By Nick Nitkowski 

We are still very much in the month of January, which means we are still getting films from the scrap heap. But there appear to be flakes of gold here and there. I’ve been hearing good things about the new “28 Year Later” sequel, which I still need to watch at some point. Next on the roster is “Mercy”, a mystery thriller starring everyone’s least favorite Chris right now and heavily advertised to be seen in 3D just like “Avatar”. I am starting to feel like 2010 again where movies are advertising the 3D because of “Avatar’s” success. But as a 3D fan, I’m up for it. Now that I’ve seen it, let’s explore the evidence as to why this film is guilty of being so bland.

The movie stars Chris Pratt as a police detective who finds himself in a virtual AI trial for the murder of his wife. Overseen by an A.I. judge, played by Rebecca Ferguson, she gives Chris Pratt’s character 90 minutes to scour the internet and provide evidence of his innocence to the crime and find the true killer within the given timeframe or risk being executed when the clock counts down to zero. 

As I was watching this movie, it reminded me of other movies that predominantly take place in a singular setting. Movies like “12 Angry Men”, “Buried”, “Rope”,” and “Phonebooth” were a few that came to mind. The only difference is that all those movies utilized it a lot better than this one did. The entire movie is Chris Pratt in a chair talking to an enlarged Rebecca Ferguson on a screen with phone, bodycam, and security footage thrown in to tell the story and that all would have been fine if it was interesting. Instead, we just get Chris Pratt sitting for 90% of the movie, and Rebecca Ferguson speaking monotone into a camera on green screen for 100% for 90 minutes. 

While I can’t say that it necessarily bored me, I just didn’t find myself caring about this man’s innocence, and I didn’t care for any of the characters. The mystery element was barely there because I found it easy to figure out who the culprit was and the thrills were hardly present because it’s mostly just Chris Pratt in a chair while he watches the action on a screen just like the audience. I compared this movie to “Captain America: Brave New World” to a friend in the sense that yes, I’m fully awake and seeing everything that is happening on the screen, but I’m feeling absolutely nothing while watching it.

Since this movie is going heavy on the 3D advertisement, let’s talk about it. As a self-proclaimed 3D connoisseur, I like to think that I’m one of a few who have a keen eye for 3D effects. I can tell when 3D is carefully planned, whether it’s filmed in 3D or converted, I can see the effort put in, and I can tell when it was an afterthought. The 3D effects on this movie felt somewhere in between. It’s almost like they knew watching a man in a chair for 90 minutes wasn’t exciting enough, so they chose to add 3D into the mix. Whether that was a choice made beforehand or afterward, I am not sure. But as I was watching this movie in 3D, and this is something that I never thought I’d say, I forgot that I was watching it in 3D. So, if you feel the need to see this movie and you need help deciding between the two formats, the 2D version will serve you every bit as well as the 3D version.

Overall, “Mercy” was a nothing movie for me. I was not invested in the mystery or the thrills that were greatly lacking. I saw every frame on screen and absorbed it all in my mind and got absolutely nothing out of it. If you’re looking for a 3D spectacle, I would just go watch “Avatar 3” again. Despite this one being 90 minutes versus 3 hours, I was fully aware of the 90-minute runtime. If you’re looking for a thrilling mystery movie, there are better ones at your disposal. I give credit to them for attempting to make this concept work, but the execution just didn’t work for me and if it had been done differently, then perhaps this could have been a better experience for me. But as it stands, the only Mercy I can give this movie is deeming it a one-and-done at best.

2 stars