Review of ‘Mickey 17’: Science fiction concern combined with capitalist critic | Letters

Sometimes the world just needs to see Robert Pattinson in space with a strange accent, and “Mickey 17” is here to satisfy that impulse. An adaptation of the science fiction novel by Edward Ashton “Mickey7”, “Mickey 17” is the first film by director Bong Joon Ho since his winning film of the best image of 2019 “Parasite”. The new film follows Mickey (Pattinson), a “expendable”, in a spacecraft that is aimed at finding a new colony on the icy niflheim planet.

As expendable, Mickey works the most dangerous works on the ship. Every time it happens, which is often reprinted and goes up with the memories of its past self. When the ship arrives in Niflheim, Mickey is accidentally printed twice, and twin pranks are produced. Strange and seriously reflexive equal parts on the effects of capitalism and technology in society, “Mickey 17” takes a unique turn to science fiction genre. Even so, the elections and performances of the film lead to some tonal fluctuations that make Bong’s criticism fall compared to their jokes.

While the humor of “Mickey 17” is crazy, the film takes its visual language seriously, which bases the crazy plot in a cohesive style and supports the biggest songs in the film. The film has to do with the prospects, and Bong USA repeatedly Camerlowork to literally place the viewer in a new point of view. At the beginning of the movie, when Mickey has fallen into an ice crane, the camera shoots her Timo Fimo (Steven Yeun) from below, as if the viewer was also lying on his back. While Mickey sees the Kenneth Marshall bomb (Mark Ruffalo) enters the ship’s dining room, the spectator glimpses Marshall through the changing bodies of a crowd, as if we were placed directly in the mickey seat.

Beyond this recurring technique, the film is concerned about the snowy landscape of Niflheim, an obsession reminiscent of Bong’s previous movie “Snowpiercer”. Much of the film’s climax is obscured with the atmospheric effects of blowing the snow, as if the tension of the plot and the icy climate were intertwined. Bong builds a chilling association between a consumer, a future capitalist and the sterile and ice cream landscapes, which Marta successfully Marta his criticism of coldness in our interactions with each other. In general, Bong’s attention in detail in the images of the film gives “Mickey 17” a very necessary structure.

Bong’s images look somewhat hindered by the tonal inconsistencies of the film, which are exacerbated by their little use of the score. “Mickey 17” is a fun comedy and a criticism of political extremism and the tendency of capitalism to dehumanize workers. While these two objectives can coexist, comic criticisms and rhythms usually come in different parts of the film, which seems to reduce the impact of both.

For example, a scene in which a corrupt authoritarian leader cuts rations in the spacecraft is followed by a scene in which Mickey and his girlfriend Nasha (Naomi Ackie) laugh on images of sexual positions. Perhaps the tonal changes would communicate better if “Mickey 17” made a better use of music. However, many of the scenes do not use an accompaniment score, while the characters interact, so there are no musical nodes about whether a scene must be taken seriously or jokingly. This may be the point: after all, capitalist cruelty can easily slide towards the absurd, but the lack of music can leave the spectators scratching their heads and losing the idea completely.

Leaving aside the technical aspects, the film oscillates between subtle and impressive performances and exaggerated performance, which also harms its tonal cohesion. Pattinson leads the way with its representation of 18 Mickey versions, each of which has a slightly different personality. Pattinson is completely transformed into this role, with a strange but endearing and almost childish accent, and gives each mickey something unique without making a new person look like.

However, beyond Pattinson, secondary characters with more comic roles are inconsistent. Yeun is perfectly odiable as Mickey’s idiot friend, I fear, and is both selfish and charismatic in a way that will feel very real with any spectator. However, not all comic actions reach the brand: Ruffalo’s excessive representation of the politician Kenneth Marshall is assumed to be hilarious, but finally it seems a cartoon of reality in a representation in another chilling way of a possible capitalist dystopia.

The mixed stock exchange makes “Mickey 17” feel like a mixture of a subtle science fiction warning against capitalism and a parody sketch “SNL”, a combination that did not give in the target. Due to these inconsistencies, the fun aspects of “Mickey 17” eclipse the criticisms of the film about capitalism, even if Bong tries to balance both.

“Mickey 17” is in the same line as the other capitalist criticisms of Bong, including “Parasite“” Snowpiercer “and” Okja “, but its formal choices lead to them being much crazier than rhetorically impressive. This is not necessarily a failure, since the film is fun and has an interesting story. However, there is a feeling that some adjustments to the performances of the cast and a clearer delineation between seriousness and hilarity could leave the film with a stronger conclusion. Spectators will surely smile when they see Pattinson’s space adventures, it is difficult not to enjoy a rarity from time to time.

—Thenah E. Gadway writer can be contacted at [email protected].