The Electric State Could’ve Been So Much More Than This
In an alternate 1990s world, The Electric State follows the aftermath of a robot versus human war, with the latter winning while the robots were banished to an Exclusionary Zone. When teenage rebel Michelle Greene (Millie Bobby Brown) is greeted by robot sidekick Cosmo from a classic TV show, she teams up with smuggler Keats (Chris Pratt) and others along the way to search for her missing brother Christopher (Woody Norman).
At face value, the concept is pretty interesting as it’s based off of Simon Stålenhag’s novel of the same name. I was optimistic for the film because the designs of the robots and the retro nostalgia hooked me in. Unfortunately, those are probably the only things saving this film. I really enjoyed the detail of the robots, the action sequences, and the incredible voice cast including stars like Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, and Jenny Slate. They all embodied the different personalities of their machines and it felt weirdly authentic. Furthermore, the 90s pop culture references — namely Big Mouth Billy Bass, Sears, and The Clappers — were a fun inclusion. Although given the advancement of technology in this post-war world, it did feel questionable at times as to why there was any use for those big clunky computers and a “You’ve Got Mail” notification, especially for Sentre tech billionaire Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci). It’s fun and sentimental, but there’s some disconnect and the references aren’t pushed far enough to make an impact.
Though I love Brown and Pratt’s work, this film just isn’t up to par with the past roles they’ve taken on. I’m afraid that might be due to the multi-million-dollar budget going to design rather than script work. The dialogue feels off, with cheesy one-liners about persevering through every roadblock the gang faces. These characters also felt underdeveloped and hollow. When we’re introduced to Michelle, we only know that she loves her genius brother dearly, is flunking school, and is now a foster child to controlling father Ted (Jason Alexander). She also displays a hatred for the Neurocaster — a virtual reality headpiece — that the public uses to let their robot companions do the work. Her unwillingness to comply with the technology isn’t explored enough to even make the ending scene of her finally putting one on to connect with her brother as moving as it intends to be. It’s hard to get emotional for her when we don’t know what fueled her resistance in the first place. In fact, there’s probably more of a touching connection between Keats and his robot companion Herman, especially in the final battle scene. Their bickering and humor had me laughing a few times, which I needed during the two hour film.
Along with awkward dialogue and underdeveloped characters, I also wish Skate and Colonel Bradbury (Giancarlo Esposito) were more villainous. Yes, they are clear sinister as they hunt down Michelle and Cosmo and we learn why they need Cosmo back so badly, but whenever they show up, it doesn’t feel eerie enough. Skate has a clear agenda to take over the world with his technology, even though he hides behind a facade of helping humanity. Bradbury is a war hero who helped Skate defeat the robots and is simply complying with his orders to defend the peace treaty in place. Both express anger and willingness, but aren’t threatening nor intimidating. Although, I will give credit to Tucci for being as witty as ever in the film, which I found enjoyable.
There’s a lot of the story that wasn’t explored thoroughly, including themes about the nature of technology and humankind’s involvement. While the dialogue in the film helps start the conversation, it doesn’t go much further. We see the start of it with the sequence of robots advocating for themselves, Michelle’s speech about robots and humans working together and rebuilding their world based on actual connection rather than the Neurocasters, and Bradbury’s resentment towards Skate as he no longer views him as human. All of these moments could’ve just hit differently if the groundwork of the script and plot focused on it more.
Ultimately, The Electric State is not as electrifying as it seems. It has good moments with design, action scenes, a sprinkle of humor, and nostalgia points. But the story could’ve been more well-rounded, with further character development, a grittier landscape, and stronger themes about technology and humans.
The Electric State is streaming on Netflix.
