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Review of The Electric State: Netflix Spent $320M on a Movie You'll Likely Dislike.

We've been thoroughly misled by directors Anthony and Joe Russo.

In 2019, their three-hour Marvel spectacle, Avengers: Endgame, rightfully became the second highest-grossing movie of all time.

But that success was an anomaly. Since then, the brothers have been on a relentless streak of churning out some of the worst and most expensive films of the past six years.

Their latest, The Electric State, is yet another disaster from Netflix. With a jaw-dropping budget of $320 million, it ranks as the 13th most expensive film ever made—a baffling achievement considering this sci-fi adventure is an uninspired, tedious mess and the streaming giant’s latest cinematic misfire.

The warning signs come early. Within minutes, a 1990s-era President Clinton appears and gravely declares, "As of today, we are at war with the robot population." At that moment, it’s clear—we’re in for a big, dumb waste of time.

I kid you not—a narrator actually tells us that in this alternate timeline, Walt Disney invented robots. Then, humans enslaved them, the machines revolted, and—surprise!—it turns out The Terminator was Walt’s fault. Humanity ultimately triumphed thanks to Stanley Tucci, who invented android avatars people could pilot like drones.

The plot is a bland hodgepodge of recycled sci-fi tropes.

Millie Bobby Brown, perpetually stuck in one expression of distressed determination, plays Michelle, a rebel on a road trip with an illegal bot named Kid Cosmo—a bargain-bin Buzz Lightyear. Supposedly, her lost little brother, whom she thought was dead, is controlling the robot.

A parade of celebrities stumbles into this cash-burning spectacle. Jason Alexander, Brian Cox, Ke Huy Quan, Anthony Mackie, and even Rob Gronkowski (yes, really) phone in performances, either standing in front of a green screen or lending their voices to forgettable characters.

In this dystopian mash-up of Toy Story and Mad Max: Fury Road, Woody Harrelson voices a mechanical, world-weary Mr. Peanut. Meanwhile, another android dons a sombrero and plinks away at a Wild West saloon piano in an abandoned shopping mall. Compared to these clunky metal caricatures, C-3PO looks like Laurence Olivier.

Eventually, Michelle teams up with Keats, played by Chris Pratt, who once again does his smirking Han Solo routine from Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy. His mustache is the kind of absurd facial hair that proves one man’s stache is another man’s wig.

Speaking of Pratt’s Marvel-esque antics, the film tries—and fails—to land humor in the middle of its action. During a fight scene set to Good Vibrations, Keats shouts, “I’m not dying to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch!” Every joke is oversold, awkward, and unfunny.

The Russos attempt to blend comedy, sci-fi, and action—something others have done successfully—but instead, they suck the stakes dry and leave viewers rolling their eyes.

For a $320 million movie, the robots look like beach balls on stilts, while others resemble knockoff Transformers Autobots who somehow sound like they grew up in the South Bronx.

Not once do you care about these characters, robotic or human. Michelle’s quest is dull, predictable, and completely devoid of thrills. And The Electric State limps along like a rusted Tin Man in desperate need of oil. Poor Millie Bobby Brown—so great in Stranger Things, yet once again stranded in a dud outside of Hawkins.

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