Parasite Director Bong Joon Ho blasts off with another dark comic sci-if satire that asks some big questions about life, and especially, death. Robert Pattinson, in a dual role, plays low-level street hustler Mickey Barnes who actually makes his living, by dying! He’s known as an “Expendable,” essentially a clone. It’s based on the book Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
Mickey (Pattinson) is a down-on-his-luck nebbish who gets ensnared in a deal-gone-wrong with his life-long friend Timo (Steven Yeun) who is one of the most unlikable characters. He’s a “friend” who always manipulates, taking advantage of Mickey. They manage to get passage on the spaceship to avoid a gruesome death at the hands of the loan sharks they owe big-time money. You get to go along for a ride into space with a colony of humans on their way to a new home.
Mickey is used to see how he reacts to viruses or radiation, or he’s simply worked to death. Mickey frequently dies performing these life threatening tasks. He’s a human guinea pig. When he dies horrible deaths he’s simply “reborn” emerging as a fresh body out of a 3-D printer. He’s spit out as a brand new, exact version of himself with all his memories intact and a new number after his name. the process is interesting to watch, multiple times.
Pattinson plays Mickey with a guttural voiced, New York-ish-punk vibe. He’s a bit dim-witted when we first meet him, but the experience of multiple deaths along with friendship and love lets him evolve into being somewhat of a celebrity. The real heroine for 17 is Nasha (Naomi Ackie) who sees more in Mickey than anyone else. Joon-ho gives her the strong moral compass and compassion that the colony has been lacking. She’s is so crazy about him and sex with him, that it looks like he doesn’t mind dying as long as she finds him again.
After landing on their new icy planet, Mickey goes on a mission, but doesn’t die as everyone expected. The most forbidden thing occurs; a second Mickey 18 is printed. Two Mickeys exist at the same time, and Pattinson plays both! The tell-tale difference is the new guy, 18, has an snaggle tooth. And both love to play with Nasha!
Bong Joon Ho raises societal concerns through the ruling characters Kenneth Marsh (Mark Ruffalo) and wife, Yifa (Toni Collette). He is a failed politician and the power pulling the strings that his wife consistently suggests. They are grifters using religion, race-baiting and capitalism among other tactics to gain absolute authoritarian control over the ship and its inhabitants. Only out for themselves, they want whatever riches they can acquire. Ruffalo with his capped teeth and Collette’s sneering rage and long pointy finger nails go cartoonishly evil.
The spaceship is both shabby and opulent. When food appears, it looks like grey slop and cardboard MRE’s, while Marsh and Yifa dine on china and crystal. Class distinctions and inequality are on display. Some may recognize parallels in today’s earth-bound politics.
Besides raising the ethics of human cloning Bong Joon Ho jams in even more issues. This colony of humans have descended on a distant planet which they now claim as their own, ready to obliterate the indigenous inhabitants. These sentient creatures are dubbed “creepers” and because they appear monstrous to the colonizers, little thought is given to making contact with them.
These creatures, big and small, don’t look like those you’ve seen in recent sci-fi. They’re more a combination of everything from Sandworms in Dune to the multi-opening orifices in Alien:Romulus, but are shaped differently that can even scamper around rolling like big and little pill bugs. There’s a lot of the budget invested in effects for their movement. The massive scale in scenes showing thousands upon thousands of these planetary critters massing around the ship conveys the utter folly of Marsh ordering them put to death. Talk about outnumbered! They fill the screen!
The dinner scene with Mickey 17 disgustingly devouring a “steak” and then getting violently ill, like many of the set pieces, goes on far too long. A threesome sex scene with the two Mickeys and Nasha loses its ability to shock or engage the longer it goes on. This long, meandering cinematic trip is filled with impressive sets and visual effects. At times, the storytelling veers off the rails. Pattinson and Ackie carry their load impressively, but Bong Joon Ho’s script and direction so scattershot, it loses cohesiveness. Even though Mickey gets to come back multiple times, Mickey 17 may not be worth a second view.
Warner Bros. 2 Hours 17 Minutes R
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