Dying is easy, comedy is hard.
Luckily, “Parasite†director Bong Joon Ho manages both in “Mickey 17,†a wildly inventive film about humans trying to establish a base on a planet called Niflheim, circa 2054.
Send in the clones: Robert Pattinson plays a man who is duplicated several times over to test the environment on a planet in "Mickey 17."
Unfortunately, the colonists aren’t quite sure what dangers they might find there, so they use “expendables†to test the waters. Among them is Mickey (Robert Pattinson), a dim bulb who has a bill that needs to be paid back on Earth. As an expendable, he dies over and over again, with the promise of returning after each threat is weighed.
By the time we meet Mickey, he’s in his 17th iteration. Thanks to a human printer, scientists can bring him back with his previous 16 memories intact. The risk? Dying is still scary, no matter how many people try to tell him otherwise.
The success of the project is crucial for the colony leader and his wife (a slippery Mark Ruffalo and a transparent Toni Collette), who think their fortunes will be made if they can just land this deal.
People are also reading…
Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette plays the stern leaders of the ship in "Mickey 17."
Mickey, however, sees other sides of the venture and could want out. Unfortunately, a Mickey 18 is printed and that could complicate matters. Luckily, 17 has inside help and another way of dealing with Niflheim life forms.
Bong has so many ideas swirling it’s hard not to see parallels with Stanley Kubrick and the fantasies he concocted.
Here, the world is particularly dim, the joy largely relegated to “sauces†that the dictator … um leader’s ... wife has concocted. She’s just as manipulative as her husband but doesn’t quite have the same authoritarian approach. “Mickey 17†has so many links to current affairs it’d be delicious to say this was political commentary. Considering it’s based on a novel and filmed before any daily references were in play, that’s a stretch. Still, it’s fun to see how dictators work the faithful and toy with the not-so-faithful.
Pattinson, in particular, is a treat. Using a Steve Buscemi -like voice, he’s able to downplay his leading man looks and come off as a schlub just trying to get by.
Robert Pattinson as Mickey 18, left, and Mickey 17 in a scene from "Mickey 17."Â
When he manages to thwart his captors, Mickey 17 becomes us, just trying to make it to the next day.
Bong doesn’t give this the stark modernism of “Parasite,†but plays with dank, confined spaces familiar to fans of “Das Boot.â€
While “Mickey 17†looks like it shared special effects with “Dune, Part Two,†it has its own quirky path that never seems inevitable.
Even with some special sauce, “Mickey 17†might not be for everyone. But for those who like the unpredictable nature of a brilliant director, it’s an appetizer, main course and dessert all rolled into one. Sushi was never this good.
___
