CW: References to death or dying, blood and graphic imagery

I have one word for Director Bong Joon Ho’s latest feature, Mickey 17—ambitious. The feature marks a departure for Bong from gritty films, like the lauded Parasite (2019), to a dark comedy that focuses on being funny. We follow Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) on his journey as an “expendable” during an expedition to colonise a new space planet—Niflheim—in the wake of Earth’s climate crisis. As an expendable, he’s agreed to repeatedly die for the sake of scientific innovation. His body is simply reprinted and his consciousness reuploaded into it each time he perishes. The concept seems depressing, but Bong manages to play it out well into an amusing satire of contemporary political issues, marking yet another successful feature from the Oscar-winner.

The brilliant ensemble is what really makes the film work: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Steven Yeun and our own Toni Collette’s characters are archetypical, yet each are refreshing in their performance. Pattinson steals the show as Mickey Barnes 1 through 17(ish). Each time Mickey is reprinted, he’s a little bit different, and Pattinson’s differentiation between multiple versions of the same character is delightful to watch. I particularly enjoyed the dynamic of Mickey 17 as the damsel in distress, saved by his lover and security agent Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who seems capable of doing anything and everything. Ruffalo and Collette as Kenneth and Ylfa Marshall deliver nuanced performances as the leaders of the Niflheim settlement, creating some hilarious moments without endearing you to their ultimately corrupt characters. Ruffalo’s egregiously white fake teeth and artificially orange skin are also quite something to see…

Mickey 17’s comedy is essential to its message, using humour as a mechanism for cultural critique. Themes of class, colonialism, the growing impact of propaganda and the current resurgence of charismatic dictatorship are all explored. Kenneth Marshall in particular is a fantastic political commentary. The character is entertaining yet didactic, representing a contemporary charismatic dictator. His corruption is rampant, with the political pastiche almost too real in some moments. It’s a great move from Bong to draw in a wide audience with a promise of laughs, blood, guts, gore and Robert Pattinson to introduce some complex ideas and provoke important discussions with Mickey 17.

At moments, though, the film strives to condemn too much and leaves arguments unrefined. A character will directly criticise the impacts of colonising Niflheim, for example, then simply continue with efforts of settlement as it is too important for the overall narrative. The plot traps itself in needing to allow some things it’s critiqued to continue, as it has no alternatives that can still leave you satisfied as a viewer. These few backtracks aren’t a big issue for the plot or viewing experience but are an evident misstep for the ambitious major picture.

My absolute favourite part of Mickey 17 is simply that it’s beautiful. Mickey 17 is worth the watch in cinemas—not only to see the vast ice planet Niflheim, but to hear an incredible soundscape. The VFX and digital work on the planet is fantastic, and it’s a shame that it’s limited mostly to the beginning of the film. It was also exciting to see a lot of the post production was done by Australian industry! Composer Jung Jae-il (Parasite; Squid Games) provides a captivating original score. The music is combined with rich drones and crisp effects to create a very real atmosphere in the film. Sitting in the cinema really felt like you were actually standing in this world, particularly with the great stereo and directional work in the audio—every sound effect has an origin in the world, to the point where you could track movement and action without even seeing it. The production design is incredibly detailed with some great costume work, and it’s obvious a lot of care was put into creating the world.

Bong Joon Ho had his work cut out for him with this film—the transition from mid-budget foreign language films to a Warner Bros. blockbuster is not an easy one. His successes with Mickey 17 are impressive as he balances an aspirational plot and large-scale world, all without losing his unique style. Bong can only get better as a director, and I look forward to what he has next.

Mickey 17 is now showing in cinemas, and will soon be available to rent or purchase on demand.