This family-friendly dystopian sci-fi brings a touch of the classic Amblin tone to the Russo Brothers’ brand of epic, character-based, ensemble action. With a star-studded cast and an inventively visual flair, this is high-quality popcorn entertainment.

Premise: Set in an alternative version of the 1990s, Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) is a high school student in an America where, following a war with humans, all robots have been exiled to an exclusion zone in the desert. But when Michelle discovers a robot with an apparent connection to her brother, she sets off on a quest to learn more, and crosses paths with Keats (Chris Pratt), a war-veteran-turned-smuggler who may know a way into the exclusion zone.

Review:

The weight of expectation on any movie directed by Joe and Anthony Russo is considerable, which is perhaps not surprising given that they came from relatively humble beginnings to direct two of the most successful blockbusters of all time, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame (and that’s not to mention directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War before that). Since stepping away from the Marvel movies (although they’ll shortly be returning with Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027) they’ve concentrated on telling the stories that they wanted to tell, either as producers (like with the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once) or as directors (like with the hugely enjoyable The Gray Man).

The Electric State was a graphic novel that the Russo Brothers have now adapted with their longtime writing partners, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. I’ve not read the graphic novel, but I understand that the movie is a relatively loose adaptation, taking much from the tone and imagery of the graphic novel but expanding the story and characters.

“…the robots are visually striking & idiosyncratically memorable…”

The end result is a movie that feels quite different, tonally and stylistically, from most of the other blockbusters out there. The Electric State is set in an alternative version of the 1990s, in the immediate aftermath of a war between humans and robots, which gives the movie a very distinct aesthetic. But the war itself also feels very different from other big screen depictions of a human/robot war, for two key reasons. Firstly, this isn’t a case of a robot uprising where they want to wipe out humanity like in The Terminator or The Matrix, because in The Electric State, the robots were essentially an oppressed minority who were striving for recognition and basic civil rights (a theme which, sadly, is all too topical at the moment).

Secondly, the robots in The Electric State really don’t look like any robots I’ve seen on the big screen before – think less sleek battle robots from films like The Creator and more 1950s animated advertising mascots come to life. The leader of the robot uprising was actually a robot version of “Mr Peanut” (voiced by Woody Harrelson), the real-life snack-food mascot created in 1916. All of the robots in this movie are visually striking and idiosyncratically memorable, whether it’s a postal service robot voiced by Jenny Slate, a baseball pitching robot voiced by Brian Cox, or a piano-playing taco-themed robot from a Mexican restaurant. I guarantee you won’t have seen such a bizarre assortment of robot designs in any movie before this.

“…the world-building is great, with a fully-realised alternative history & culture…”

The eclectic (and largely impractical) designs of the assorted robots are contrasted against the efficient and functional design of the military drones, invented by Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci), which allowed the humans to turn the tide in the war against the robots. Since the end of the war, drones are now used in everyday life, allowing civilians to not only experience lifelike VR experiences through their “neurocaster” headsets, but to also control a drone body for all of the jobs that they’d rather not do in person.

As you may have gathered, the world-building in The Electric State is great, as the film manages to introduce viewers to a fully-realised alternative history and culture, without it ever feeling like a clumsy exposition dump. But as great as the world-building is, it never comes at the cost of the characters, which have always been at the forefront of the Russo Brothers’ movies.

“…the tone remains family-friendly throughout…”

Millie Bobby Brown is great in the lead role as Michelle, and she carries the movie on her shoulders given that Michelle’s connection with her brother is the emotional heart of the movie. Chris Pratt, meanwhile, gets the showier role as Keats, a fun variation on the smuggler-with-a-heart-of-gold archetype, played by Pratt like a scuzzier, Earth-bound Han Solo. Both Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt get their fair share of action-packed, comedic and emotional moments, while the tone of the film remains family-friendly throughout (so that this may only be unsuitable for very young children).

And just as Han had Chewy, Keats has his own sidekick, in the form of the smart-mouthed construction robot Herman, voiced by Anthony Mackie. The decision to give Herman a light-up digital ‘face’ means that he’s one of the more expressive robots, which combined with Mackie’s vocal performance, makes Herman one of the most entertaining elements of the movie.

“…the final act is where the film really soars…”

The cast is an embarrassment of riches, with Giancarlo Esposito appearing as a former soldier turned robot bounty hunter, Ke Huy Quan continuing his renaissance with an appearance here that is responsible for one of the biggest laughs in the movie, and Alan Tudyk voicing Cosmo, the robot who acts as the catalyst for the whole adventure. Even Colman Domingo turns up in a small cameo, with a number of others also making vocal cameos.

If I was going to nitpick, I could say that if you’ve seen as many dystopian sci-fi epics as I have, you’ll probably see a number of the main plot points coming – but even then, there were still a handful of surprises along the way. But this is the kind of film that’s more concerned with the execution of its ideas than it is about throwing in twists and surprises, and the truth is, this delivers visuals and ideas unlike anything I’ve seen before, and unlike some films where the third act is arguably its weakest, the finale is where The Electric State really soars.