Movie Review - Mercy

I'll be honest, after seeing the trailer, I did not want to watch this movie. But, Peetimes won't make themselves, so off to work I go. The reason I didn't want to see it is it appeared to be another AI-gone-wrong trope that just fear mongers everything bad about AI. For the first fifteen minutes of the movie, give or take, that's about what it looked like.

But then, it gets interesting. I'll be honest, I was deeply engaged at the end of the movie and not displeased about how it ended.

7:42●●● 95%

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Theater or Streaming

Honestly, it's not a movie that needs to be seen in a theater. It feels like a straight-to-streaming movie. But there's nothing wrong with catching it on the big screen if you want to go out for a movie.

Acting

This isn't a movie that's going to be remembered for it's acting, but Chris Pratt is a good choice for his role. This lands right in his wheelhouse. The role of the AI-Judge, played by Rebecca Ferguson, actually requires a little more nuance, and I think Rebecca adds a nice touch. I'd compare their roles to that of a painter. Chris Pratt is a house painter. A job that requires skill and know-how that any competent person can excel at. Rebecca Ferguson is a fine-art painter who can paint a house if you need her to, but also includes some deft touches that require a more talented touch.

Plot

Once the detective part of the movie gets going, it goes faster and faster, leading to a thrilling climax. What makes or breaks many movies in this detective genre is whether the clues fit together and guide the characters through the plot to its climax. We've all seen movies where it feels like the writers want to say something at the end of the movie, and so midway through the investigation, there's a waving of the hands, that you're not supposed to notice, where the characters make some leap of judgment that doesn't feel deserved. As far as I can tell, Mercy avoids this mistake. But there are a few coincidences that feel a little too coincidental. I won't get into them because it's a spoiler, but it's not egregiously obvious, and so it doesn't ruin the movie.

Grade: C

Plot
In the near future, a detective stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has ninety minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced AI Judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.