This is science-fiction cinema at its finest.
Director/scripter Bong Joon Ho’s mesmerizing adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel has it all: a fascinating premise, solid characters, a persuasively chilling future, a tone that veers from brutally horrifying to macabre, and scathing social commentary.
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| One Mickey too many? Two "expendables" (both Robert Pattinson) are sent on a suicide mission, in an effort to do something about the inhospitable elements on the faraway planet of Niflheim. |
And goodness, but we’ve been failing a lot lately.
Ho’s film hits the ground running, as the hapless Mickey (Robert Pattinson) struggles to awareness after having fallen into a deep, icy cavern. His stream-of-consciousness ramblings sound defeated and resigned.
Then, the overhead roar of engines; a figure appears atop the fissure. Timo (Steven Yeun) peers over the edge ... but instead of assisting, he rappels down just far enough to retrieve Mickey’s futuristic weapon, and then returns to his ship. This leaves Mickey to a fate that becomes even more dire, when weird, many-legged beasties burst into the cavern.
Okay, this isn’t Earth.
While praying for a fast death, rather than being devoured bit by bit, Mickey recalls what brought him to this fate.
We flash back four years and change. The year is 2054. Mickey and Timo have unwisely crossed a nasty loan shark; they’re given four days to replay the loan ... or else.
Mickey — a forlorn nebbish who has resigned himself to loser status — impulsively decides to leave the planet; Timo does the same.
That proves possible, thanks to a mission being mounted by Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), a former congressman and failed two-time presidential candidate. Earth has become increasingly inhospitable, and — with the financial backing of a right-wing religious order — Marshall has become the public face of a voyage to the distant planet Niflheim, where a “righteous” new colony will be established.
Naïve, wide-eyed true believers line up by the hundreds, most sporting logo caps and flashing uniform salutes. Mickey fills out a form, and — not realizing the significance of this detail — signs up to become an “expendable.”
“Are you sure?” the receptionist asks, warily.
Why not? It’s not as if Mickey has amounted to anything up to this point.
The journey, scheduled to last the aforementioned four years and change, sets off in a massive colony ship; most passengers are relegated to quarters akin to those on a submarine. All biological material — from dead plant matter to human waste, along with (ahem) occasional passengers casualties — are recycled into the carefully rationed food served at each meal.
Mickey becomes the facility’s human guinea pig. He’s first body-scanned from stem to stern; the results, along with all of his thoughts, memories and knowledge, are stored in a brick-shaped template. As the months pass, he’s subjected to all manner of “experiments” — such as exposure to outer-space radiation — to determine what the human body can survive.
Each time he perishes — often in grisly fashion — he’s brought back in a new body, memories intact ... including the moments leading up to each death.
This makes him an object of intense curiosity, among loutish fellow passengers: “What’s it like, to die?”
Pattinson makes Mickey a shy, forlorn, self-deprecating victim. We can’t help feeling sorry for the poor guy, although there’s little to admire, and Mickey’s running off-camera commentary makes him even more pathetic.
Gallows humor abounds, as events proceed. Many among Mickey’s support staff — particularly the so-called doctors — are thoughtlessly insensitive, displaying the worst aspects of human nature. A few exceptions pop up: the bespectacled Dorothy (Patsy Ferran, who exudes decency), who treats each Mickey with compassion; and most particularly Nasha (Naomi Ackie), who — surprise! — falls in love with him.
Ackie makes her cheerful, charismatic, powerful and valiant. Nasha does her best to stick up for Mickey, but she’s unable to interfere with his primary duty ... which becomes even more horrific when the colony ship finally reaches Niflheim. For starters, the atmosphere is poisonous.
Shortly thereafter, the story catches up to its prologue; this, then, is Mickey 17, about to be devoured by gruesome creatures.
Subsequent events become even crazier.
Timo, meanwhile, has become an opportunistic jerk: in some ways, the story’s most repellant character. Yeun makes him unapologetically self-centered, caring only for himself; it’s hard to imagine Mickey ever regarding Timo as a friend ... but that’s just another facet of Mickey’s low self-esteem.
Cameron Britton is appalling as Arkady, the oafish, blandly insensitive head of the science team in charge of the Mickey project.
Ruffalo plays Marshall as a vain, stupid, strutting and spluttering martinet, in love with nothing as much as his own voice, and given to spontaneous tirades. He’s easily manipulated by members of the religious order — many of whom are passengers — and most particularly by his devious, quietly malevolent wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), forever whispering advice in his ear. Collette’s performance is truly terrifying: an evil, heartless schemer who’d give Lucretia Borgia a run for her money.
For those who might wonder if Ruffalo’s barbed performance is coincidental, or his own artistic decision, a quick sidebar:
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On February 21, 2020, a few weeks after Parasite won that year’s Best Picture Oscar, newly elected President Trump denounced it during a speech to Colorado supporters:
“And the winner is ... a movie from South Korea. What the hell was that all about? Can we get Gone with the Wind back?”
Trump forgot the first rule of attending a comedy club performance: It’s foolish to mock the person with the microphone ... and Ho has orchestrated an impressively biting riposte.
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The impressive range and subtlety of Pattinson’s performance(s) comes into play when — believing Mickey 17 dead, thanks to Timo — Mickey 18 is created. But he’s unlike all the others: aggressive, violent and crafty. Like a photocopy too many generations removed, the Mickey template has become corrupted.
And what will that mean?
Everything builds to a rip-roaring third act laden with suspense, surprises — things aren’t always what they seem — and the sort of pell-mell action that Ho delivered so well in 2013’s Snowpiercer. Editor Yang Jinmo moves things along at a brisk clip; this adventure never wears out its 143-minute running time.
Fiona Crombie’s production design and Dan Glass’ visual effects are terrific, particularly with respect to all of the colony ships’ grungy nooks, crannies, corridors and passenger quarters. The massive mission application room back on Earth, with its huge spiral pathways leading up beyond view, also is impressive.
Jung Jaeil’s cunning score often is a disorienting counterpoint to on-screen events: delicate and lyrical, during moments of horrific carnage and behavior.
I can’t wait to watch this one again ... and that hasn’t been true for awhile.
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