Mickey 17

Mickey (Robert Pattinson) explores a new world in Mickey 17 (Distributed by Warner Bros.)

Bong Joon Ho is best known as the director of the Oscar winning thunderbolt Parasite. However, before he loudly announced himself on the world stage with that great movie, he had made the fantastic sci-fi/action/social commentary Snowpiercer (which has since been adapted into a far inferior television series).

When I first heard about his latest feature, the oft-delayed sci-fi adventure Mickey 17, I had all the faith in the world that he would be able to do it again. This one looked darkly humorous, a different way to deliver its satire on class and government buffoonery. The fact that it stars Robert Pattinson, an excellent actor with the amazing ability to throw himself fully into everything he does, was also a massive positive. Then, add in supporting turns from performers the caliber of Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette, hamming it up as political caricatures. How could this possibly miss? Yet miss it certainly does.

Mickey 17 (an interminable 129 minutes, without the end credits) finished filming 26 months ago. It was originally set for release March 29, 2024, was pushed to January 31, 2025, got moved again to April 18, before finally settling for this week. Though that much movement is concerning, the director, star and concept kept hope alive. Plus, it was moved out of January, traditionally a dumping ground for projects the studios think are bad. The warning signs should have been heeded.

This is a joyless, purposeless, slog. The pacing, plotting, characterizations, jokes and action are all uninteresting. The message(s) are scattered and unfocused. It seems like it has a bunch to say and ends up not really saying much of anything. It isn’t a disaster by any means, but it is a tremendously disappointing mess.

Mickey with his beloved Nasha (Naomi Ackie)

Thirty years in the future, the Earth is in poor shape, so a group of humans board a spaceship and set off on a four-and-a-half-year journey to the planet Niflheim to colonize it. Mickey, in debt to a dangerous man, signs up as an expendable, meaning he exists to die. He is experimented on in deadly situations and then his body is reprinted to do it all over again. When the 17th version’s visit to the new planet’s surface does not go as expected, his entire approach to life changes.

A big adventure with action, comedy, aliens, real world parallels and character drama sounds fun. Bong Joon Ho is a great writer/director, Robert Pattinson is a perfect choice for the silliness of the material. The rest of the cast (especially Ruffalo, Collete, Naomi Ackie as Mickey’s love interest and Steven Yuen as an untrustworthy friend) are more than game. Yet, this just never clicks. Pattinson’s narration is way too wordy and annoying. The screenplay takes forever to actually get us into the meat of the plot, lingering on too many details of Mickey’s life as an expendable.

The promising part of the combination of concept and tone is seeing how he dies. That aspect is definitely not taken advantage of. There is nothing clever or surprising in his various endings. It all feels perfunctory. Pattinson gets to play several different versions of Mickey, which raises many possibilities. He’s fine, but doesn’t seem to totally inhabit any of them. Ruffalo and Collete are unpleasant as what seems intended to be an unconvincingly broad parody(?) of Donald Trump and his political aides.

The world of Mickey 17 (based on the 2022 novel Mickey 7, by Edward Ashton) isn’t spectacular, though that doesn’t seem to be the point. There are some good visuals and the everyday look of both the ship and planet fit the story. He gets more laughs from sight gags than the dialogue. Mickey 17 isn’t terrible. However, it is absolutely not good, either. It is dull where it should be entertaining; empty when it tries to be insightful. It doesn’t work as adventure, comedy or satire. I still have faith in everybody involved. Sometimes, good ideas just fall flat.

2 out of 5

Cast:

Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes

Naomi Ackie as Nasha

Mark Ruffalo as Kenneth Marshall

Toni Collette as Yifa

Steven Yuen as Timo

Written/Directed by Bong Joon Ho