‘The Electric State’ review: get the Russo brothers back to The Avengers ASAP

Anthony and Joe Russo have unquestionably made four of the best ever Marvel movies, including box-office smashes Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. But outside of the MCU, The Russos have struggled to replicate their success. Tom Holland‘s emotionally heavy Cherry and Ryan Gosling action flick The Gray Man, as well as Prime Video’s Citadel, just haven’t grabbed audiences. Sadly, the same is true for their latest big-budget Netflix spectacle The Electric State, an adaptation of the illustrated novel by Swedish author Simon Stålenhag.

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The Electric State takes place in an alternate version of the 1990s following a war between robots and humans (but don’t worry – Marky Mark still exists). Campaigns for “robot rights” are ongoing while others stoke fear against the automatons. Stanley Tucci plays Ethan Skate, a tech billionaire who hides his evil plan behind a benign smile. Joining him is Giancarlo Esposito whose Colonel Marshall Bradbury is a merciless robot-slayer who believes: “You can’t be heartless to a thing with no heart.”

In the middle of this chaotic landscape Michelle (Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown) is desperately seeking her missing brother Christopher (C’mon C’mon’s Woody Norman). She’s accompanied by a cute, yellow-faced robot named Cosmo (voiced by Alan Tudyk), and they soon run into Chris Pratt’s mullet wearing Keats, who scrapes a living fencing stolen goods alongside his own robot companion Herman (Anthony Mackie). More ’bots join them along the way – including Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson), based on the US snack company Planters’ mascot character, and the baseball-spitting Pop Fly (Brian Cox).

Visually, the film has its moments, with weird and wonderful robots hovering around the landscape (including one that looks like a 7-Up can). But it’s not enough to suck you into the world. As for the soundtrack, for some odd reason the Russos choose to platform instrumentals of well-known songs, including Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ and Oasis anthem ‘Wonderwall’. Why not use the originals? Perhaps they’d already splurged the rumoured $320million budget on creating an army of CGI robots.

The so-often-delicious Tucci flops in The Electric State, his Musk-like villain as bland as the black polo-necks he wears. Esposito, AKA Breaking Bad’s Gus Fring, is as wasted as he was in the recent Captain America: Brave New World while Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan doesn’t have much to do as a doctor involved in Skate’s scheme either. At least the voice talent bring the robots alive – especially Jenny Slate as a US Post Office doll who seems very determined to get the job done.

No doubt kids will love this curious, retro-future tale with orange VW vans and not-so-subtle nods to Apocalypse Now as Wagner’s bombastic ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ plays out over one of the film’s many battles. But you won’t be able to shake the feeling that there’s a lack of heart and soul here. Thank God the Russo brothers are heading back in the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.