Director siblings Joe and Anthony Russo hit the showbiz lottery when they grad- uated from making mem- orable episodes of television shows like “Arrested Development” and “Community” to becoming Kevin Feige’s go-to guys for major entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Their films “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” grossed mind-blowing amounts of money and represented the pinnacle of the superhero movie boom.
In hindsight, the Russos seemed to believe their talent for executing other people’s visions translated into an ability to make good movies on their own. Far from it. Since walking away from Marvel in 2019, they’ve churned out one ridiculously expensive, creatively bankrupt flick after another, none of them for theaters.
There was 2021’s dismal Apple TV+ addiction drama “Cherry,” followed by 2022’s star-studded, yet forgettable thriller “The Gray Man” for Netflix. Despite boasting big names like Ryan Gosling and fellow Marvel veterans Tom Holland and Chris Evans, they were bland genre exercises that left no cultural footprint whatsoever. Sure, they serve as solid distractions while folding laundry, but that’s about the extent of their usefulness.
Those misfires were just warm-ups for the Russos’ biggest fiasco yet: “The Electric State,” a $320 million postapocalyptic genre mashup that hit Netflix last weekend. It’s a visual and narrative blend of all things Spielberg — particularly “Ready Player One” and his ’80s Amblin output — without all that annoying subtext or cohesive storytelling.
Very loosely based on the 2018 graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, “The Electric State” takes place in an alternate version of 1997, following a civil war between humans and robots. When an orphaned teenage girl named Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) encounters one of these strange creations, she becomes convinced it’s a link to her long-dead younger brother.
To unravel the mystery, she teams up with grouchy smuggler Keats (Chris Pratt) and his wisecracking sidekick Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie). But they must stay off the radar of dangerous enemies like a robot-killing bounty hunter (Giancarlo Esposito) and a shady CEO (Stanley Tucci).
I honestly don’t know where all Netflix’s money went on this one, other than the cast’s massive salaries and licensing for a bunch of on-the-nose music choices. (If you like “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “I Will Survive” and “Wonderwall,” I’ve got some good news…) The visual effects are fine, albeit derivative. But the abundant use of AI in the exposition-heavy opening, so the Russos can insert real-life figures like Kurt Loder and Bill Clinton (don’t ask), is really distracting at best, creative and morally bankrupt at worst.
While Brown (already a Netflix darling for “Stranger Things” and the “Enola Holmes” movies) mostly acquits herself of the awfulness surrounding her, everyone else is sleepwalking through roles they’ve already played a million times. I dare you to find any differences between Pratt’s smuggler character, Star Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the dino wrangler he played in those godawful “Jurassic Park” sequels. (To be fair, they’re all barely disguised versions of Han Solo anyway.)
The same goes for Esposito and Tucci, who can barely muster the energy to deliver their lines. At least the former gets to spend most of his time in a single office, with his character’s face beamed onto a drone screen. And poor Ke Huy Quan — the Oscar winner’s brief role gives him nothing to do despite his charisma. It’s tough to blame them, though. Who among us wouldn’t say yes to a big paycheck for such quick, easy work? I’d be shocked if any of those guys were on set for more than a few days.
Still, it’s baffling that Netflix would invest so much time and money (and squander so much talent) for such a painfully bland result. At no time did I care about anyone or anything in the story and the stakes are shrug-worthy. Furthermore, any time there’s an opportunity for genuine pathos, screenwriters (and frequent Russo collaborators) Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely pull back and go for a tension-breaking joke instead.
But what do I know? “The Electric State” doesn’t feel like a movie designed for critical acclaim. It’s currently sitting at 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score is much higher at 73% (albeit still pretty rough for that site), so maybe it’ll find a passionate fanbase over time. I’m fine with watching it just once.
After this string of disasters, it’s no wonder the Russos went running back to Marvel. Next up for them are “Avengers: Doomsday” (2026) and “Avengers: Secret Wars” (2027), both destined to be mega-blockbusters. While I’m far from excited to watch them, perhaps this flawed alliance is just what the Russos and Marvel both need to find their strides again.
“The Electric State” is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence/action, language and some thematic material. Now available on Netflix.
Grade: D-
Email: joshsewell81@gmail.com
Website: flixchat.blogspot.com
BlueSky: @joshsewell.bsky.social
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.