Thoughts: The Electric State

Based on a 2018 dystopian science fiction illustrated novel by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State is the latest film from directing duo The Russo Brothers, who famously directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Set in an alternate technologically ravaged 1990s, the film follows Mille Bobby Brown as a teenage girl with her space themed robot on a journey with Chris Pratt and his construction robot to the West Coast of the United States in search of her long-lost brother. It’s an interesting concept that frames the post robotic war uprising in a trek across the US with glimpses that leave questions of which side truly won the war. There are elements of a cohesive narrative that feel like they are weighed down by big name actors and expensive CGI robot battles.

There is a better movie in here that the film attempts to explore but refuses to commit towards making any kind of statement. For example, the war against robots was won by humans using drone robots, but it doesn’t say what happened to those drone robots after the war. Humans get lost in a deluge of VR headsets and act as if it’s a drug on society, but we don’t fully see the inside of those projections or how it links to the brain. There is a robot village where a robot can be free to be whoever they want, but we don’t see them acting out on new pursuits. The Electric State likes to make bold claims on how the world is better now, but the actuality of everything is that it would rather not expand on it and leave a lot of questions unanswered.

For being one of the most expensive movies ever made at $350M, The Electric State is nowhere near the spectacle it was hyped up to be. The acting is stagnant and forced at times with Chris Pratt playing himself in a role that could have gone to just about anybody else, which leaves his character as insignificant to the plot alongside Giancarlo Esposito in yet another wasted role after his recent outing in Captain America: New World Order. With this bad of a film, it’s no wonder why the Russos decided to go back to the safety of Marvel to helm it’s next Avengers films because since they left, Cherry for Apple TV+, The Gray Man for Netflix, and now The Electric State have not been the sure fire hits they have been hoping for.