Imagine if, during the Clinton Administration (1993-2001), the biggest event was not Monica Lewinsky, but rather the revolt of robots, many of which represented cartoon characters or corporate mascots. That is the story given to us by the Russo Brothers (“Avengers: Endgame”).
When the robots revolt against the constraints placed on them by humankind, exemplified by billionaire tech mogul Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci), things go poorly for mankind.
Meanwhile, we meet Christopher (Woody Norman) and Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown – “Stranger Things”), two siblings who are close. Christopher is a math savant and Michelle is his protective older sister. One day, on a family outaing, a deer runs in front of their car, killing the kids’s parents and after a period in the hospital, Christopher. Michelle becomes a ward of the state and, once she recovers, is placed in various foster homes. She becomes a belligerent, antisocial individual.
Eventually, Skate come up with a device that allows humans to operate drone warriors, defeating the robots and exiling them to an enclosure in the southwest called “The Electric State.” The “neurocaster” Skate invented becomes an entertainment tool, allowing the two halves of the human brain to dissociate and participate in different electronic activities. Needless to say, mass addiction follows.
Then, one night, a small robot, designed to look like cartoon character Cosmo, appears in Michelle’s foster home. She realizes that Christopher’s mind is within the robot and together they escape her abusive foster parent, Ted (Jason Alexander – “Seinfeld”). Somewhere, Christopher is still alive.
They run into a shady character, Keats (ChrisPlatt – “The Garfield Movie”), who steals “collectables” from The Electric State and sells them on the outside. Together, they enter The Electric State in search of Christopher.
Writing duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (“Avengers: Endgame”) have given us a dizzying, endlessly creative, comic twist on the robot rebellion trope. Here the robots, who look more like an assembly of kids toys, are not led by some nefarious super computer, but by … Mr. Peanut, the pacifist mascot of the Planters Nut company, who drives around The Electric State in his peanutmobile. He is sweetly underplayed by Woody Harrelson (“Zombieland”).
Don’t expect depth in this flick – there is none. What you see on the surface (skin, plastic or metal) is what you get. Still, it is interesting and amusing. The actors perform up to the level the writers and the Russos gave them, and there are plenty of gags and humorous quips. Tucci departs his roles as everyman, cardinal, and roving chef to give us a villain without a singe redeeming quality – an amalgam of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Oh, and he has a henchman who uses the neurocaster to track down Michelle and Keats from the comfort of his home: the excellent Giancarlo Esposito, (“The Residence”) whose stately gravitas is wasted in this trivial amusement.
This flick goes well with popcorn and Junior Mints, but they would need to sell a lot of those to recover the $275 million price tag.
Runtime: Two hours, eight minutes
Availability: Streaming exclusively on Netflix
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