If an algorithm designed a classic, big-screen spectacle for the small-screen age, "The Electric State" probably wouldn't be too far off the mark.

This is an Amblin-inspired, big-budget adventure with dystopian, science-fiction wonder, nostalgic callbacks, well-liked stars (Chris Pratt! Millie Bobby Brown! Stanley Tucci! Giancarlo Esposito! Ke Huy Quan!) and the directors ( Joe and Anthony Russo ) behind some of the highest-earning movies of all time.

In theory, it should work. A kid on a dangerous, cross-country journey with a robot that may or may not be her brother whom she thought was dead? A reluctant, jaded adult companion who's quick with a one-liner? "The Electric State" should be some future Spielberg's new favorite movie, the one that they'll reference in their Oscars speech as the thing that made them want to make movies. And yet it's lacking a spark and a soul that might distinguish it as memorable or special. Worse, considering everything it has going for it (including a reported budget that may have exceeded $300 million), "The Electric State" is kind of dull.

"The Electric State" was loosely based on an illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag that was released in 2018 and quickly scooped up for movie adaptation purposes with Marvel veterans Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely writing the script. Set in the early 1990s, this is a world in which service robots have risen up and demanded rights and freedom. The humans respond by going to war.

This four-year war is skimmed over in a montage at the start of the film and, by 1994, Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson) is signing a peace treaty with Bill Clinton and the remaining robots are exiled to rot in the desert. The human victory was attributed to the drone creations of a Steve... Read More