Written by Dilan Fernando

At the center of Bong Joon-ho’s new film Mickey 17 is the power that bonds and relationships have in helping people navigate and traverse the world or their idea of what it is to them. This is a recurring theme throughout Joon-ho’s filmography filled with characters teaming up to understand the unfathomable. The film begins in the year 2054 on a distant snowy planet with Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) an expendable whose only job is to sacrifice himself for the benefit of humankind. Joon-ho’s opening shot has Mickey wiping away the snow from his goggles after suffering a terrible fall, absent-mindedly or unconsciously looking upward, possibly hoping for better? Looking down at Mickey is his best friend-comrade Timo (Steven Yeun), a pilot for the Niflheim spaceship that they both inhabit. Timo realizing that saving Mickey is pointless as he’ll be reprinted by tomorrow, instead takes his flamethrower. Mickey meekly says, “I can take it.” Thus sets in motion Mickey’s odyssey to realize his self-worth and value in the world, more importantly within himself.

A flashback shows Mickey and Timo from their time on Earth in 2050 with ambitions to own a successful macarons shop funded by a dangerous loan shark whose demand to be repaid sends the pair on the lam. Mickey and Timo, realizing they can’t stay on Earth, sign up to join the egomaniacal Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) on his Niflheim enterprise whose promise of “A pure future.” draws followers clad in red hats. Mickey impulsively signs on to be an expendable and is given a position on the ship while Timo cons his way into being a pilot. On the ship, Mickey meets Nasha (Naomi Ackee) a security officer on the ship who helps him to adjust and begin life anew faraway from Earth. Nasha’s love helps Mickey through each test and when he is reborn, there she is waiting for his return.

On one expedition, the 17th version of Mickey – Mickey 17 and some other crew members voyage through the new snow-covered world searching for any lifeforms. After stumbling upon a group of creatures renamed creepers by Marshall (after getting the idea from his wife), fire wildly as an overreaction. One of the crew members dies when an avalanche occurs and the returning Mickey is lambasted by Marshall for losing a specimen that would’ve been integral to populating the new world. Mickey’s return to Nasha and her new beau shows the double-consciousness of the world, who have rebellion and unity in their eyes yet and can be as complicit as the members of the ship. Marshall and his bourgeois partner the sauce-obsessed Ylfa (Toni Collette) offers her husband affirmation for every idea that keeps him happy without any input or thought of her own, why is that? Does the Marshall’s happiness constitute the well-being of those he reigns over? Born with a name like Marshall it could be that he automatically assumes an authoritative position in all parts of life. Bong Joon-ho has mentioned that the seemingly caricaturesque Marshall is not a combination of Donald Trump and at times Elon Musk, instead an accurate portrayal.

Bong Joon-ho’s intentions in *Mickey 17* are strong, but his execution is rockier than what we have come to expect from the Korean auteur.

In both real-life and their depictions in films, fanatics assuming the role of leader always have a goal of creating in their vision a utopian society, which will never be as nothing is perfect. Look at the insignia that represents Niflheim seen on Nasha’s bra clasp and the barrel of Marshall’s gun, which seems like a reworking of a swastika. During a scene with a live broadcast of a propagandic late-night television show, Marshall holds a finger up urging his audience to believe they will one day be a part of his new world. They obediently-mindlessly mimic him and point up one finger, eerily resembling a Nazi-heil. One of the outlandish decrees Marshall makes to the selected on the ship is the banning of sexual relations until the new world order is established, a small sacrifice for someone who’s such a narcissist that intercourse would only sully his platonic marriage.

The dinner scene in the Marshall’s cabin (one of the most interesting scenes in the entire film) has him hold an intimate congratulatory dinner for Mickey showing gratitude for his bravery. Mickey eats something that is between steak and liver drenched in one of Ylfa’s signature sauces. Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei) is invited as well given the relationship she had with the deceased crewmate, Jennifer. Marshall implies Mickey and Kai’s being at the dinner is for their impeccable genetics and physicality essential for repopulation in the future. Kai asks Marshall, “Am I just a uterus to you?” awaiting a response, Mickey starts convulsing and retching profusely. Every agonizing scream that erupts from his mouth is a piercing reminder by Bong Joon-ho to open your eyes to the world, realize your place within it and hope to strive for better. Mickey utters, “I’m being punished.” Could this be Bong Joon-ho’s understanding that the perils of modern life are a result of transgressions? If so, whose?

The people that make up a society or the societal reaction to the domineering powers that overrule a population? Here is one example of Bong Joon-ho attempting something new and doing something interesting with it. Thematically there are some interesting points being made with an urgency to understand them. However, the mark of excellence in the sci-fi genre is only as good as the atmosphere it immerses the viewer in. Is this a great film or a film with the potential to be great if it adjusts a few elements? Can the same be said of the world or is there a lot more work to be done?

Dilan Fernando graduated with a degree in Communications from Brock University. ”Written sentiments are more poetic than spoken word. Film will always preserve more than digital could ever. Only after a great film experience can one begin to see all that life has to offer.“