The Electric State, 2025.
Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo.
Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Woody Norman, Katelin Chesna, Adam Croasdell, Jason Alexander, Cuyle Carvin, Joe Avena, Sebastian Soler, Helen Hunt, Alan Tudyk, Terence Lee, Holly Hunter, Hank Azaria, Rob Gronkowski, Kurt Loder, Roshni Edwards, Tuc Watkins, Billy Gardell, Necar Zadegan, Colman Domingo, Brooklynn, Antoinette LaVecchia, Michael Trucco, Joe Russo, Rahul Kohli, Susan Leslie, Jordan Black, Chris Silvestri, Gabrielle Maiden, Marin Hinkle, Phoenix Notary, Camrus Johnson, Merle Dandridge, Emma Maltby, and Patti Harrison.
SYNOPSIS:
An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.
Some movies are tonal disasters. It happens. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo’s $320-million The Electric State is a different beast; it’s a tonal catastrophe across every single second that’s not just attempting to be a four-quadrant experience but more like a 400-quadrant experience.
There are siblings with a sad backstory seemingly meant to be the “heart” of the story (quotations necessary because, in actuality, there is no heart here), mascot robots serving up an onslaught of quippy comedy with child friendly delivery and voiceover performances yet foul language, a burnout disgraced soldier dressed like a rejected member of a ’90s rock band walking the line between selfish and heroic while played by a Marvel alumni (presumably to bring in some of that audience), a barrage of songs and piano covers from that era, brief traces of social commentary implying overworked robots as comparable to other less fortunate marginalized groups, a supposedly world-ruining war between those robots and humans that only has time in the prologue to run through explaining with such little efficiency and clarity that several details about this alternate reality are muddled, the Planters Peanut as a revolutionary motivating figure for the robots (something I thought was a joke until it becomes clear that it’s an actual dramatic component of the narrative) all crammed in here seemingly to ensure that there is something for everyone. That’s also too many things, as this is a five-alarm fire to anyone with eyes and ears.
During the climax, the Russo Brothers strive for an emotional beat between Millie Bobby Brown’s standup teenager turned punk rebel Michelle and her younger Einstein-type genius brother Chris (Woody Norman). There is nothing to feel in this scene intended to elicit tears since the Russo Brothers haven’t already established this material as a sci-fi action comedy infested by Chris Pratt’s smuggled goods seller Keats (the war is over although the world hasn’t returned to normalcy, meaning he can drive a hard bargain on various products, especially around Christmas time) and his chatterbox sidekick robot Herm (Anthony Mackie, his voice so altered into something wacky and designed to entertain kids that it also wouldn’t be a stretch to wonder if he fully supported this decision in hopes that some viewers wouldn’t recognize him giving this embarrassing performance), they also can’t help themselves from constantly cutting away to a supposedly heartfelt moment to watch those two and an army of mascots take on swarms of mechs controlled by humans through a groundbreaking neurolinking device that won them the first war.
This obscenely overstuffed approach to filmmaking works for the Russo Brothers in Marvel projects because they are not isolated stories or novel adaptations (The Electric State is technically based on the book by Simon Stålenhag, but what’s here is so baffling that the only logical explanation is that the Russo Brothers only read the first page, burned the book, and then employed screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to write this nonsense), but films that had been carefully built up to while characterizing the many heroes and villains across separate series’ and movies. When Mr. Peanut (voiced by Woody Harrelson) appears on screen, it comes across as a nostalgia-pull for amusement, not someone expected to be taken seriously as an actual character for the remaining 90 minutes or whenever he is reintroduced through his sanctuary for mascot robots, which is just an abandoned ’90s mall.
95% of the characters the Russo Brothers deal with elsewhere already have defined motives and personalities. They are filmmakers in the loosest of terms, hired guns to work with special effects and a big budget to get done whatever narrative Kevin Feige mapped out. Post-Endgame (and I say this as someone who did find something still like about their military PTSD-drug addiction drama, Cherry), they have been exposed as not merely frauds but incompetent blockbuster hacks who couldn’t tell a coherent story with a sensible tone if their lives depended on it.
Not only is Netflix spending an offensively insulting amount of money to fund aggressively obnoxious and unfathomably stupid garbage like The Electric State, but they are also continuously raising subscription prices under the impression that people will pay. Not to get off-topic here, but we are one or two weeks away from a Netflix WWE Monday Night Raw episode where announcer Michael Cole is tasked with spitting out some drivel about how this movie is the most-watched product on streaming right now (possibly alongside a wrestling-based advertisement). It will be disgustingly fitting to watch these companies fellatiate one another as if they can do no wrong, even though both astronomically raise prices (Netflix for subscriptions, WWE for ticket prices) while bragging about increased revenue. Time will tell if that lasts for either of them.
What is for sure is that The Electric State will have no lasting cultural impact, destined to be merely another piece of “content” for the Netflix algorithm. It’s a film that, presumably, descended from a fascinating alternate history premise equating robots to overworked slave laborers bringing forth a war that resulted in a new way of life addicted to virtual reality in place of the broken world. Apparently, all Anthony Russo and Joe Russo saw was an opportunity to stuff it full of mascots cracking jokes as if they were back at Marvel trying to work every superhero into an Avengers movie. And for all that money spent, it’s filled with hideous, uncanny valley imagery, such as real-life faces plastered over mechs that rarely seem like their eyes are fixated on what they should be. As for the action, it’s a blurry spectacle. The only kind thing that can be said is that some of those mascots are occasionally fun to be around, whether for nostalgia or who is voicing them.
There is hardly anything resembling character beats or world-building here (yes, people choose to live through screens, but it’s still difficult to ascertain what the actual world is like in the aftermath of this war, and the Russos aren’t in a hurry to elaborate). Still, the narrative concerns the previously mentioned Michelle on a search for the physical body of her younger brother Chris, thought to be dead from a tragic car accident. His consciousness seems to be living on through the mascot robot of his favorite cartoon character, Cosmo (voiced by Alan Tudyk), who has found her living with a neglectful adoptive father played by Jason Alexander (as a rabid Seinfeld fan, not even his presence brought a smile to my face).
Chris/Cosmo convinces Michelle that they must track down the Sentre corporation for answers, as its shady CEO, played by Stanley Tucci, might be involved. They are also looking for the doctor who treated him upon the initial fatal car accident, played by Ke Huy Quan, who also might know something. To do so, they join forces with Keats and Herm forming an unlikely alliance.
No one feels like a real person here, so the prospect of instantaneously seeing any of these recognizable names on screen diminishes. Millie Bobby Brown is a dull, almost lifeless lead trapped surrounded by Chris Pratt playing a greasy, out-of-shape take on Star-Lord. Throughout everything they share, Anthony Mackie is typically right there grating as a robot seemingly inspired by Borderlands‘ Claptrap, but if under a dare to be six times as annoying and unfunny. With that said, the journey is a whole lot of movie and plot with no meaning and only tonal chaos. The Electric State is more than horrible; it represents everything wrong and misguided about Hollywood.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
