by Bong. Without spoiling anything, there are at least two subplots that take up extensive screen time and end up being resolved in 30 seconds during an abrupt epilogue narrated by Mickey. They could have been excised from the film without losing anything. Instead, they become yet more cumbersome plot threads that need to be manipulated into place and then tied off, however messily that’s achieved. A couple of scenes feel like they exist purely to push the plot in a certain direction, after heading too far in another, coming across as convoluted if you think too long about them.

It’s as if Bong was hesitant to abandon any ideas, and ended up keeping them all. On that note, the DNA of the filmmaker’s other works is evident in Mickey 17, especially the very thematically and tonally similar Snowpiercer; as well as Okja, with its monstrous-but-loveable creature designs.

All this said, there’s still a lot to enjoy about Mickey 17, which bounces along with an infectious energy so that you rarely feel its 2 hour 17 minute runtime. The film is a showcase for the underrated talent of Pattinson, who, through subtle changes in posture and vocal register, ensures you’re never confused which Multiple you’re looking at. Then there are Mark Ruffalo (as over the top here as in Poor Things) and Toni Collette entertainingly off the leash as an egomaniacal politician and his conniving wife, who have blended state and church in their favour, living the high life as they stir up a cult of red-hat wearing and catchphrase-spouting followers among the working class. It’s obvious who Bong and his actors are taking a dig at, but they manage to avoid it feeling too on the nose. By a millimetre.

If you take a step away from the pleasures of the moment, though, it becomes clear that there are too many iterations of Mickey 17, the film, existing simultaneously – either layered over one another or stitched together scene by scene. Faced with such fragmentation, viewers who enjoyed Bong’s Parasite will likely miss the steady focus and insight of that Oscar winner here.

Mickey 17 is in cinemas, including IMAX, from Friday, 7 March.