The Russo Brothers Joe and Anthony are back with another bloated budget streaming fodder. This entry once again solidifies the theory that their work in Marvel Studios‘ MCU was a fluke. It’s hard to pin down just what goes so terribly wrong for the filmmakers when they are no longer in the Marvel machine, but “The Electric State” manages to capture every single one of their shortcomings. A mind boggling $320 million affair with nothing to show for it, “The Electric State” very well may be one of the worst films of year so far.
Sure, it has some okay visual effects and decent production design, but without anything inspiring beneath the robot recreations, it delivers on little else. This is the very definition of the pejorative “content;” a soulless, uninteresting affair made for no audience in particular in an attempt to be for everyone. If Netflix was trying to dispel the rumor of “Second Screen-Able Guide” writing, “The Electric State” is a poor defense. It has nothing to say for itself, pulling from a dozen other, better films without a single original idea despite being based on a truly original and beautiful source material. It’s as if they wanted to make “Ready Player One” and then proceeded to make the worst version of it possible. It can’t even be bothered to explain its own world or synopsis, abandoning most if not all of the narrative ground work laid out in the first few minutes that indicates in alternate 90s universe and then doesn’t nothing but needle drops with its own premise.
Seriously, if you haven’t seen Simon Stålenhag‘s incredible illustrations in his 2018 book series, you’re missing out. To go from that to this? An insult.
There isn’t a single interesting character or story beat present in all of “The Electric State,” every character written in the broadest of strokes and the depth of a wading pool. And there’s way too many of them played by names that have no business being here to care about anyone. I get Chris Pratt in his overexposed IP paycheck era, but there is simply no reason for Stanley Tucci or Coleman Domingo to lend any of their talents to something like this. “The Electric State” becomes more and more exhausting with every second of dialogue spoken with mind-numbing exposition from performers who clearly want to be anywhere else. It plods along humorlessly and emotionless, checking the boxes of second hand watchability without any regard to do anything compelling. And it’s all the more frustrating because the premise of “The Electric State” that was sold to us isn’t even close to what we get, leaving you with a sense of anticipation for a story that never takes shape.
“The Electric State” feels like a children’s film, but is so bland and uninspiring, those kids will be bored as hell 30 minutes in.
With an egregious two-hour runtime, it maybe has 10 minutes of action. And because there’s no one to root for and no one to care about, the final act fills you with nothing but exasperation and a longing for it all to just end. It just makes you want to watch “Ready Player One” instead of sticking with “The Electric State” to the end. It belongs buried in a Netflix queue, and deserves the half watching it was clearly created to be viewed as.
I think it’s time to admit that we don’t need the Russos to make any more movies for a while. It’s really okay to just stop giving them blank checks for a bit. And whatever hostage situation Millie Bobby Brown is in with the streaming giant, it’s time to release her. Let that girl go and live her life free from the shackles of a long line of films like “The Electric State.” She deserves better. Hell, we all deserve better.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Stars
