Mercy Review – Chris Pratt takes on AI judge Rebecca Ferguson in an innovative sci-fi thriller | film

IBrilliant writer Marco van Belle provides an entertaining script for this realistic futuristic comedy set in 2029 Los Angeles, in a world (as they say) where artificial intelligence is entirely responsible for assessing criminal guilt or innocence. You’ve heard of RoboCop. This is robotic justice. Veteran Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov directs the film, using his usual forceful style for big action scenes, and Chris Pratt plays an LAPD cop accused of murder. (Longtime Pratt fans will appreciate the cameo appearance here by Pratt’s castmate on TV’s Parks and Recreation, Jay Jackson, who effectively reprises his performance as sonorous TV news anchor Bird Hubley.)

The film’s ostensible target is the malevolent power of artificial intelligence, though the film engages in the doublethink of today’s liberal opinion, in which we all solemnly agree that artificial intelligence is deeply troubling while having not the slightest intention of doing anything about it. Pratt plays Detective Chris Raven, an officer with a drinking problem who is nevertheless a poster boy for law enforcement in Los Angeles in the year 2029 as he makes the first conviction under the city’s creepy, high-tech justice system, ironically titled Mercy (it doesn’t sound like an acronym). The AI ​​is now the sole arbiter of justice, and each of the defendants gets a 90-minute trial to present their case before Judge Maddox, an AI hologram played by Rebecca Ferguson who coldly insists on the facts but is capable of making bizarre Max-Headroom-type errors.

One day, Raven wakes up hungry in a restraint chair in the courtroom in front of Maddox to be told that he has been accused of murdering his wife – an event he has no memory of. He must now clear his name using the city’s massive cloud archive of body cameras, surveillance footage, phone records and calls with colleagues and family members. Desperate and heartbroken, Raven now has to do the police work of his career.

It’s witty, watchable stuff, with cheeky twists, though the eventual escalation into complete chaos is perhaps a step too far into pure absurdity. The film is also a bit lenient regarding artificial intelligence: “Human or AI – we all make mistakes.” Ah… yes. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Raven and Judge Maddox revive their digital human chemistry for a sequel.