Despite falling short of expectations, ‘Mickey 17’ is a pleasure to watch

From “Parasite” to “Snowpiercer” to “The Host,” acclaimed filmmaker Bong Joon Ho is a master of portraying worlds that are only slightly distant from our own. In these alternate universes, society is heavily divided, poverty runs rampant and any chance of escape comes at a price. In life — and in Bong’s films — this price is often death.

This concept sounds dramatic, but in “Mickey 17,” Bong makes it lighthearted, funny and perhaps even rewatchable. The film follows Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) after he joins an outer space expedition to escape a murderous loan shark. A down-on-his-luck pushover desperate to flee, Mickey enlists as an “Expendable” — a rarely requested position that requires him to perform exclusively lethal tasks and be “reprinted,” or cloned, after his death. In a twisted sense, Mickey is lucky. He finds love fairly quickly on the ship and has practically unlimited lives to make the most of it. But when Mickey (version 17) unexpectedly survives his mission, he returns to find that Mickey (version 18) has already been printed. As multiple clones are illegal, the pair attempts to hide from the crew and save the colony from an alien attack — all at the same time.

The premise of “Mickey 17” is incredibly intriguing. A humorous, sci-fi take on capitalism and space exploration, the movie at first appears to live up to the standards we have come to expect from Bong. But once you factor in the talented cast — featuring Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette, just to name a few — the end product starts to feel just a little disappointing.

As far as capitalist commentary films go, this ranks among the funnier ones. Pattinson triumphs as Mickey in all iterations. His performance as Mickey 17 is perfectly dopey and sweet, and his Mickey 18 is just the right amount of unhinged. All of their mannerisms are different: You can tell which Mickey is in the room before they even start labelling them. 

Naomi Ackie is by no means an inexperienced actress, and she rightfully steals every scene she’s in. As Nasha, the ship’s security agent and Mickey’s girlfriend, Ackie embodies a violent, passionate, loving and tender soul. Despite her anger issues, Ackie’s Nasha is visibly caring — a duality hard to pull off in a sci-fi film. With all their characters’ emotions and personalities, Ackie and Pattinson match so well: It’s hard to imagine different actors in these roles. 

Ruffalo’s portrayal of politician Kenneth Marshall is Trumpian in all but name — a choice that feels a bit on the nose for Bong’s usual style — but Collette’s excellent, yet oddly terrifying work as Marshall’s wife Ylfa balances the character out.

Overall, though, the film’s political commentary is overdone. The dramatized Trump impression and the premise tell us everything we need to know, but Bong directly communicates the moral of the story multiple times — just in case. Bong has almost no faith we’ll get the point.

As a director, Bong’s presence feels as consistent as it can with the rest of his work, given the difference in genre. The style and visuals are captivating. Every moment on screen feels intentional and holds some weight in the narrative or viewing experience. But as the film’s writer, Bong falls short of expectations. Aside from the base premise, the plot feels incomplete. Not every film needs to be unpredictable, especially in this genre, but Bong barely builds up to the climax, making the inevitable deaths feel stale and pointless. 

If you set aside the revolutionary feats Bong made with “Parasite,” “Mickey 17” is decent. The dialogue is funny, the plot is interesting and every actor is a star. The characters feel real enough to make the world seem so. For that alone, it’s worth the watch. Just don’t think too much about it.