Chris Pratt’s ‘ridiculous’ sci-fi box-office flop becomes a hit on Amazon Prime charts

Amazon Prime viewers are racing to watch a new Chris Pratt movie despite its dreadful reviews (Picture: Justin Lubin/ Amazon Prime Video)

It might have been brutally called ‘incoherent, overcomplicated nonsense with zero payoff’ by one critic, but a Chris Pratt thriller is now the most-watched movie on Amazon Prime.

One of the highest-grossing film stars of all time, Chris rose to fame starring in the series’ Everwood and Parks and Recreation but has since gone on to star in blockbuster franchises’ Guardians of The Galaxy and Jurassic World.

Earlier this year, his science fiction thriller Mercy also hit screens – but wasn’t as favourably received as many of his previous releases.

As the synopsis teased: ‘In the near future, a detective stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced A.I. Judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.’

The 46-year-old American actor played detective Chris Raven, a LAPD officer who is on trial for the murder of his wife.

Meanwhile, Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson played Judge Maddox, an AI who is part of the titular Mercy program.

Mercy starred the actor as a man on trial after being accused of killing his wife (Picture: Justin Lubin/ Amazon Prime Video)

Although made on a budget of $60million (£45million), the film only managed to gross a total of $54.3million (£41million) worldwide.

‘Mercy is a sight that may induce sore eyes, a punishing experience for those with even the lowest of expectations and appears destined to land among the dregs of the year,’ SlashFilm wrote in its review.

‘Lazily written, chaotically directed and played out with all the zest of a convenience-store security video, it lacks not only vision and purpose but the faintest hint of entertainment,’ The Toronto Star declared.

‘A mindless action flick where an accused murderer has 90 minutes to prove his innocence during a trial. There’s a lot of yelling at video screens in this moronic movie. Viewers will feel like yelling at the screen too, with all the stupidity on display,’ Culture Mix shared.

‘Resorting to the laziness of using a car chase and no-holds barred action finale proves all the more disappointing after such a promising beginning,’ ReelTalk added.

Others lamented its ‘terrible’ ending.

However one critic called watching the movie a ‘punishing experience’ (Picture: Justin Lubin/ Amazon Prime Video)

Despite these ferocious reviews, the movie was much better received by viewers.

‘Tense thriller. Don’t know what the critics see bad about it – unless they just hate Chris Pratt. My heart was racing. It’s not intellectual, but it has heart and an original plot. I’ve never seen a movie based on this concept, and that’s saying a lot these days when all movies are the same. Highly recommend!’ user RT36618240 posted on Rotten Tomatoes, where the film holds a 25% rating from critics, but 82% from viewers.

‘Surprisingly very good. I figured this was going to be a slow ride and even after the first 10 minutes I was kind of losing interest, but it reeled me back in pretty quickly because once it gets going. IT GOES,’ Chris wrote.

‘Exceeded my expectations. I found the story & writing compelling. The direction and visual effects were pretty mind blowing. Love the concept and the way they made it come alive,’ Phil concurred.

Although critics completely slammed Mercy, Amazon Prime viewers don’t seem to mind and have been watching it in such force it’s currently the most-streamed film on the streaming platform in the UK.

Speaking about the film to Radio Times when it was released, Chris was asked about what he hoped viewers could take away from watching.

Chris has said he wanted viewers to experience a ‘thrill ride’ when watching (Picturee: Jason Mendez/ Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios)

‘I don’t expect that this is a film that people are going to walk away from having seen a think piece about AI that’s going to change their perspective on AI and all of that stuff. Like any anxiety this induces around AI and how it’s being incorporated in our life…we feel all that stuff already,’ he said.

‘My hope, actually, is that maybe some of the anxiety we feel in life can be turned off for 90 minutes, and you can just be brought on a thrill ride and enjoy an experience of just sheer entertainment.’

Last year, another one of the American film star’s big-budget flicks was considered a massive flop but also ended up soaring up the charts when being released on streaming.

Loosely based on the 2018 illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State also starred Millie Bobby Brown, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Giancarlo Esposito and Stanley Tucci.

It told the story of Michelle (Millie), a young woman travelling with a sweet but mysterious robot, who then reluctantly team up with eccentric drifter Keats (Chris), and set out on a cross-country road trip to find her younger brother. Along the way, they then have to navigate an ‘electrified, retro-futuristic US landscape with eerie similarities to our own time’’

With a reported budget of $320million (£241million), the film is of the most expensive films ever made.

Last year his movie The Electric State was panned by critics, but soared up the Netflix charts (Picture: Netflix via AP)

However, critics called it ‘lifeless’, ‘banal and passionless’ and a ‘slog to watch’.

Despite this, The Electric State went on to claim the title of one of Netflix’s biggest debut audiences of the year with 25,200,000 views.

After debuting on Friday March 14, the platform revealed that The Electric State’s first three days on release saw it attract more than 25million views, allowing it to claim the top spot on Netflix’s global chart.

Its figures also put it at the second-biggest debut for a Netflix Original film in 2025 so far, beating the likes of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Amy Schumer’s Kinda Pregnant and rom-com La Dolce Villa.

Mercy is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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