‘Mickey 17’: Robert Pattinson lives to die in sci-fi comedy
The “expendable” Mickey (Robert Pattinson) is left to die by his co-worker (Steven Yeun) in a clip from Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi comedy “Mickey 17.”
Robert Pattinson dies so many times in “Mickey 17,” you’d swear it was a “Twilight” haters convention.
Director Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”) plumbs the worst possible version of immortality, and a bunch of other deep thoughts, in his futuristic dark sci-fi comedy (★★★ out of four; rated R; in theaters Friday). His adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel mixes political satire and “Monty Python”-style silliness in the story of a hapless space worker who keeps getting killed and then printed out again like a sheet of paper. He’s also the awkward guy who has to save the day ― alongside himself.
Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) is a macaron chef who owes a lot of money to a nasty loan shark. He and his slippery business partner Timo (Steven Yeun) need to get off Earth pronto and volunteer for a colonizing expedition to a snowy distant planet. Mickey, a lovable loser and not the brightest fellow, signs up to be an “expendable,” not knowing what that entails.
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Ever been in a terrible job you can’t leave? That is Mickey’s gig to the nth degree. In a spaceship on the way to their cosmic destination, he’s put in assorted hazardous conditions and every time he dies, a new Mickey gets rolled out via a human printer ― using organic waste, though, so yay for recycling ― and with his memories intact (they’re stored in a brick).
The 17th Mickey gets stuck in an icy cave and is left for dead by Timo, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s printed out again. But a group of Creepers, the planet’s indigenous centipede/mammoth hybrid species, recues Mickey 17. He returns home, goes to bed and finds Mickey 18. Multiples of the same person are a huge no-no, so 18 first tries to kill 17, but the Mickeys have to work together when the expedition’s banally evil leader, talk-show host/wannabe dictator Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), wants to exterminate them along with the Creepers.
“Mickey 17” isn’t as memorable an outing as 2019’s “Parasite,” the Oscar best-picture winner that introduced Bong to American audiences, but the director’s ability to weave high-concept narratives and thought-provoking themes is consistently impressive.
Like Bong’s 2013 dystopian effort “Snowpiercer,” “Mickey 17” tackles classism in the spaceship, divided between the haves and have-nots. The grimly gray area where Mickey and his peers live feels like an office, prison and military barracks in one, while Marshall and his equally narcissistic, sauce-obsessed wife Ylfa (Toni Collette) stay mostly in the ornate, posh section.
But Bong also deftly handles elements of colonialism and identity, the disappearing line between church and state and the dehumanization of others, which is where the Mickeys come in. Whether meeting a bad fate while trying to fix the ship or dying several times in vaccine trials (RIP Mickeys 12 to 16) our hard-luck main man navigates it all while being held in contempt by everyone around him besides his steely girlfriend Nasha (Naomi Ackie). Mickey 17 even believes he’s worthless, until the more forceful 18 snaps him out of it ― a literal example of having to face one’s self to understand his own power and agency.
Pattinson lends a squeaky voice and melancholy to Mickey 17, making him an easy guy to root for, but provides a contrast with 18’s unhinged personality, and each enjoys a hefty character arc. Pattinson’s physical comedy is sublime here: Emerging from the human printer never gets old, and there’s one exceptional bit of slapstick where 17 is poisoned (on purpose, of course) at a fancy dinner.
Bong tries to pack a lot into 2 hours and 17 minutes, yet some good stuff is left unexplored. Mickey’s co-workers lack needed character development, though Ackie has arguably the movie’s most powerful moment, and there aren’t nearly enough Mickeys. Pattinson’s so good, the movie begs for a full 18 variations on a theme.
If this is Bong’s take on a Hollywood space blockbuster, it’s better than most. “Mickey 17,” led by a quirky underdog, offers a timely escape where empathy can overcome cruelty on the other side of the galaxy.
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