Bong Joon-ho Goes Ahead Of His Time With This Absurdly Entertaining Sci-Fi Comedy

RATING – 3.5/5* ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ✨

Mickey 17 Review Movie Talkies:

Bong Joon-ho has gone ahead of his time with this sci-fi black comedy, poking fun at his own style of social commentary. It’s absurd, entertaining, and gross, but you just can’t miss it. I may not be a huge fan of Bong’s Parasite, but I am an honest devotee of “Memories of Murder” (2003). The suspense and thriller elements are forgotten now as you see him flirting with a new style of comedy and almost coming out victorious. Yes, this is definitely a victory for any director in this “odd” mix of genres. Mickey 17 is terrifically crafted as a humanized social comedy with an alien theory, which ultimately puts humans in the place of aliens—like James Cameron’s Avatar—and makes the serious idea sound funny enough to leave you in splits. This is a serious topic, but this isn’t a serious movie. Now, isn’t that seriously funny?

Mickey 17 Story:

The film centers around Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), who assigns himself to the expendable job in a space mission to avoid a debt on Earth. For the job, Mickey undertakes several dangerous assignments he is not expected to survive, with a new body being regenerated each time he dies. The printing machine holds his body and memories in store to create a new clone every time. During one such assignment, one of his clones, “Mickey 17,” is incorrectly assumed dead and prematurely replaced. Having multiples is termed a crime, so one of them must die, but what if these two plan to share the work and food and can keep both clones alive?

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Edward Ashton’s script is alien but damn interesting. Bong’s screenplay takes almost an hour to introduce Mickey 18 and takes too much time to help us understand this complex world. But once you see the two get going, there’s no stopping. Things keep going crazy and chaotic, leaving you with no option but to immerse yourself in this silly world of creepers and dumbfuks and enjoy it to the fullest. Several one-liners are subtly humorous and difficult to catch at times. But if you can acknowledge the depth and have that grin on your face quickly, then believe me, you are truly a cinema lover. It’s a new kind of cinematic achievement in larger-than-life cinema born out of nowhere in the middle of the ice, and it’s so cool that you even feel like being foolish for a moment and cherish those nuances. I must add that the film loses its way a bit in parts, though. Kai’s lesbian affair, the sudden interest in Mickey 17, and the 18th clone being so different from the 17th despite being the restored version of the 17th doesn’t sound logical. Kai’s deal of “You keep Mickey 18, I’ll take 17” was hilarious, though.

Mickey 17 Cast:

A big shout-out to all the performers for making it a super worthy watch. Robert Pattinson as Mickey 17 shows his class and then breaks free with Mickey 18. The idea is simple and old too, but still entertaining, even after being so dated. Robert’s voice modulation is the best part of his performance—much better than his expressions. Naomi Ackie as Nasha is a smart duck as well as a hot chick. That scene with the threesome on the bed and her outburst filled with “F” words in the climax stand out as her best moments. Steven Yeun has done well as a supporting villain, whereas Toni Collette is something too silly, yet so engaging. The Marshall, aka Mark Ruffalo, does a fantastic job, making you overlook many of his previous dull performances. This is bizarre! The character was supposed to be unapologetically absurd and funny, and what a great mix-up Mark has created here. Anamaria Vartolomei, Holiday Grainger, Angus Imrie, Thomas Turgoose, Daniel Henshall, Patsy Ferran, Tim Key, and the rest of the supporting cast were fine too. 

Mickey 17 Movie Review:

The editing could have been sharper here, but that doesn’t bother much. Mickey 17 has very nice cinematography and a background score that elevates the experience at an IMAX viewing (try this version for a better experience). The visual effects aren’t that great, but this film didn’t really need them to be so high. A few scenes, especially the chamber scenes and the climax war fight, should have been more visually attractive. Coming to the best part of the film, Bong Joon-ho’s direction, one must take a moment to applaud this genius filmmaker of our time for enhancing the conceptual norms of cinematic experience. Mickey 17 is so politically challenging at times that you can’t overlook Bong’s poignant taunts on fascism, commercialization, and even communism. All this while being so verbally abusive, sexually revealing, and humanly unkind. That’s masterful, for sure. I am giving it half a point extra for thinking outside the box, and that too in the sci-fi genre, which has always been used for scientific exploration. This is not a space odyssey, but it’s an ODD-(M)ESSY! Go for it and do understand it.