Released by Amazon MGM Studios back in January, Mercy was an uncharacteristic box office bomb for Pratt. In Mercy a detective in a futuristic Los Angeles, Chris Raven, (Pratt) is accused of murdering his wife. Chris then finds himself having to prove his innocence to the Mercy Capital Court which uses A.I. judges (one of which is played by Silo star Rebecca Ferguson) but he has just 90 minutes to do so before he will be executed. In addition to significantly underperforming at the box office, the film was widely panned by critics, but with the film coming to Prime Video on March 22nd, the thriller might just find the audience it didn’t reach in its theatrical run.
Critics May Have Hated Mercy, But Audiences Loved It (And That Bodes Well For Its Streaming Success)
Image Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
What’s interesting about Mercy is the wide gulf between critics and audiences when it comes to their assessment of the film. While the premise for Mercy is interesting and suitably terrifying — with artificial intelligence growing ever more integrated in our world, it’s not that big of a leap to imagine a time when law and order would be left in the metaphorical hands of machines — how that premise was executed soured critics as much of the film is spent with Chris essentially sitting in custody going over the evidence to prove his innocence. When the action does kick in, it’s closer to the end of the film. However, fans loved the movie — the film’s audience rating is 85% compared to the critics rating of 25% if that tells you anything — with most audiences praising it for being not only action packed and engaging, but intriguing and interesting as well, particularly praising the “realistic” nature of how A.I. could go too far in aspects of daily life.
The biggest plus for the film among audiences, however, was Pratt himself and it’s something that bodes well for Mercy’s streaming performance. Pratt is already a known success for Prime Video. The Terminal List has been a major success for the streamer and, more than that, Pratt has a very devoted fanbase when it comes to his action roles. It’s very likely that with Mercy headed to streaming, fans that didn’t see it when it was in theaters will queue it up for home viewing, something that will give the movie a brand-new life.
What Else is Coming to Prime Video in March?
Prime Video has quite a bit of great content for the month of March. Earlier this month, the streamer added several great movies, including Rain Man, the Shrek franchise, Josie and the Pussycats and several more. The streamer is also set to add several great television series this month as well making it an especially great month for nostalgia with Married… With Children and Who’s the Boss both coming to the platform on March 25th. You can check out the full arrival lineup here.
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