{"id":32838,"date":"2026-01-21T15:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32838"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:07:45","slug":"mercy-lacks-thrills-and-suspense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32838","title":{"rendered":"MERCY Lacks Thrills and Suspense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 100 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This motion picture from Amazon MGM Studios opens\nexclusively in theaters (with some presentations in 3D and IMAX) on January 23rd<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a movie that incorporates the latest in screen\ntechnology and social media has always been difficult. So much so that it’s\nhard to think of a movie that has done it exceptionally well (Searching<\/em>\ncomes to mind as one of the only passable efforts). The latest movie to attempt\nthis more-often-than-not troublesome technique to create dynamic thrills is Mercy<\/em>.\nWhat it ends up doing, unfortunately, isn\u2019t different from other problematic\nefforts. It leaves viewers at an emotional and physical distance. There isn\u2019t\nmuch to enjoy in watching a seated character staring at a one large screen\nwhile watching other screens in a largely vacant room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This story is set in a crime-ridden future where the program\n\u201cMercy\u201d has been developed for use in criminal trials. AI serves as judge, jury\nand executioner, sentencing death to anyone who cannot cast some doubt within\nninety minutes as to their culpability. It all begins with LAPD Detective Chris\nRaven (Chris Pratt) awakening to find himself strapped to a chair. A large\nscreen reveals AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), who tells Raven that he is\nbeing tried for the slaying of his wife (Annabelle Wallis) earlier in the day.\nShocked and without any memory of his partner\u2019s death, he insists upon his\ninnocence. In order to save his life, Raven is permitted to contact friends on\nthe force, like partner Jacqueline “Jaq” Diallo (Kali Reis), as well\nas a few of his wife\u2019s co-workers (Chris Sullivan and Rafi Gavron) and daughter\nBritt (Kylie Rogers). The hero attempts to piece together what happened and\npotentially find the real killer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As noted, the majority of interaction is between Raven and\nthe AI Judge Maddox. The program has access to all phones, cameras, and\nelectronic media around the city. Raven is initially reluctant to engage or\nadmit to personal faults, like his drinking problem and less-than-stellar\nbehavior as a husband. But as the ticking clock continues counting down, he\nasks partner Jaq to show him the crime scene and help develop leads. Raven is\nforced to open up about his failures and understand his wife\u2019s motivations for\nacting out against him. And as for Maddox, the program is initially a stiff and\ncold adjudicator resistant to accept any evidence contradicting the charges,\nbut it begins to show a few signs of humanity and understanding as other\npossibilities emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would be interesting to watch if the characters or any\nof the drama was in any way convincing. But, as charismatic as the two main\nperformers have been in other titles, they don\u2019t gel onscreen here. The\ndialogue is remarkably clumsy and stiff (even for the AI program), and there is\nalmost no rapport between the main characters. Their discussions lack any sort\nof dramatic spark, either as enemies or later when they begin to develop a\nmutual respect for each other. The movie also overplays the drama, with every\nbit of new information or character turn scored with an exaggerated musical\nsting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And as the film lays out increasingly sillier and sillier\ntwists that suggest a grander plot, it all becomes nearly impossible to buy\ninto. Even the overall message of the picture comes across as confused. In\nattempting to involve the AI program in the investigation and even depict\nMaddox assisting the protagonist in later sections of the story, it seems as\nthough the movie is suggesting that a state of complete and inescapable\nsurveillance might be good for us all. One hopes this wasn\u2019t the actual intention\nof the feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie was screened for press in 2D, but it is being\nshown in some markets in 3D and on IMAX screens. It\u2019s hard to imagine this\ntitle benefitting from an extra dimension. Much of the footage involves the\nlead character sitting and watching body cams and cell phone footage. Although\nthese screens may be floating around the protagonist and his chair with a sense\nof depth, it\u2019s unlikely to add a visual wallop to the proceedings. In the end,\nthis film doesn\u2019t thrill. In fact, the only actual Mercy<\/em> given to\nviewers comes at the close when the credits finally roll. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 100 minutes This motion picture from Amazon MGM Studios opens exclusively in theaters (with some presentations in 3D and IMAX) on January 23rd. Making a movie that incorporates the latest in screen technology and social media has always been difficult. So much so that it’s hard to think of a movie that has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[217,697,863,1180,4321,4910,6251,8024,13698,13699,13700,13701,16758,17775],"class_list":["post-32838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-217","tag-action","tag-ai","tag-amazon-mgm-studios","tag-chris-pratt","tag-crime","tag-drama","tag-futuristic","tag-mercy","tag-mercy-film-review","tag-mercy-movie-review","tag-mercy-review","tag-rebecca-ferguson","tag-science-fiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}