Written And Directed by Bong Joon Ho
Mickey: "Our entire life is a punishment."
I'm a month late but thankfully for digital, I finally settled to see what the fuss about with this political satire. Was it too on the nose for it's own good? Or was it straight up too weird for a mainstream audience?
If I'm being honest, it's definitely both but you know, what? I don't care because this movie hit the right notes for me and a large part of that was down to Robert Parkinson himself. The man has proven to be quite the chameleon actor over the last few years.
In this movie he played a loveable loser named Mickey Barnes. A failed business with a shitty friend, Timo (Steven Yeun) saw the pair try to escape dangerous loan sharks by signing up for a program that would take them into space. For Mickey, that meant becoming an Expendable.
The job description was pretty damn apt as Mickey didn't read the fine print but let on to Niflheim expedition program recruiter, Red Hair (Holliday Grainger) that he did. Soon enough, Mickey was getting killed as often as Kenny from South Park, only for his seventeenth version to survive his encounter with the Creepers.
That survival also led to the creation of Mickey's eighteenth version and the battle between both different versions was mostly halted by their love interest and secret agent, Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackle). Then there was a near assassination attempt on corrupt politician, Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo).
I'm normally a fan of Mark Ruffalo and I like that career wise, he continues to mix it up but the on the nose part of the movie would be Kenneth Marshall. In particular, the very much hated political that Ruffalo shamelessly spoofed throughout the movie. Better handled was Toni Collette as Marshall's wife, Ylfa, who gave a little more nuanced performance by comparison. Both horrible people though.
The movie has a lot to say about colonisation and none of its subtle. It's mostly well executed and the Creepers had their own intimidating but kinder leader (Anna Mouglalis) as a noted contrast to the Marshall. The ending's expected for the movie but one I thought worked well enough.
- Mickey and Timo were failing with a macaroon business. Timo also got a pilot licence and had a drug hustle on the side.
- The movie's based on the book, Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.
- There was a subplot involving both Mickeys from the book that didn't make it into the movie and if it had, it certainly would stirred an online conversation.
- Chronology: Over four years passed from Mickey and Timo leaving Earth for Niflheim. 2054.
While it's certainly an acquired taste and way too on the nose for it's own good, I really dug Mickey 17. Robert Pattinson nailed the lead roles and there's some strong supporting performances to boot. There's some genuinely laugh out loud and rather gross moments. It sucks this didn't land because it's a lot better than expected.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment