• Chris Pratt and Milly Bobby Brown star in Netflix’s latest movie, ‘The Electric State’, which is an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 novel of the same name. To state from the outset, this review is done from the perspective of not having read the book. The film centers on an alternate timeline where robots and humans clashed in the past, and a company invented VR headsets called neurocasters to help fight the robots and live their life in virtual bliss. Bobby Brown stars as Michelle as she searches for her brother who she thought was dead. It’s a film that, while technically impressive and visually impressive, is a chore to get through, and isn’t likely to stick in audiences’ brains long after the credits roll.

Chris Pratt is Sgt. John D. Keats, a typical recluse character, and honestly he’s just Chris Pratt. The guy does the same performance for every one of his characters, showing no range. He is supposedly this film’s funny guy, paired with the robot Herman, voiced by Anthonie Mackie, who doesn’t display a comedic spark in the film’s entire two hour runtime. Also, he wears an obscenely terrible and noticeable wig, so much so that the audience will end up rooting for the haircut robot to chop it all off, despite Keats’ protestations. 

Stanley Tucci plays the obviously bad CEO Ethan Skate, and clearly is enjoying himself, at one part going ham on insanely out their lines. It’s an attribute that makes him perfectly hateable as an antagonist, and lends credence to the character’s rough upbringing that no one would take him seriously or give him affection, so he’s overcompensating for the need to get revenge on what he sees as an uncaring world. In this way he shares this similarity with Milly Bobby Brown’s rebellious teen Michelle, who clearly doesn’t care about the world, but by the end is genuinely trying to make it a better place, for both robots and humans alike. It’s a shame that the pair never appear together onscreen and explore this.   

Technically and visually, it’s clear where the $320 million budget went. The robots all have a whimsical and distinct design, with a lot of colour added in and unique shapes. They’re designed very closely with what their job was in the human world, some standouts include a baseball robot, a haircutting robot, and even a burger robot. It seems that all or the vast majority of the budget must have gone there, as the film features very limited action set pieces for something spotting that price tag. It’s something that contributes to the failure of keeping the spark of this film alive. 

Netflix is infamous for allegedly handing scriptwriters directives and notes asking them to dumb down their writing, for fear that audiences won’t understand what’s going on as they scroll on their phone. While it’s unclear if this is true exactly, the general sentiment that the streamer has to cater to audiences whose attention is divided has stuck, and can be felt with this film, as characters spell out their motivations and actions. For example, Giancarlo Esposito’s hunter Marshall Bradbury has a key character moment part way through the film, that would have been better if it had left unsaid and audiences could take it from the visual cues, instead he has to vocalise it. It’s also this attitude that prevents the film from doing anything adventurous or memorable, as that might require an audience member to put their phone down.

While the film demands audiences take its situation seriously, it’s hard to at times when the moment is actually unintentionally hilarious. The robot forces in this universe aren’t led by a malicious looking bot with weapons poking out every single crevice, instead they’re led by Mr Peanut, voiced by Woody Harrelson, a robot who is a peanut. He has to sign and enforce a new treaty with President Clinton. Moments like this are common, and it stops the audience from buying into the dower world the film presents. 

Overall, ‘The Electric State’ isn’t something that will zap audiences away from their phones and jolt them into having a new appreciation for film, instead it just ends up being white noise. Charming robotic designs don’t make up for unambitious sequences, the script isn’t funny, Pratt’s role isn’t distinct from any other he’s done, and the film expects audiences to take everything so seriously. The tiny little sparks that this film does sendoff won’t be enough to keep it in the audience’s brain for longer than a few minutes after it’s finished, which is a real shame, as directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are capable of so much more.