Unpacking Mickey 17: A directionless and humorless misstep?

Riot’s Reviews: Mickey 17

There is a very difficult, intellectually interesting line that exists within cinema where entertainment and messaging intersects. It doesn’t always have to, some of the greatest films on the planet were made solely for entertainment’s sake. But there’s no doubt that a captivating movie can be equally thought-provoking and the commentaries made about life, personal journeys, or society in general can pay out in a big way. From what I can gather (as I am only familiar with one of his films), riding this line is director Bong Joon Ho’s bread and butter. Granted, even though his Academy Award winner Parasite, came out two years before I started this little blogging venture, I distinctly remember tons of people recommending it. Since his latest entry Mickey 17, had so much chatter surrounding it (especially because of its multiple pushed back release dates), I was determined not to miss out this time around. Unfortunately, I wish I had.

I want to lead out with a bias I have, a movie peeve that’s been particularly difficult to deal with I’d say in the last decade or so: I’ve been conditioned not to enjoy dark comedies anymore. Those of you that know me well might be surprised by this, as my personal humor tends to lean that way (more sarcasm than anything I think). But there has been a dramatic shift in Hollywood away from making actual comedy films and into this (not very new) sub-category of film that I think used to be reserved for more creative writing. Where dark comedies used to be this tiny little corner, it has now taken over its own full room, where nihilistic malcontents trying to be edgy think everyone will laugh along with a slew of often depressing quips. These experiences remind me of the online talk/fandom over Rick and Morty when it first hit the scene and a whole cavalcade of people made it their entire identity, often boasting online that being a fan and understanding the “jokes” allowed them to have a superiority complex about it (for the record, I like Rick and Morty). I’m being harsh here to be sure, but I think this is where the audience is often left in these dark comedies, feeling more preached at than invited to join along in the joke. Ranting aside, this was all to say I really wish Mickey 17 was just made as an outright comedy and didn’t bother trying to skirt the edges of humor. Out of all the dark comedies I have seen, this one really needed to just pick a lane, especially because of the scope of the subjects it was trying to comment on.

I would be lying if I said the film was all bad. Performance-wise, Robert Pattinson (Mickey Barnes) and Naomi Ackie (Nasha) put the whole damn thing on their backs and carried it from start to finish. Pattinson’s creativeness with his mannerisms and his markedly unique vocal choices were something to behold. He handled the drastic differences of his multiple “prints” (clones) exceptionally well and was able to create two main, remarkably unique versions of himself that were a pleasure to watch. Ackie held her own in every way as the friend/lover/teammate/sounding board to Mickey’s antics and added a special flare all of her own. Lucky for the audience, these two dominate the storytelling (Pattinson especially, as the narrator) because I could have left near everything else. Mark Ruffalo was especially grating, much like his character from Poor Things, I was so underwhelmed by his comically insane antics as the main baddie. Again, this is where dark comedy loses me, because being the hyperbolic villain was the whole point, but I would have had a much better time if he was Eric from Billy Madison than what we got (spoiler alert, it’s painfully obvious who it’s supposed to be in real life, but I’m not opening that can of worms).

Mickey 17 succeeds in a few other ways, mostly as it relates to an interesting original concept/idea, the special effects of duplicating Pattinson, and the overall CGI throughout. The entire final conflict of the story has such impressive special effects, it almost makes you forget how bored you actually are (you feel every minute of the 2h 17m runtime). At the end of the day, fantastic acting from the two leads and great special effects are simply not enough to deal with all of the inconsistencies of the story. The biggest and most interesting plotline, the moral, ethical and existential questions surrounding cloning humans and using them for things like controversial medical testing is completely lost in a much less important social commentary that’s already been done a thousand times before. If you’re going to go out of your way to shoehorn in anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist rhetoric, you should at least properly flesh out the tangible goal the villainous group is working towards. I found myself watching yet another story where the plot is desperately trying to convince the audience that its two main characters are heroic, while simultaneously giving such little evidence, its laughable (it’s too much like the new Eric and Shelly from The Crow). Like I mentioned earlier, entertainment and messaging is a thin line to tread, but Mickey 17 clumsily spoon feeds the audience too much reality that’s not enjoyable enough to be palatable.

Riot’s Rating: 5.5/10