Mercy is one of those direct-to-streaming type movies which apparently got a brief theatrical run before it eventually drops onto Amazon Prime to be rapidly forgotten. A mashup of Minority Report and the so-hot buzzword AI, it's a modestly effective sci-fi thriller until you stop and think of all the gaping plot, logic, ethical, and Constitutional holes it has to leap over.
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy)stars as LAPD Robbery Homicide Detective Chris Raven who is having a very bad day in 2029. He wakes up strapped in a chair in LA's Mercy Capital Court, a modified Judge Dredd system set up due to LA's rampant crime problems which has made areas no-go "red zones." Defendants have 90 minutes to convince an AI judge - here it's Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson, Silo) - there is enough doubt about their guilt to avoid immediate execution by sonic blast to the head. (Is lethal injection not a thing in the future? Or doing it elsewhere?) Raven is accused of having murdered his wife while drunk, which is all news to him initially. The fact he was a strong proponent of the Mercy court, having put its first defendant (victim?) in the chair a couple years previously is an additional layer of irony.
Mercy defendants are given access to all the evidence which looks damning on the surface, but once he comes to grips with his predicament he utilizes his detective skills and with the assistance of his partner, Jaq (Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country), on the outside, races the clock to figure out who could've done it instead. Numerous red herrings and hijinks ensue.
I could go on at length about all the preposterous things in Mercy starting with the title: Who is getting this mercy? The defendants who are presumed guilty and better be able to convince the AI Judge they aren't? Raven is the 19th case in the chair, but how many of the 18 before him were deductive wizards able to sift through the evidence to save themselves?
What about the whole Constitutional aspect where defendants are entitled to a trial by jury? I presume the AI is meant to be impartial and dispassionate (more on this in a moment) to remove the tendency of liberal judges to free brutal criminals because they have the proper Designated Victim Group traits, but Mercy isn't even pretending to operate on an intellectual plane.
Then there's the aspect of Raven having access to the municipal cloud which seems to have all the calls, texts, photos, videos, etc. of everyone's cell phones, doorbell cameras, etc. and he can rummage through them for clues. So, privacy went out the window? In wildly pro-criminal Los Angeles? Well, this is a science fiction movie, but come on.
The trial room is a big space with plenty of room for holographic GUI stuff to float in the air and the floor has windows looking down into....something, but why? This all could've been done in a small room or even VR goggles. There are flying motorcycles to beat the traffic, but ground cars seem to have the same tech as the CTU SUVs on 24 had which allowed Jack Bauer to get across LA in 15 minutes.
The AI also behaves situationally, sometimes unlocking access to info because it's needed, not that he has a right to it. At the end, it asks a question which completely moots the whole dispassionate aspect these robo-judges are supposed to provide. While flawed, Minority Report at least had its premise sorted out - Pre-Crime was intended to save lives by nabbing murderers before they killed someone. Mercy's world is where rapid trials and executions are happening with no human supervision or witnesses or even failsafes. Also, the threshold for doubt for execution is 92%, but it's never stated that frees the defendant. Are they acquitted and free to go or what?
It's to the credit of director Timur Bekmambetov (best known for Wanted) that he proceeds at such a breathless pace that the viewer doesn't really have time to ponder the myriad problems with Marco van Belle's script. Even as the dumb piles up, we're still on board and it's only when it's over the stupid washes over you.
Pratt is adequate to the role, but Ferguson is poorly directed by the schizoid script which never decides whether Maddox is Data or Cortana. (IYKYK)
The 4K presentation is nothing particularly special, so if you don't have a snazzy TV, you won't miss much.
If Mercy pops up on your streaming thing and you're down for some mindless thrills, it's not the worst movie you can watch, but perhaps you should watch something else. (How's that for faint praise?)
Score: 5/10. Catch it on cable/streaming.
0 comments:
Post a Comment