Peter Bart: ‘Mickey 17’ Will Delight Bong-Heads, But The Rest Of The Moviegoing Universe Might Need Convincing

deadline.com:

Will filmgoers rally behind space travelers who “hate dying” but keep courting death? The director who gave us Parasite, a cool, curmudgeonly social comedy, is challenging filmgoers with a big-budget, genre-bending epic titled Mickey 17 that will likely be a tougher sell.

Fans of Bong Joon Ho’s movies (Bong-heads, they call themselves) will now have to deal with dystopian class warfare spearheaded by a Donald Trump leader (Mark Ruffalo) who disdains “Expendables.” Loud and orange, he has big ambitions for a frozen planet that’s as hospitable as a hockey rink.

Jeopardy lurks everywhere: Even sex is death defying. Mickey 17 is a $120 million satire – “one that may challenge the public mood,” observes one veteran distributor, who readily admits that no one understands the “public mood.” Robert Pattinson adeptly plays Mickey 17 and is resigned to become Mickey 18 too, and beyond, as he’s meticulously “re-printed” after every death.

Warner Bros appreciates the Bong-head enthusiasm for Mickey but worries that the older art film crowd tends to be slow in discovering hot new products — especially satires about capitalistic over-reach.