Xtreme Vogue London Desk: Judith Benjamin
Star Cast: Robert Pattinson, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie, and Steven Yeun.
Director: Bong Joon-ho
What’s Good: The visuals, Monty Python humor, and acting are superb, elevating the cliché premise.
What’s Bad: The humor can be quite silly for some people, which might turn them off from enjoying the rest of the film.
Loo Break: The start might feel a bit slow, and the film meanders quite a bit with its topics, so any time could be good.
Watch or Not?: Watch Mickey 17 if you are a fan of Bong Joon-ho, Robert Pattinson, or sci-fi in general.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Theaters
Runtime: 137 Minutes.
User Rating:
Opening:
Bong Joon-ho has become, without a doubt, one of the biggest and most important South Korean directors. He has managed to take his work outside the frontiers of his country and into the global scene with great success, talking about universal situations shared by all inhabitants of planet Earth. His new film, Mickey 17, does just that, once again, being an on-the-nose satire about the risks of capitalism and the benefits of a more social approach to life.
Script Analysis
Bong Joon-ho has always been a very political director, and his interests are very clear, as his films always relate in one way, shape, or form to social and economic themes: class struggle, corruption, environmental conversation, and economic and political systems such as capitalism and socialism. Bong Joon-ho is obsessed with these themes, and in Mickey 17, the director allows himself to go all in when it comes to exploring these themes and preach about what he thinks is the best way to live.
This approach to cinema will definitely rough some feathers as the political commentary becomes such an essential part of the film that it might be its entire theme, with other aspects just there for variety. Right now, there is a social shift towards more conservative ideas, which might hurt the film initially until the right audience finds it on VOD and other platforms. As it stands, the film feels disjointed because the script tries to do too many things simultaneously.
The sci-fi premise of a subclass of citizens trapped inside an economic system that sees them only as tools and not much more has been around for a long time, since Metropolis, for example. Having Bong Joon-ho mix his own Snowpiercer and Okja into one film definitely takes originality points out of this one. It might still be fun and thought-provoking, but there is definitely an issue with films trying to do too many things and not really focusing on one at all.
In many ways, the story would have worked so much better as an HBO miniseries, with Bong Joon-ho having enough time to develop each aspect of this world and actually find nuance in the topics being discussed. As it stands, the political commentary feels like a one-way street, and it is there that people will find issues, as the film sometimes feels more like political propaganda than an actual film.
Star Performance
Robert Pattinson is very far away from being the vampire from Twilight. Yet, some people still see him as only that, which is very weird and only speaks volumes of those people, as Pattinson has curated an outstanding career filled with incredible performances, including this one here in Mickey 17, delivering a performance where he seems to be having so much infectious fun. And yes, he is playing several parts at the same time, and he achieves the goal of making each one of them unique.
Ruffalo and Collette are perfect, playing very cartoon versions of capitalist moguls who are only interested in profit. Yes, their performances are quite over the top, but that is the point. Still, many people will not like it. Ackie and Yeun have smaller roles when it comes to presence on screen, but they have great charisma, and their characters become fundamental to the entire situation, so everyone has a moment to shine.
Direction, Music
Bong Joon-ho is a fantastic director, and the dynamism of his camerawork and the composition of his shots are still at the peak of the industry. Seeing it all with high-value production and tons of visual effects is quite interesting. However, in many ways, the film feels like a sort of Snowpiercer spiritual successor not only when it comes to its narrative but also when it comes to the visual language; there is a lot of visual symbolism everywhere, nothing to obscure, but you will definitely have déjà vu if you saw Snowpiercer recently.
When talking about sound and more, the film makes excellent use of sound design to make each new and cold scenario feel unique and compelling. The color palette is quite constant throughout the film, so it makes sense to use music and sound to insert a degree of variety into the entire presentation. This is definitely not Bong Joon-ho’s most captivating work, but he definitely knows how to deliver a good-looking film.
The Last Word
Mickey 17 is fun, even when its political commentary feels more like preaching than anything else. The strength of Pattinson’s performance and the way the characters he plays are developed make for a compelling reason to watch the film in its entirety. But the humor will definitely turn some people off, even when the film is very well-made overall. Maybe a miniseries would have been better, but there is a lot here to enjoy and have a good time. There will definitely be another masterpiece in Bong Joon-ho’s future!
