By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
In the not too distant future, a young man in debt to a gangster boards a spaceship. The spaceship is headed for a new colony—a new perfect white colony—run by a megalomaniac. The man, Mickey Barnes, signs up for the job of “expendable.” In spite of the obvious name, Mickey, who will soon be just a number, doesn’t really know what to expect, but it was the best way to escape.
The job that Barnes, played by Robert Pattinson, signed up for includes becoming an experiment for everything and anything. Scientists gleefully torture him (no one can say they aren’t thorough about their jobs) in order to discover the effects of, say, the air on the new planet. Turns out it’s toxic, and Mickey must die several times before they can develop a vaccine. When we meet Mickey, he is already version 17. He has been remade repeatedly on what amounts to a copy machine. One of the best and also most horrifying jokes of the movie is the way they mimic a copy machine spitting out a piece of paper—but instead, it’s poor Mickey’s new body.
Mickey is very good natured about the job. Yet, he admits that dying is never easy. It hurts. Knowing he will come back again helps, although it becomes evident to himself and his girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie), that each new Mickey is slightly different. Nasha loves them all. She is fierce and wonderful. Then a mistake. Mickey is supposed to die, but doesn’t. Instead, he is rescued by a species native to the planet, a species that becomes symbolic of how we treat others. Let’s just say that not only Mickey is expendable. Anyone is if it makes the leader, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), look good. Slowly, the colonists grow aware of Marshall’s unwholesome plans and intolerant of his and his wife’s (Toni Collette) casually violent tactics.
“Mickey 17” is funny and gory. If you have a weak stomach, or a soft heart, there are going to be some tough scenes for you. If you saw “Parasite,” then you already have some idea of director Bong Joon Ho’s style. Bong also wrote the screenplay, based on a novel by Edward Ashton. Steven Yeun plays his usual seedy role, this time as Mickey’s “friend”—the former business partner that gets Mickey into this predicament in the first place by suggesting they open a macaron company (it’s a pretty hilarious joke to start the story). They wear t-shirts that read “macarons are not a sin” as they are running from the gangsters. Yeun’s character, Timo, is an opportunist, who provides a nice foil to Mickey’s well-meaning character. It’s not that Mickey is dense, he’s just exhausted and harboring a guilt complex from his past.
Bong Joon Ho at the “Mickey 17” World Premiere in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Warner Bros Pictures)
Another actor of note in the story is Steve Park, who you might recognize from “Fargo” or, most recently, “Asteroid City.” Park plays the head of security in the colony (by the way, the colony is just a spaceship sitting on the planet—they haven’t gotten off board yet). When Mickey and Nasha get into a mess of trouble, Park’s role becomes surprisingly important. I enjoyed the smooth, calm way Park played the part, with just a small, knowing smile on his face. Marshall, who just might be a caricature of President Trump, has a devoted following (who wear red hats that will remind you of MAGA hats), and a religious assistant who, along with Marshall’s wife, runs Marshall as if he were a robot to do their bidding. An evil robot. By the way, the assistant could easily be a certain electric automobile mogul, and wears a tattoo very similar to a swastika just behind his ear. “Mickey 17” has a whole lot more going on than you think.
Pattinson plays Mickey to a tee. His anguish, his weariness, his love for Nasha. Although Timo is offensive, ethically, his flashy, confident demeanor is appealing and provides some relief from the dourness of the overall scenario. The most distasteful characters are Marshall and Ylfa, the wife, who are on another level, demonically speaking. All Ylfa cares about is developing new sauce recipes from questionable sources (“sauce is the true indicator of civilization”). All Marshall cares about, of course, is himself, and developing a new “elite” colony run by him.
The world building of “Mickey 17” is very consistent and convincing. You are instantly drawn in from the start, alternating between amused, saddened, disgusted, and horrified. The moral content is a thought-provoking surprise. What does life mean when you die every day? What does your body, soul, and personality mean? There is the inevitable question of whether a copy is the same as the original, as well as the difference of dying for good. When Mickey says at the end, “I should stop feeling guilty. I should just let myself be happy,” any one of us can relate, even if we don’t have a job dying every day in the service of a degenerate dictator. Or if we do.
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.