The Electric State review: a bold but underwhelming blockbuster

Acclaimed directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame) presented another sci-fi blockbuster with The Electric State. A loose adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s graphic novel, this film depicts Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as teenager Michelle, who teams up with the robot Cosmo and a smuggler, played by Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), to find her long-long brother in a world in which sentient robots revolted against humanity in the 1990s.

The Russo Brothers have had a mixed run with their films following Endgame‘s massive success. Nevertheless, The Electric State had been hyped as one of Netflix’s biggest original films with its enormous budget and all-star talent. Though the film is a sight to behold, The Electric State suffers from several problems that have made it an underwhelming sci-fi epic.

The Electric State is a visual spectacle

Since The Electric State is a post-apocalyptic, robot-filled blockbuster, the filmmakers had to do the visual effects right to have any hope of hooking its audience. Fortunately, they didn’t disappoint in that department, as it seamlessly presents the film’s live-action humans with its many CGI robots. While the mechanical characters were mostly silly, The Electric State at least presented a wide variety of bots with creative designs that harken back to Pixar’s WALL-E.

The movie’s visuals are consistently top-tier, especially during the Endgame-style final battle between Sentre and the machines, presenting a bombastic sci-fi spectacle that has been expected from modern Hollywood blockbusters. On top of that, The Electric State succeeds in building a vast and ruined world filled with giant robot scraps, with images that look like they were taken straight from the pages of Stålenhag’s book.

The writing is all over the place

The Electric State‘s story is notable for its relevant commentary about humanity’s addiction to technology. As characters hook themselves up to machines, working in isolation from home and escaping in the virtual world, this story feels ever more timely following the pandemic and the frightening advancement of artificial intelligence.

Unfortunately, The Electric State spends too much time explaining things and repeating information. The opening sequence about the war with machines is a glaring example of how the film fails to follow the “show, don’t tell” rule. The pacing is also very jarring. Everything happens so fast, with the characters throwing lines at each other at breakneck speed as the film jumps from one scene to the next. The movie hardly gives viewers a moment to breathe and take in what they’ve witnessed.

It’s clear that the Russo Brothers tried to recapture the childlike magic of Steven Spielberg’s films, as The Electric State features many parallels to  E.T., Ready Player One, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It also helped that the film delivered a thrilling score from legendary composer Alan Silvestri, which invokes the best notes from the ’80s and the Avengers movies.

However, The Electric State overloads on its campiness, presenting several goofy sci-fi characters with so many corny, nonsensical jokes that it’s hard to take this dystopian sci-fi film seriously. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have shown remarkable talent with their work on the last two Avengers films, and the duo clearly could’ve tapped into so much more than what was on display in The Electric State.

The actors hardly light a spark

Considering their success working with A-list ensembles in the past, the Russo Brothers could’ve harnessed so much more from their incredible cast on The Electric State. Unfortunately, much of the acting seems unconvincing and doesn’t always match the tone of the scene. Even when Michelle is fighting for her life against terrifying odds, she still has a habit of giving moody, wisecracking complaints.

Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito also fell flat with their respective performances as Ethan Skate and Marshall Bradbury, though they didn’t have much to work with playing such lackluster villains. Millie Bobby Brown and Woody Norman still deserve praise for their performances together, as they present plenty of pathos in their scenes as sister and brother. There’s no doubt the cast could’ve done so much better had they had the right material, but there was hardly enough electricity in what they delivered.

Is The Electric State worth seeing?

Ultimately, The Electric State is perfect for those hoping to watch an easy blockbuster. The film is a bold and timely undertaking, but don’t go into this film expecting the next hit franchise. Whatever great story the filmmakers intended to tell seems buried beneath a pile of awkward jokes, one-dimensional characters, and expositional dialogue. It is worth reiterating that the Russo Brothers have succeeded in crafting some of the world’s best blockbusters and have shown extraordinary skills as filmmakers. Though The Electric State featured great promise, one can hope that the Russos will at least learn from this experience as they continue their craft.

The Electric State is now streaming on Netflix.