In 'Mickey 17,' Bong recycles Pattinson and his old ideas

Of course Bong Joon Ho is an environmentalist. He recycles his own ideas. “Mickey 17,” a sloppy but enjoyable sci-fi comedy set in the year 2054, mashes together the monsterphobia of “The Host,” the animal-rights activism of “Okja,” the environmental doomsaying of “Snowpiercer” and the social inequality of “Parasite,” that last one the Oscar winner that handed Bong the blank check to make a combo platter of his greatest hits.

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It’s the equivalent of the lunch tray that Mickey 17 (Robert Pattinson) gobbles up in his outer-space cafeteria: squares of the same nutritious gunk. But I'm not complaining. Some filmmakers deliver sermons; Bong serves entertainment.

The 17th Mickey is a flesh photocopy of Mickey Barnes, a good-for-nothing dope desperate to flee Earth after his macaron business flops and its main investor threatens him with a chainsaw. Earth isn’t worth sticking around for, anyway. “Seems like the whole of this planet was running away from something,” Mickey says, gazing up at a long line of wannabe migrants jostling to earn a spot on an escape ship headed to the ice planet Niflheim. As frigid as it is, Niflheim doesn’t seem any worse than the pounding dust storms at home.