Five years ago Parasite took home the Oscar for Best Picture, a historic victory for the South Korean film industry and foreign film everywhere, being the first non-English film in Oscars history to win the most accomplished award. Bong Joon-Ho, the man behind the film’s genius story and success, finally and deservedly came to the world spotlight after decades of dedication to filmmaking. Followers of his work were patient and at-ease as his films slowly became more recognized globally, the only doubt of his ultimate crowning moment being when.
Bong has repeatedly informed audiences of his desire to make a film in every genre, and after his conspicuous and discreet disappearance after Parasite, us fans let this vision fade into the background of an industry that is constantly over-promoting and satisfying our appetites with blockbuster films at every corner.
Spoilers ahead!
Mickey-17 follows the story of Mickey Barns, played by Robert Pattinson, from Earth, as he signs up to be an expendable on an expedition to start a new human colony founded by failed congressman Marshall, Mark Ruffalo, in outer space. As an expendable, he is used to explore foreign and frozen environments, test nerve gases on, and perform tasks that often lead to death. But, it’s all completely ethical because new technology can reprint him and upload his memories each time! Things go awry when a new and more conniving Mickey is printed, Mickey 18, while the sweet and timid Mickey 17 is still alive. It only gets weirder from there.
Bong is a master of using planes and shapes as a tool to complement his visual storytelling, using vertical or horizontal movements metaphorically or physically via the camera and production design. In Parasite, this was the movement between the levels of the mansion that paralleled status. In Snowpiercer, this was the overall horizontal movement of the train as it traversed across a frozen wasteland and also horizontal movement within the train. In Mickey 17? It’s circles. It ties in nicely to the central theme of critiquing capitalism; Bong highlights the disparity of the nameless working class being recycled over and over to uphold the upper class through Mickey’s character. Each time a new Mickey is printed, he emerges from a circular printer, and when he goes to be recycled, he enters a circular and flaming death pit meant to dispose of waste. Perhaps Bong is acting a cynic and suggesting this cycle of capitalism is as inescapable as the circle of life. Either way, Bong is a master at creating an environment reflective of the story and I was invested in this repetitive cycle of Mickey’s life from the start.
It would be criminal to review Mickey 17 without mentioning Congressman Marshall, an obvious emblem of egotistical dictatorship emboldened with a style of speaking that made me wonder just what Bong was up to with this character. According to Bong, he is an amalgamation of many dictators across time and space, but it’s really Trump. The most shocking and reality bending scene was the failed assasination attempt that skirted Marshall’s cheek, an accurate rendition of the attempt on Trump that took place last July.
However, many fans were left disappointed by Bong’s first film back from hiatus. After the dramatic highs of Parasite, the whirling narrative and unpredictable tone of Mickey 17 was exciting at first, but ultimately underwhelming for many. The expectations were sky high, and I believe anything Bong would have released otherwise would also have come as a disappointment.
So, perhaps in the minority, I decided beforehand to purely have fun with the movie and live in the frozen critter-ridden world Bong built for us, just for a little. Pattinson’s acting is stellar here, and he truly shows off his skills as a multi-faceted and cross genre expert, in addition to some very unique voice acting. If you want to have fun with this movie -– you will. If you will only accept pure cinematic perfection from Bong — go rewatch Parasite.