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Based on the novel by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 is the latest effort from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, and it’s an, uh, interesting piece of sci-fi that certainly leaves you with lots to think about.

In the near future, humans are leaving Earth to colonize other worlds. Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a guy with no prospects, deeply in debt to a ruthless loan shark. To try and escape, he volunteers to go on an expedition to the ice planet Niflheim as an “expendable”, his genetic data and memories are stored, and whenever he dies, a new version of him is “printed”, hence the number. When number 17 is left for dead, a new print is made of him, but he manages to make it back to the colony, so the two different versions of him have to find a way to coexist.

Let’s start with the good stuff. Robert Pattinson is great in the role of Mickey. I wasn’t convinced he would be able to pull it off, as he seems more suited to the intense, chisel-jaw type, but he really fits well in the part, and gets to show his versatility by playing multiple versions of the same character, and essentially acting against himself.

It’s a cool idea and a neat concept that could really lead to some interesting places, but an idea is only as good as its execution, and does the execution fail completely here.

Right from the start, the way that he survives feels contrived and could have been handled better, but could be overlooked if it led somewhere better. There’s a lot of flashbacks and backstory before we actually get to the meat of the story, and see Mickeys 17 and 18 meet each other, which in itself seems odd. Numbers 1 through 16 seemed similar, in that they were kind of meek and didn’t stand up for themselves, yet 18 is completely different, violent and even psychopathic, which doesn’t have any explanation, as he seems like the last person who would consider himself “expendable”.

The whole process is a bit odd really, as Mickey is treated as completely disposable. He’s sent on suicide missions and multiple versions are killed one after another to find a cure for a virus, so the process must be fairly cheap and easy, then why isn’t it done more? Why is there not an army of Mickeys to provide cheap labour? Why is it not used as a way for the rich to obtain immortality?

Ah yes, the rich. Mark Ruffalo plays Kenneth Marshall, a failed politician and wealthy businessman, who’s financed and controls the colonizing operation. Maybe he’s a reference to modern politics (Bong Hoon-jo says he isn’t) but that doesn’t matter, because he’s a dreadful character regardless. He’s a complete moron, neither smart, nor funny, not scary or intimidating as a villain, and is completely ridiculous in every scene. He’s rather like the two emperors from Gladiator II, who are so over-the-top they can’t be taken seriously and spoil every scene, I get that this is meant to be a comedy of sorts, but both Marshall and his sauce-obsessed wife Ylfa (played by Toni Collette) feel like they’ve stepped in from another movie entirely.

It’s strange, because they could have been put to good use if they’d been better written, to serve the point of the movie, but I don’t know what the point of the movie is. It seems like it’s trying to say something about capitalism, I suppose, but the chance to make something truly special, a film that might be remembered and held up as an example, is missed here. There’s something compelling in the movie’s premise, but only as a tagline, because it goes nowhere.

What it turns out as is a muddles collection of random ideas thrown together, that seem to hint at capitalism, colonization, religion, militarism and politics, but to what end, I don’t know. The giant tardigrade creatures that live on Niflheim are assumed to be aggressive and have to be exterminated “because”, with no attempt made to study them, even though this would fit with a whole plot point about rationed food, if they could be turned into livestock, instead they have to wiped out.

There’s also a wide-open opportunity to have made Marshall into a smart, compelling demagogue, or religious zealot, who the colonists follow and worship because he’s so charismatic. Instead he’s just a dumb, greasy failed politician with the character of a cartoon villain.

Mickey 17 really could have been an excellent movie that looks deep into the questions raised, and said something really profound. Instead it’s just a jumble of random bits and pieces. There’s so much going on that doesn’t fit, with the story, characters and premise, multiple plotlines are abandoned or forgotten, and in the end it becomes an unsalvageable mess.

Like the best sci-fi, it asks a pertinent question about the human condition, holding a mirror up to us, then promptly drops it and spends the rest of the movie fumbling on the ground with the broken pieces.

What is Mickey 17 trying to say? I’ve no idea. I don’t think the movie does either.

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