Based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State follows Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown), an orphan, whose life hasn’t been the same since the war. She teams up with a robot and a smuggler named Keats (Chris Pratt) to find her long lost brother who she presumed was dead.
Directed by the Russo brothers and boasted to be the most expensive Netflix project ever made, one would expect this film to be slam dunk. Unfortunately that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. While there were some glimmers of hope at the beginning, my interest in the film grew thinner and thinner as the time went on and I just didn’t really see the point anymore.
Where the film excels is in its special effects and cinematography. The various robots that the audience meets throughout come with their own individual personalities thanks to the voice talents of Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan and Jenny Slate. The world building was pretty impressive as well with the vast lands of a post apocalyptic United States. As the film took place in the nineties, I also loved the throwback songs that were featured throughout as it really helped set the tone.
Brown is great in everything she does. I’ve grown to admire her as an actor over the years and she does what she can with the role. I can imagine that talking one on one to a robot for most of the film couldn’t have been easy. I can’t help but think that Pratt is being typecasted in yet another Peter Quill sort of role. I’m also not a fan of his in general so I found watching his scenes to be a bit annoying. Stanley Tucci is supposed to be a villain, but I didn’t find him menacing whatsoever.
Pacing was also an issue for me. It felt kind of all over the place and I’m wondering if maybe it had been made into a show instead of a film would it have fared better? The same can be said about the characters. Aside from Michelle, we really didn’t have much backstory on Keats or Tucci’s Ethan Skate which left them rather one-dimensional. I also couldn’t figure out who the target audience for the film was supposed to be.
While I may not have had high expectations for The Electric State, I was still hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. I guess this is something that I should just expect from Netflix going forward though I really wish they would give us more quality films.
Rating: ♥️♥️
Credits Rolling 