Mercy 4K UHD Review
“Mercy” is a Screenlife dud.
Written by Marco van Belle, “Mercy” is a futuristic sci-fi Screenlife film set in L.A. In this universe, the Mercy Court handles violent offenses led by AI judges. The story revolves around Chris Raven- an LAPD Detective who now awakens to find himself strapped to a chair and accused of murdering his wife. In front of him lies a giant screen and a touch screen which allows Chris to access security cameras, messages, calls, social media and so forth. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence or else he is executed. The evidence to his guilt is overwhelming and the fact that he doesn’t remember what happened doesn’t bode well for him. Slowly but surely, he discovers that this murder trial is connected to bigger crimes involving revenge and police corruption.
Screenlife films have proved to be effective in the past with underrated horror and mystery films like “Host,” the 2 “Unfriended” films, “Searching,” and “Missing.” With “Mercy,” it feels like director Timur Bekmambetov has taken the experimental and technological subgenre backwards with this muddled Big Brother AI centric story that bears a strong resemblance to the superior “Minority Report.”
What could have been a compelling mystery box story about the dangers of relying on AI morphs into a brain dead tale about mistakes, Chris’s past, and cover-ups. The initial story of Chris’s wife being murdered somehow becomes an afterthought as the story progresses. Moreover, the story becomes far too focused on preposterous action set pieces with horrendous CGI which feel like bad studio notes. The whole project feels like a botched missed opportunity to put it gently.
Not even the star power here helps “Mercy.” Rebecca Ferguson is one of the best in the biz and she’s absolutely wasted as a robotic AI judge. Hopefully she at least got a nice paycheck out of this. We know Chris Pratt will do just about anything so it’s not much of a surprise to see him here. With that said, this part is really out of his acting range. Not only does he overact, but the dramatic scenes feel phony, corny, and even unintentionally funny at times. Kali Reis (a standout from “True Detective: Night Country”) is also wasted here in her role as the cop Jaq.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.20:1 2160p. How does it look? Lousy CGI aside, the 4K disc offers up a pristine print of the film. Note: This title is also available on Blu-ray.
Audio Track: Dolby Atmos. How does it sound? From the dialogue to the action sequences, the Atmos track puts on an audible show.
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