Mickey 17 is a big middle finger to space-obsessed strongmen

is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years. The well-deserved hat trick that director Bong Joon Ho pulled off at the Oscars in 2020 with Parasite all but ensured that studios would fight tooth and nail to back his next cinematic project. It was always going to be difficult for Bong to top what he accomplished with Parasite — a shapeshifting masterpiece of storytelling that spoke to the the meticulousness of his creative process — but it was hard not to look forward to his follow-up after such a powerful tale. Though Mickey 17 bears many of the narrative and stylistic hallmarks Bong has become known for, the film is shakier than much of his previous work. There is an intentional (but not always effective) sweatiness to some of the dark comedy’s lead performances that takes some of the bite out of its social commentary. But considering the cartoonishly unhinged politic ... Read full article.