I’ve very much enjoyed Simon Stålenhag’s work, from Tales from the Loop to The Labyrinth. His eerie, slightly dystopian paintings leave you feeling nostalgic for a weird, tech-infused past that never was. If you’re also a fan, the first thing you’re going to have to do while watching The Electric State – based on his third book – is get rid of the idea that this is an adaptation of his work. If you don’t admit that to yourself in the first few minutes, then you’ll end up sorely disappointed. More sorely disappointed, I mean.
The film takes place in an alternate 90s America in the aftermath of a robot/human war. The robots lost and have been confined to an enormous area in the American southwest. (I almost used the term “reservation,” but that’s perhaps too on the nose considering that it looks like some of it is set in Navajo land around Monument Valley.) The human world has been left a mess, and many choose to escape the sad reality of their lives with the help of a new technology that allows them to enter a virtual world (or pilot a mechanical body).
The Russo Brothers have created a film that feels almost like they looked at the synopsis on the back and the pictures inside of Stålenhag’s book and decided to make a movie based only on those. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using a book solely for inspiration and running with it, but if you’re looking for that melancholy feeling of retro-future nostalgia, you ain’t gonna get it.
Instead, what you’ll get is a somewhat by-the-numbers adventure story of a young woman (Millie Bobby Brown) trying to find her lost brother. Yes, her brother’s mind is apparently stuck inside a limited robot body and yes, she’s going to have to break into a robot-only detention area to find her answers, but nothing in this is really going to feel new, or even that exciting. She’ll meet a charming rogue with a heart (Chris Pratt at his most charming Pratt-ness) with his snarky robot buddy (Anthony Mackie). She’ll convince the skeptical robots of the need to fight back just because of her sheer human-ness. There’ll be smart, plucky robots to root for (Ke Huy Quan and Jenny Slate) and a charming, evil businessman to root against (Stanley Tucci). A badass bad guy (Giancarlo Esposito) will learn that robots are people too, even Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson). The good guys will win the day, but at a cost.
The thing is, there is plenty to like in the film. The characters are fun, and some of the acting is quite good (though the robots are often much better than their flesh-and-blood counterparts). There are a number of little character set pieces that are endearing. The movie cost an astonishing $320 million to make, and it looks like every penny ended up on the screen. I think if I’d seen this in the theater I might even feel like I got my money’s worth. Spectacle alone is still worth seeing on the big screen, sometimes. And there are moments of real fun – I know I laughed out loud a couple of times. Not pity laughs for a tired joke, either – though there were a few of those, too.
Part of my reaction to the film has to be down to my disappointment with the Russo Brothers and their output since leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While there, they made some of the best films of the series (I still think Captain America: The Winter Soldier deserves its place in the ScreenAge Canon) and certainly the most profitable ones. Their action epic The Gray Man (another Netflix release) and now The Electric State leave me wondering if they’ve somehow lost their mojo, or if they simply wanted to leave behind everything about their time with Marvel, as if it was something shameful. These are films that look like they should be fantastic and instead end up feeling heartless. Un-fun.
I think another part of my reaction is down to an odd sense of self-seriousness that permeates the film. Yes, there are elements that are obviously metaphors for othering and dehumanization (literally), our dependence on technological soporifics and even the way consumer culture throws so much away. None of that justifies taking a line like “you broke the treaty, Mr. Peanut,” and treating it seriously. There’s humor in the film, yes, but nothing self-deprecating. Nothing that tells you that yes, the filmmakers know that some things they’re showing are inherently ridiculous. And most of the characters – particularly the robots – aren’t fleshed out enough (apologies to our robot readers) to really care when bad things happen to them. Despite what the 90s inspired soundtrack wants us to feel. (And man am I tired of a film trying to leverage my emotions with soundtrack nostalgia.)
The Bottom Line
Technically, The Electric State has everything you need to make a satisfying, Speilberg-esque, sci-fi spectacle, and you may find yourself enjoying elements or even entire scenes. For me, however, the film fails to coalesce into an enjoyable whole. It may be trite to suggest that a movie about robots feels like it has no heart, but there’s no other way of putting it. It’s big, pretty, loud, and sadly empty.
