Mickey 17

Many Americans were introduced to Korean cinema five years ago when Bong Joon-Ho's cutting class commentary/satire/black comedy Parasite took home a surprise Oscar for Best Picture. Entirely in Korean and set in Seoul, it was the first foreign-language Best Picture winner, as well as the first to win the Palme d'Or. In the years since, Western audiences have taken his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes to heart, becoming more comfortable with subtitles. Foreign-language TV shows and movies have gained in popularity since, with Squid Game one of the biggest hits of the pandemic, and two non-English movies getting nominated for Best Picture this year.

As such, it may seem odd for his follow-up to be entirely in English. But you could argue Parasite is the outlier, as he hadn't directed a Korean-language movie since 2009's Mother. In the mean time, he'd directed two English-language movies with American stars, both of which deployed their social commentary with grand spectacle and blunt dialog, contrasting the careful, complex, and quiet approach taken by Parasite. It seems he prefers Korean for a deep and nuanced exploration of a topic, and chooses English to hit you over the head with it. That may itself be a political statement, or at least an indication of the demands of Hollywood as compared to movie industries abroad. It could also just be an indicator that he's more comfortable writing in his native tongue. While reading into that choice may seem silly, the nature of his films as starkly anti-capitalist and critical of society reveal enough of his worldview to reflect on his real-world actions. It's just one of the effects of crafting texts so deep and rich and full of various threads for you to grab on to. Mickey 17 continues the trend.

In many ways, it's Bong continuing to make movies about his pet topics. The dehumanization inherent in capitalism? Check. Absurdly goofy, clueless, power-hungry politicians? Check. Workers being pitted against each other, distracted from fighting the real problem? Check. How detached the wealthy and powerful are, so much so that they think everyone wants to be them or join them? Check. Wielding fear to keep the populace in line? Check. Environmentalism? Check. Futuristic sci-fi conceit surrounded by the same exact societal ills with which we're confronted today, arguing that technological progress does not equal social progress? Check.

Which isn't to condemn the film. Bong is just playing to his strengths, which provides solid footing for a fresh infusion of ideas. Chief among them is the inability for science to truly be neutral. Scientists may have great intentions, trying to do what's best for humanity. But once their discovery is out in the world, they no longer have control of it. If the government gets their hands on it, you bet it's going to be abused, almost certainly to exploit workers for profit. The film makes clear that Bong isn't condemning science or scientists, but he is making the case that an ethical application of it requires careful consideration of the consequences and possible abuses, not science for its own sake. Because at the end of the day, no matter how elevated a place they occupy in society, science is performed by human beings as flawed as the rest of us.

The main quandary concerns the ramifications of playing God. Micky Barnes (Robert Pattison) is an Expendable, meaning his body has been scanned and memories backed up so that when he dies, they can manufacture an exact copy with the same memories using an MRI-like organic 3D printer. The first chunk of the film is place setting and shenanigans, making us comfortable in the world. On one expedition, Mickey is left for dead but makes it back home alive. Unfortunately for him, it's after the next version is printed, and there's a strict rule about the extermination of Multiples. Many of the expected hi-jinks ensue, as do light philosophical interrogation: which one is the real Mickey, why are they such radically different personalities, and what changes about your outlook on dying once you're a Multiple?

All of this is taking place aboard a ship bound for a hostile planet upon which Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) seeks to establish a new colony called Niflheim. He's a clear analogue for Donald Trump, complete with his own Elon Musk in his wife, the Lady MacBeth-inspired Ylfa (Toni Collette). He's easily swayed by the last person to get his attention, and seems to have the attention span of a gnat. Ylfa's ideas compete with those of his assistant Preston (Daniel Henshall), who would have fit right in at Unite the Right. It's clear none of this would have been possible without them whispering in his ear, and both obviously have their own plans in motion. Less important to the plot but continuing the approach of implicating Trump by turning up the symbology to eleven, Marshall's personal seal is uncomfortably (but unsurprisingly) evocative of a swastika, and the colony's slogan is "our purity is our pride". He's a buffoon who seeks power despite his incompetence, even explicitly referring to how important it is to fail upwards. He's a glutton and a lout, and receives every scientific briefing with alarm, almost intentionally misinterpreting their every word. It's his rash impulsivity late in the film that points the would-be colony towards certain doom.

It's a good thing this movie is hilarious, because the density of plot and ideas I've laid out so far doesn't cover everything. To name a few, I've omitted his romance with Nasha (Naomi Ackie), the rivalry it stirs up in Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei), not to mention the whole reason he and Timo (Steven Yuen) are here in the first place, which comes back later in a somewhat contrived way. And there's still more.

It can be exhausting trying to keep track of all the various goings on. The main thrust of the story is straightforward enough, but it feels like even Bong and his crew had trouble tracking the surrounding events. Kai's presence is strangely minimal depsite being set up early, and Timo keeps disappearing for sizable chunks of time despite being Mickey's only friend. Even Nasha is just kind of around until playing a larger role in the climax. This is a common problem in Bong's English-language films. All three involve a conspiracy, necessitating some amount of blunt dialog and frequent exposition. At least here, the bulk of it is delivered by Pattison doing a voice and playing a naive guy who's a few cards short of a full deck, which lends it a dynamism and inherent humor no matter the content. However, it becomes noticeable when it greatly diminishes in the second half that it was a crutch they dressed up rather than a creative choice to maintain throughout.

There's just too much going on, diluting the power of the commentary by splitting your attention and failing to pay all of it off in a satisfying way. The bluntness is distracting, as it forces you to compare Rufflo's performance with the real deal, and constrains how open to interpretation it is. It also means some scenes serve a limited narrative purpose in order to continue driving the point home, such as the implication that Marshall is interested in "genetic purity". It tells us something about him, sure, but it comes so late that it's not adding much; we already know how badly he sucks. The result is a lack of bite which pervades the entire movie.

That said, as I mentioned before, the movie is laugh out loud funny from start to finish. Most of it is quite dark: not as dire and existential as Parasite's humor, but still centered around death and horrific violence and disregard for human life. The tone helps to disguise it just enough to slip past your defenses, although the reality will hit you as soon as the humor does. A huge part of this working is Pattison's characteristically dedicated and wild performance, as is Ruffalo's voracious scenery chewing every time he's on screen. The supporting actors are all having a lot of fun, although none more than Ackie when she discovers she now has two boyfriends. Physical comedy is wonderfully utilized throughout, which along with its ideas really helps to set this apart from traditional American blockbusters. None of which completely saves it from itself, but it does prevent disaster.

Because despite all that, I still had a great time. It's like Bong fears this will be his final American film, so he's throwing every single idea he has at the wall to see what comes out. As such, there's plenty of morsels of value to be obtained, although none of them are satisfying. There's much fun to be had, but enough thoughtfulness that it's not simply popcorn entertainment. There are many familiar ideas, both from his past work and other fiction, but configured in a fairly unique way (I can't think of any other sci-fi where macaroons put the plot in motion). The film that results is messy and misshapen, a very imperfect object, yet one with much to love. It may not be a worthy follow-up to Parasite, but at least it's a spectacle which blows ninety percent of American blockbusters out of the water.