There's been a few standout streamed TV Sci-Fi moments over the last decade: Stranger Things, Fall Out, The Boys, The Creator and now, the Electric State.
Shown this month on Netflix, I really enjoyed this film. It reminded me of AI a lot: sad, wistful, hopeful and yearning: the girl's (11 from Stranger Things) search for the lost brother echoed David's desperate quest to find the Blue Fairy and ultimately his mother.
Incredibly expensive and somewhat panned over it's opening week, Electric State is that insightful vision of robot futurism that comes along every now and then, which shows humanity at it's worst and best through the eyes of machines.
I loved it.
No spoilers, have you seen it?
I've been put off by the truly terrible reviews, but I might give it a look, on your recommendation Woodsy.
ReplyDeleteWorth a watch Mish I reckon.
DeleteI watched it over a couple of nights, having dozed off a few times. Initially, I saw trailers and thought it looked interesting, from an FX point of view. I hadn't realised it featured Chris Pratt, who appears as basically the same character as every other film he's been in, Guardians, Jurassic Parks, Tomorrow War - but seeking to disguise the fact that its him by hiding him behind a blonde moptop and a beard. But unfortunately, this went out the window as he opts for a cheeky haircut midway through the film (along with a complete change of attitude, heart and sense of purpose) and becomes his stock character with sensible haircut and lame jokes. Pratt aside, the film seems to be a hodgepodge of ideas that have been seen already and much better in other films such as the Animatrix (robot state), Ready Player One (humanity living in virtual world), cartoon robots (Batteries Not included/ countless cartoon robot films). The other issue I had was the inclusion of the wonderful Giancarlo Esposito - as the antihero baddy - who has already found fame as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, the company boss in The Boys and most lately as the head of Serpent (no pun intended) in Brave new World. An excellent and talented actor, Esposito unfortunately falls into the same trap as Pratt, in that he looks exactly the same in every role - apart from the pencil moustache on occasion. These characterisations aside, what really put the nail in the coffin for the film was the robots. For some reason, every mech in the film seemed to have been built by Mickey Mouse in his Steamboat Willie heyday, with ridiculously exaggerated cartoon features and wholly impractical designs. Naturally, entertainment bots such as one of the main characters would look right in a funfair, but bots designed to fulfill everyday functions should surely be much more industrialised, rather than looking like a Heath Robinson acid trip. Aiming to take on a horde of mechanised soldiers which apart from the massively elongated heads (which in general would not look out of place in general sci fi), the two human protagonists employ the help of a seven foot walking peanut, a tricycle based postmistress that looks like Betty Boop and an antiquated baseball playing contraption with googly eyes and a wobbly bat. The whole film seems to be a mismatched smorgesbord of hard sci fi and children's tv show comedy, limply decorated with a badly explained and delivered plot. Millie Bobby Brown puts a brave face on it, acting with a sphere-headed robot version of her brother, who communicates in simple sound bites. Overall, its reminiscent of an episode of Lassie or Skippy, where the animal actor barks and chitters nonsense and the human actor immediately derives a wealth of knowledge and agency from the garbage dialogue to drive the vacuous plot forward and save the day. So - rant over - I wouldn't go out of my way to watch the drivel, unless you find you have an unconcious desire to waste 90 mins on something which could have been made in the early eighties, with more justification for its ridiculous premise. On the plus side, the droid Herb is quite entertaining, apart from the stupidly inane LED face. Bill
ReplyDeleteSo, you didn't like it then Bill!
DeleteIt is drivel, though reasonably entertaining. It's just a pity that so much money was spent on it, rather than, say, making 10 better written and cheaper films.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I shouldn't bother with this one after all Woodsy.
ReplyDeleteWhat d'ya think ?
Hmmm, strong views against it. I think you'd have to watch it to decide Mish. I liked it but looks like I'm in a minority. Its your call!
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