Two Pattinsons are better than one. It’s double the weirdness. Triple the fun (kind of).

My word, has it felt like forever since Parasite! In the six years since the release of Bong Joon-ho’s multi-Oscar-winning masterpiece, so much has happened, not only to the film industry, but to the world as a whole.

With both the world and the film industry in an entirely (and often terrifyingly) different place to where it was when Parasite was gobbling up awards left, right, and centre, the return of Bong Joon-ho arrives like a warm hug – and not a moment too soon, quite frankly.

The arrival of a new Bong joint at this tumultuous point in time is an entirely welcome one, however, as delightful as it is to have the inimitable Korean director finally back in our lives, the big question is whether there’s any hope that the long-delayed Mickey 17 can possibly live up to the lofty standards of its exalted predecessor.

The unlikeliest of heroes, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) finds himself in the extraordinary situation of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job – to die for a living. Joining a dangerous journey to colonise a distant ice planet as an “expendable”, Mickey must complete several dangerous tasks with the promise of being renewed every time he inevitably dies. However, when one regeneration goes awry, Mickey must battle both himself and the colony’s maniacal leaders for his very survival.

For all of Mickey 17’s positives, it’s fair to say that Parasite it most certainly is not. In hindsight, the expectations piled upon Bong Joon-ho’s latest effort that it would turn out anything like its much-celebrated predecessor were way too high and way too wide of the mark, especially when you consider how different Parasite was from so much of the director’s previous work.

In so many ways, Mickey 17 is nothing like Parasite, and anyone approaching this film wanting or expecting it to be as such will undoubtedly leave disappointed. Let’s be honest, it was clear from the moment Mickey 17 was announced that we were going to get a very different Bong Joon-ho here, one far more aligned to the Korean filmmaker’s earlier work.

With a liberal dose of Snowpiercer’s high concept sci-fi action and a huge dollop of Okja’s brash oddball comedy, Mickey 17 is very much in line with Bong Joon-ho’s earlier work. The ride here is a wild and loose one that has the surface-level appearance of a big budget sci-fi blockbuster, yet ultimately lands somewhere far weirder and far more idiosyncratic.

How much you enjoy this zanier side of Bong Joon-ho and what your tolerance levels are for his particular brand of wackiness will ultimately dictate how much you take from Mickey 17. This version of the director is undoubtedly an acquired taste, and with the more measured and more mainstream approach of Parasite nowhere to be found, some will certainly be put off by the outright weirdness Mickey 17 is offering.

It’s a freewheeling, goofy, double-Pattinson space bug ride of a movie and the kind of broad genre play that Bong Joon-ho was doing long before he picked up all those Oscars, yet it’s also one that’s all rather erratic and a little muddled in its execution.

Swinging wildly between wacky sci-fi shenanigans, broad comedy, moments of traumatic violence, and frequent attempts to be poignant, Mickey 17’s script is, quite frankly, all over the place. Whether it’s pure exuberance or a reluctance to play things by the Hollywood book, there appears to be a driving urge within Bong Joon-ho to cover every base possible and the result is a muddled story that never quite finds its feet.

Such scripting messiness is certainly not a new thing for Bong Joon-ho, with the director’s previous English language efforts often hit by similar issues to what we see with Mickey 17. The taut, cleverly morphing storytelling and the beautiful, insightful nuances we all saw in Parasite are hard to come by here, and while there’s certainly a lot to appreciate with what Mickey 17 is doing, there are definitely parts that fall flat.

The film’s somewhat overzealous zaniness and scatter-brained humour certainly feed into this narrative scrappiness and for those that aren’t attuned to this brand of Bong Joon-ho weirdness, there’s a high possibility that they’ll find it all rather grating. As the film switches tone and genre within the blink of an eye, it can all be a lot to take in, however, when it clicks it clicks and when in full flow, the writing is frequently clever and insightful, while the physical comedy is a lot of fun when it actually lands.

It's all rather erratic and tricky to keep track of at times, yet, at its best, Bong Joon-ho’s writing can be highly effective. However, by far the biggest contributor to the success of Mickey 17’s comedy lies squarely on the shoulders of Mickey himself, Robert Pattinson.

The sheer commitment the man displays for a bizarre role he must play not once but twice (and actually many more times if you count Mickey 1 to 16) is quite something to behold and, ultimately, a huge part in ensuring that the film’s zaniness doesn’t bulldoze the entire film.

At this point, it really doesn’t need to be said just how much of an acting talent Robert Pattinson is, yet the absolute commitment to his craft and to being the complete opposite of his early career is to be commended. And all of this is out on display here as Pattinson goes all in to get all the mileage he can from the batshit shenanigans he’s thrown into.

For some time now, Pattinson has been putting in the miles to distance himself from the sparkly vampire we all knew him for at the start of his career. And continuing this trajectory, the Pattinson we see here in Mickey 17 is about as far from his vampiric heartthrob beginnings as you can get. And, quite frankly, it’s just a pleasure to see Pattinson out here getting to indulge his inner freak and have some real weirdo fun with his performance.

Simultaneously pathetic, endearing, and heartbreakingly relatable, Pattinson’s portrayal of his many Mickeys is a real riot and incredibly astute. Fully embracing the physical side of the character while managing to keep his little subtleties and nuances, Pattinson absolutely nails the multi-facetted performance, one that single-handedly carries the entire film at points.

It truly is an irrepressible performance, one that the entire film’s appeal hinges on, however, there’s plenty in Mickey 17’s extended cast to appreciate too. Admittedly, some of the ensemble struggle, yet exuberant performances from Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo in particular are entertaining in a completely unhinged kind of way, with the latter taking the scenery chewing hamminess of his Poor Things character and dialling it all up to Trumpian levels of monstrous excess.

Whether they land or miss the mark, it’s impossible not to admire the wild swings Bong Joon-ho is taking here, and while the director’s patented brand of quirk certainly isn’t for everyone, the fact that he’s able to put all of this out there and do his own thing on a big Hollywood budget to his biggest potential audience to date is a genuinely wonderful thing.

From Tim Key in a pigeon costume, to Robert Pattinson conversing with giant space bugs, to Toni Collette’s bizarre obsession with sauce, Mickey 17 is absolutely crammed with oddball comedy and weirdo sci-fi peculiarities that feel Bong Joon-ho to a tee. Sure, they are scattergun and incredibly erratic at times, yet they are absolutely classic Bong, and for those that vibe with that side of his filmmaking personality, this is a film you’ll love.

Around all this is a narrative that runs the gamut from bursts of wild blockbuster action to wry social commentary that takes aim at class divides, disposable culture, colonisation, and a thinly veiled shot at certain populist politicians and megalomaniacal, space-obsessed billionaires. The success of both elements is undoubtedly inconsistent, with the film never truly finding its feet, yet it’s hard to stay mad at the sheer ballsiness of Bong Joon-ho for putting it all out there in what is his biggest and boldest film to date.

For all of Mickey 17’s undoubted positives, Parasite it most certainly is not. Anyone going into this film expecting the Parasite side of Bong Joon-ho will undoubtedly leave disappointed, yet those looking for something in the region of Okja and Snowpiercer, will definitely get more from this film. Held together heroically by a wild, incomparable Robert Pattinson pulling a double shift, Mickey 17 certainly has its tonal and narrative issues, yet it’s hard not to get swept up in Director Bong’s wild, goofy, space bug loving ride.

Mickey 17 is out in cinemas now!