Mickey 17 (dir. Bong Joon Ho)

By: Adam Freed

Modern Korean cinema has, for all intents and purposes, been defined by the monumental career of transcendent auteur director Bong Joon Ho.  Director Boon’s work has run the gamut of topics while never drifting too far from the themes and stylistic elements that make him readily identifiable.  Boon’s latest, Mickey 17, plays his greatest hits as it frames a dystopian future in which self-serving politicians exploit false promises and misinformation in order to lead a community of explorers to leave Earth on a four year journey in pursuit of a new hospitable planet.  Mickey 17 offers the familiar heartbeat of Director Boon’s environmental siren song, Okja (2017) without packing the same social class knockout punch he delivered with his best picture winning tour de force Parasite (2019).  There is no denying the DNA present in Mickey 17, but the impact of its existence feels muted by the film's nearsighted and intentional lapses into playfulness.

For all of the tremendous effort and double duty that star Robert Pattinson (Tenet, The Batman) has to pull to make Mickey 17 a possibility, the gifted actor should be commended for embarking on a career that could’ve very easily followed the early path of easy money and intellectual property in the form of his star-making Twilight films. Pattinson continues to challenge himself and play against type as he pushes himself both physically and intellectually as a performer to break outside the boxes that Hollywood builds for talented and attractive actors of his ilk.  Evidence of these unconventional ambitions are found in Pattinson’s willingness to be challenged by directors like Christopher Nolan (Tenet) Matt Reeves (The Batman) and now in choosing to work with a renowned director like Bong Joon Ho.  Adding to a Bong’s laudable cast is Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight, The Avengers) who plays Kenneth Marshall, a faux religious, self-absorbed, narcissistic political icon in a portrayal that feels so on the nose, given current events, that it lacks some of the humor and parodied intent that it may have expected to earn.  Marshall heads the exploratory colony on which Pattinson’s Mickey resides in a fashion that shows zero regard for morality or humanity. Director Boon has never been never shy when pointing his stern finger at society’s hypocrisies, and here he spares neither the spotlight nor the humiliation for those who willingly sacrifice members of society on the basis of socioeconomic status or noble birth.

Mickey 17 is not Bong Joon Ho’s best film, as it meanders at times and rumbles very close to derailment, yet corrects itself on the strength of the film’s beautiful intention.   As is the case with most of the South Korean Oscar darling’s films, Mickey 17 is sure to be met divisively as it promotes bold themes in support of otherness while trumpeting protection for an environment unequipped to do so itself.  Boon’s Parasite and Snowpiercer (2013) act as stern warnings of the need to establish socioeconomic equality within society or risk the acidic decay of capitalistic greed. It would appear that Mickey 17 is here to drive home that very point.

Target Score 6.5/10 Although a departure from his greatest work, Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 is a rich thematic story about the dangers of blindly following selfish politicians who would lead a sycophantic base down the path of destruction.  Robert Pattinson and Mark Ruffalo headline a film that falls just short of having the impact that it hopes to.