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The year is 2054, an expedition to planet Niflheim has taken off with the goals of setting up a colony to be lorded over by a mega church backed politician, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) who looks forward to "pure, white planet full of superior people." Kenneth joins the church in saying cloning is the work of the devil, but why not put these muppets of Satan in the service of the new colony away from Earth?
Enter Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), he and his duplicitous "friend" Timo (Steven Yeun) are being pursued by murderous loan sharks. They get themselves on a mission to Niflheim, except the rather naïve Mickey signs up as an "expendable" without really reading the fine print. He becomes the colony's guinea pig — on which they test the effects of viruses, vaccines, harsh environments, radiation, etc. Mickey dies but each time he is resurrected by going through a printer which looks like an MRI machine. His memory then gets uploaded after his body is "printed."
"Mickey 17" is the eighth film by Bong Joon-ho, best known for this 2019 film, "Parasite," which took home the Oscar for best picture and best director. This science fiction film peppered with dark comedy makes statements on colonialism, runaway capitalism, the class divide and the meaning of life. It's based on the novel "Mickey 7" by Edward Ashton (who also happens to be cancer researcher and quantum physics teacher).
I personally agreed with the high Rotten Tomatoes score for this movie. At first, I didn't quite know what was going on, but as it moved along, I found myself laughing at some points and enjoying the moments of strangeness which reminded me of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil."
Robert Pattinson is excellent as Mickey. The indigenous population of the planet gets nicknamed "creepers." They look like giant pill bugs but Joon-ho imbibes them with a personality and they end up being rather lovable.
I also like the character of Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a security officer on the Niflheim "mission" who loves Mickey, through all his incarnations, reprints and versions. She's protective and tough and is among the better humans out there on Niflheim.
I found out my friends Mike Wellman and Gary Deocampo weren't as pleased with "Mickey 17." Mike said it was a "cuddly version of 'Starship Troopers'" and he felt "the satire fell flat and didn't say anything new." Gary got that there was a message but "it got lost in the silliness of it all." Regarding the portrayal of the politician Kenneth Marshall, he says, "Ruffalo flexed that muscle in "Poor Things" and it just seemed like the same character.
Speaking of the better humans out there, "Mickey 17" does end on a rather optimistic note. However, in an interview with "Vulture," Bong Joon-ho has said there's also a "sense of anxiety that this nightmare can always repeat itself."
History has proven that anxiety isn't totally unfounded, no?
