Bong Joon-ho's "Mickey 17"

Tonight’s film is “Mickey 17”. You can watch it in theaters, or wait until it is streaming.

This is the second film in an accidental series for the newsletter in which I exclusively focus on the former stars of Twilight. I’m calling it the “hot vampires collection” because I get to name things, since I write the newsletter.

As always, if you prefer your recommendations without commentary, don’t scroll. You have the power to choose.

Welcome back to Tuesday Night.

• Silly, satire. It’s silly tale with something to say. Thankfully, not in a “Don’t Look Up” sort of way.

• Sci-fi. Space. Clones. On the contrary, if you ever watch movies and say, “that’s not realistic”: we can’t exist together on the same plane of reality. Also, you won’t like this movie.

• Steven Yeun. Every scene he’s in had me laughing my itty bitty tooshie off.

Robert Pattinson originally based his character voices on Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O from Jackass. Bong Joon-ho likened Steve-O’s voice to nails on a chalkboard. Forced back to the drawing board, Pattinson decided to model his voices after the titular characters of the famed 90’s cartoon, The Ren and Stimpy Show instead.

Some movies are for escaping reality. Some help you make sense of it. And some allow you to do both.

Like it’s lead character, Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17” contains multitudes. It’s a story about death, loss, and love. The abuse of power, colonialism, and politics. Bodily autonomy and free will. But, it’s also a story about sauce. Yes, sauce. Humankind’s most marvelous creation, capable of elevating a peasant dish into one of sophistication and class. A clear indicator of the most advanced societies. “The litmus test for civilization”, as Toni Collette’s Ylfa puts it.

Look, Bong Joon-ho earned this. He developed “Parasite”, an Oscar winner that is now considered to be one of the all-time greats. So, yes, he spent $118,000,000 (or more) creating the spectacular film that is “Mickey 17”.

A film where a 3D human printer clumsily dispenses Robert Pattinson clones like an HP Inkjet from the late 90’s. Including that little in-and-out movement that happens towards the end of most paper prints. You know what I’m talking about. A film where space-age technologies are invented out of thin air simply to make you laugh, like the purple joe painkiller or a caulk-gun space food dispenser. A film where a (heavily) veneered Mark Ruffalo plays an alarmingly dumb, slightly orange politician operating a well-funded mission to populate a hospitable planet. And, yes, a film where Toni Collette will not shut up about sauce.

There are not-so-subtle allegories to today’s fraught political climate. Noteworthy, though, for their lack of condescension. There is silliness for the sake of silliness, often punctuated by the comedic sensibilities of Steven Yeun, who plays the selfish dimwit, Temo. There’s even waxing philosophical about the ethics of a threesome with two clones.

It all works really well. And while it isn’t his tightest work, Bong Joon-ho delivers a delightfully funny movie about space and clones. Go see it in theaters so studios are reminded of the value of this sort of whimsical, razor sharp work.

This week, our fellow watcher LZ provides thorough commentary on last week’s recommendation, “Love Lies Bleeding”.

1  https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/robert-pattinson-mickey-17-voice-ren-stimpy-exclusive/