When Netflix’s The Electric State was announced, there were high hopes, especially considering the Russo brothers’ impressive history with films like Avengers: Endgame. However, their latest project has proven to be one of the biggest letdowns of their career. Despite the massive budget—reportedly close to $200 million—the film struggles with an unoriginal storyline, weak performances, and a lackluster visual style. Even their previous Netflix project, The Gray Man, which wasn’t particularly great, felt far more engaging than this.
A Bloated Budget and a Lack of Depth
It’s hard to ignore the fact that The Electric State comes with an extremely hefty price tag. In fact, it has been pointed out that the budget for this film could fund the last 15 Oscar-winning Best Picture films. Just think about that—$200 million could have gone toward making epic movies like Oppenheimer, Parasite, or 12 Years a Slave. Yet, what the Russos deliver here feels anything but epic.
The movie stars Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown and follows the story of Michelle, a young woman on a journey to find her missing brother in a post-apocalyptic world. Despite its somewhat interesting premise, the film feels unnecessarily long. It clocks in at around 120 minutes, but it seems to drag on forever. You’ll find yourself checking the time repeatedly, wondering when it’s finally going to end.
A Dull and Predictable Story
The Electric State takes place in an alternate mid-90s where robots—originally designed to help humanity—rise up and start a war. These robots are eventually defeated and exiled, but the story doesn’t end there. Michelle’s brother, Christopher, is kidnapped because of his ability to bond with machines. Fast forward to years later, and Michelle, now an adult, is joined by a quirky robot, Cosmo, which may or may not have been possessed by her brother’s consciousness.
Michelle’s journey to find her brother takes her on a cross-country adventure, where she teams up with a former soldier named Keats, played by Chris Pratt. The character of Keats is a mix of various archetypes, including the rough, reluctant hero seen in the Jurassic World films and Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a role we’ve seen Pratt play before, and sadly, it doesn’t feel fresh here.
Underwhelming Performances
While The Electric State has some star power, including Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown, the performances in the film leave much to be desired. Pratt plays the same type of character we’ve seen him portray many times before—someone who’s tough but with a soft spot. It’s nothing new or exciting, and the film doesn’t give him enough to work with. Millie Bobby Brown does her best with the role of Michelle, but again, the script doesn’t offer much to truly showcase her acting talent.
One particularly odd decision was to have Anthony Mackie voice a robot sidekick. It’s hard to understand why someone with his acting chops would lend their voice to a mechanical, one-dimensional character in a film that already feels like it’s running on autopilot.
There’s also a baffling cameo by Colman Domingo, a two-time Academy Award nominee, who shows up briefly as a security bot. It’s a moment that feels entirely wasted, as the character doesn’t serve any real purpose.
A Lack of Direction
The Russo brothers have been criticized for their over-reliance on CGI and world-building which doesn’t feel well-thought-out. In The Electric State, this is evident in the film’s muddy aesthetic, which combines hastily created CGI with half-baked lore that doesn’t resonate with the audience. The result is a world that feels shallow and unconvincing.
At times, the movie seems to be trying to capture the magic of Spielberg’s films, but it fails miserably. There’s an attempt to evoke a sense of wonder, but instead of leaving you in awe, the film makes you feel disconnected and uninterested. The attempts at humor, often delivered by robots or characters with robotic personalities, fall flat. It’s as though the filmmakers were trying to add a light-hearted touch but ended up with something that feels forced and out of place.
Empty Themes and Overused Tropes
The movie also doesn’t offer much in terms of thought-provoking content. It touches on themes like post-9/11 paranoia, class inequality, and artificial intelligence, but these ideas feel tired and underdeveloped. There’s a lot of artifice in the film, but not much intelligence. The narrative doesn’t explore these topics in any meaningful way, and they end up feeling like empty tropes rather than engaging concepts.
The idea of sentient robots having emotions could have been an intriguing plot point, but it’s handled so poorly that it becomes just another unoriginal idea in a film full of them. At its core, The Electric State is a missed opportunity to explore deeper questions about humanity and technology, and instead, it relies on flashy visuals and recycled ideas.
The Electric State
In the end, The Electric State is a major disappointment. Despite the Russos’ immense budget and star-studded cast, the film feels lifeless and uninspired. It’s clear that they’ve shifted their focus toward building franchises rather than creating compelling, stand-alone stories. The film suffers from a lack of originality, weak performances, and a muddled narrative that never quite comes together.
If you’re a fan of the Russo brothers’ previous work, you might find The Electric State to be a tough pill to swallow. For all its money and resources, it never manages to capture the magic of their earlier films, leaving audiences with a forgettable and frustrating experience.
