by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Chris Pratt recently has been getting a lot of flak. I’ll admit, becoming the most famous former cast member of Parks & Rec is remarkable considering Aubrey Plaza got her start there too. But he delivered in the Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises. Rebecca Ferguson has been a reliable supporting actor with her franchise work in Mission: Impossible and Dune. I will always dig a good murder mystery, but if I had known what I was getting into with the new Amazon MGM studios picture Mercy, I would not have braved the early hours of this weekend’s “Snow-pocalypse” and rather would have stayed home to enjoy re-runs of Community.
Mercy tells the story of Chris Raven (Pratt) a police detective accused of murdering his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). He is placed on trial in a futuristic court, run by an A.I. software called Mercy (Ferguson). This A.I. has access to public and private information provided by citizens; Mercy provides Chris with whatever evidence he requests to prove his innocence. Then it makes a judgment call solely on the facts presented. He will call on his fellow detective Jaq (Kali Reis), his AA sponsor Rob (Chris Sullivan), and his daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers). Perhaps he is innocent. Perhaps he is not. Unfortunately, he only has 90 minutes to prove there is a chance he is innocent before Mercy is authorized to sentence him to death.
In my opinion, Pratt has obtained a crappy reputation over the past few years. He was boxed in by the character of Star Lord being a manchild and the Jurassic World movies aren’t good especially in terms of character arcs. He did not do a ton in between those two franchises, but he doesn’t have a lot of opportunity to do character work otherwise. However, in this outing his desperation of a man trying to prove his innocence is believable.
Now I can respect this concept of a real time court pulling a ton of data to uncover a murder. Honestly, it is something that seems futuristic but not too out of the realm of possibility. The CGI here is passable. It feels more like a commercial for the next video game console, but I like the usage of screens and video. It reminds me of the 2018 movie Searching but it is not as committed to the bit as that one. The mystery elements of the story unravel like any murder we’ve seen before. We learn more about the victim and her family. The suspected Chris has a lot to hide but seems likeable enough. Little by little each thread gets pulled and twists come out with each little string. It’s a mediocre twisty tale.
Ferguson is different though. We have so much proof of her being one of the most capable actresses working. She is fine in this role and has a tone that feels divorced from reality like an A.I. program would. What I don’t like is how her character/program gets moments of humanity. It seems inconsistent with the idea that it is a faultless program. This is where the movie falls off a cliff for me: Mercy itself. The story would have you believe that the A.I. is a good “person” capable of being fully objective based off the known facts and doing what it is right after learning more about a situation. However, those two things are in conflict because if it knows all the facts shouldn’t it already know the outcome of the case? This kind of writing is nonsensical because this intelligence cannot be morally good, objective, and all knowing. It’s an oxymoron of a character.
Put on your tin foil hat with me here because I had an epiphany after this movie that made me hate it: Mercy is an advertisement. Not the movie itself but the character. Ferguson’s computer program is meant to dull an audience’s negative feelings about an artificial intelligence being used to make critical decisions in day-to-day life. Let the systems make decisions because it’s cost effective and we don’t need to hire more people. Justifying its cost with pouring out its efficiency will sway the common man. Think about who else would preach this kind of doctrine: billionaire tech owners. And who owns MGM studies now? Amazon and founder Jeff Bezos. To quote my dad’s favorite Disney villain sidekick Kronk, “Oh, yeah. It’s all coming together.” Of course, a guy like him would be incentivized to push this message.
My verdict: I do not care for this movie. There are tons of dangerous messages that this movie is pushing. The implications made about A.I. seem entirely motivated by corporate greed and a billionaire playing catch up with the owner of twitter. The fact is A.I. is not going to go away easily and if we want to make the best use of it we need to limit it severely. This movie pushes the opposite message while saying it is a good thing when it is infringing upon people’s personal lives. Dressing up your message with a mystery starring Star Lord and Paul Atriedes’ mommy is not going to cut it. Skip this one, folks.
Rating: Didn’t Like It
Mercy is currently playing in theaters
You can read more from Samuel Nichols, and follow him on Letterboxd