By Seth Lukas Hynes
Mickey 7
Starring Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette
M
4.25/5
Based on the novel Mickey 7 by Edward Ashby, Mickey 17 is a compelling and insightful sci-fi dark comedy from Parasite writer-director Bong Joon-ho.
Complications ensue on the icy colony planet of Niflheim when Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), an Expendable worker who is cloned back to life whenever he dies, meets a forbidden extra copy.
Robert Pattinson is one of the most skilled and eclectic character actors of his generation, and excels playing markedly different versions of the same character: the endearingly pathetic 17 and the seemingly-psychopathic 18, who turns his aggression toward a noble end.
Mickey 17 has a slow, easygoing pace full of flashbacks that flesh out Mickey’s life and the colony, but still weaves the two Mickey’s literally clashing personalities, the megalomaniacal leader Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) and the planet’s gravely misunderstood native creatures into an exciting journey.
Mickey 17 features fantastic art direction, combining grungy spaceship interiors with kitschy wealth, and the blatant but engaging satire takes aim at worker exploitation, the inhumane treatment of natives and clownish political showmanship.
As a big-concept sci-fi nerd, I wish Mickey 17 had a clearer sense of how Mickey retains his memories between clones.
The film fumbles a subplot about the Earth debt Mickey fled from, and while you quickly immerse yourself in Niflheim’s absurd atmosphere, Marshall’s devious wife Ylfa
(Toni Collette) has inconsistently evil characterisation and her obsession with sauce stretches credibility a little too far.
While not as good as Joon-ho’s Parasite, Snowpiercer or The Host, Mickey 17 is still a deeply witty sci-fi comedy anchored by a brilliant double-act, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
