The Electric State

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on March 20, 2025.

(M) ★★★

Director: Anthony & Joe Russo.

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci, Ke Huy Quan, Woody Norman, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander, Martin Klebba, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Alan Tudyk, Brian Cox.

Chris Pratt didn't know it, but he was about to get yeeted.

What do you get for US$320m these days? In filmic terms, the answer is The Electric State. Or, in more general terms, a shit-ton of CG and Chris Pratt being Chris Pratt.

It's always baffling that an imperfect script attracts this amount of money. But what's even more baffling is when a streaming service pays this amount of money for a movie. Leaving out ad revenue and lower level sign-ups, Netflix needs 12.8 million new or ongoing premium subscriptions to pay for The Electric State alone. Is anyone signing up to Netflix just for The Electric State? This is exactly the kind of film that a never-ending stream of new email addresses and seven-day trials are for.

Leaving aside the question of whether it's worth $320m (it's not), The Electric State is an "almost" film. It's almost funny, it's almost emotional, it's almost clever, it's almost exciting. In places, it's almost great. But instead, it's a big-budget mess that's also happens to be a sporadically enjoyable slice of alt-history stuffed full of cool robots and baffling plotholes. 

Based very loosely on a highly praised picture book, the film takes place in a version of 1994 where humanity has fought and won a global war against robots, thanks to billionaire tech genius Ethan Skate (Tucci). The remaining sentient machines have been sent to a walled-in exclusion zone in Texas, and the victorious humans now enjoy predominantly living in a virtual reality network, also provided by Skate. 

But when troubled teen Michelle (Brown) finds a rogue robot wandering around in her yard, it sparks a journey that will send her in search of the brother she thought was dead, and up-end the whole of society as she knows it.

The Electric State, as is common with so many blockbusters, is either two rewrites short of perfection, or has had two rewrites too many. It's hard to tell which, but the result is akin to a robot that performs its set task, but you know it could have done it so much more efficiently and effectively.

The themes are there - the most obvious being that everyone wastes their lives plugged in and gawping at a screen - and the story is there, but the plot (ie. how it all happens) falls short frequently. Some dialogue stinks, plenty of it is fine, and some of it even sings. Some moments fall incredibly flat, but other sequences are incredible, notably an entire deserted mall inhabited by robots and the final battle. The emotional bits are also hit and miss - a much-touted reunion between humans is so-so, but the death of a quirky robot hits in the feels. There are some laughs but there could have been so many more.

The performances are fine, but nothing amazing. Brown and Pratt are okay, the latter just does what he does in every movie. Quan is largely wasted, and Tucci and Esposito are reliable without being exceptional. Alexander is the most memorable but has only a handful of scenes.

The robots are the bigger standout. Mackie, Harrelson, Slate and Azaria bring life to some wonderfully designed and animated droids, and the cyborg aesthetic is part of The Electric State's biggest strength - its production design. The setting looks incredible and believable, the robots are stunning, and it's this eye-for-detail that creates an immersive world that elevates everything else. It's this world that makes you get to the end of The Electric State, fully realise it's flaws, yet somehow think, "yeah I could probably watch that again one day".

Ultimately The Electric State is okay. There are plotholes big enough to manoeuvre a convoy of cross-country truck-driving robots through and parts of it land with a groan and a thud, but it mostly works, it's largely entertaining, and it looks a million dollars. But not necessarily US$320m.

Captain America: Brave New World

(M) ★★★

Director: Julius Onah.

Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson.

It was the time of year when the cherry blossoms were in bloom and asses needed whoopin'.

Some films are finely tuned instruments. Some are scalpels, capable of delicate incisions and leaving a very precise mark. Others are Swiss army knives, able to do many things, all with equal levels of skill. And others are nailguns, high-powered devices taking old actions to new heights.

Captain America: Brave New World AKA Cap IV is a blunt instrument. It's basically a hammer, good for little more than hitting things until all the things are hit. It is not about finesse, or sculpting something beautiful. It just hits, in unsubtle but effective ways, until all the nails have been hammered home.

But this is the 35th (!) film in the MCU, and there have been an incredible number of scalpels, Swiss army knives and nailguns there for Cap IV to be judged against. On its own, it's a so-so blockbuster you would quickly forget except for the fact Harrison Ford turns into a giant red rage monster. As part of the MCU, it's bottom-tier stuff, sitting in the lower five or 10 films of the franchise, only noteworthy for having Harrison Ford turn into a giant red rage monster.

Story-wise, it stands alone surprisingly well, despite referring all the way back to the second MCU film (The Incredible Hulk), with pit stops on every major MCU event along the way. For the diehards it picks up after the enjoyable TV series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, which sees Sam "The Falcon" Wilson (Mackie) assume the mantle of Captain America.

Meanwhile Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (formerly played by William Hurt, but here it's Ford) has become US President, picking up the real-life idea that no amount of stupid shit you do can stop you getting elected President. Ross claims to be a changed man, but his past is lurking in the wings as he prepares to negotiate a treaty over a new "island" that has emerged (see the events of The Eternals).

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Cap IV is the missed opportunity - it's literally about having a black man take on the ultimate representative role of a country that re-elected a six-time bankrupt, twice-impeached, convicted felon as president over a black woman. Yet race gets barely a mention here. It's the angry red elephant in the room. And yes, I know filming wrapped on this midway through last year, but it's fair to say race relations in America have been an issue for a while, and this could've been the MCU film to have a real dig into that. Remember when Cap used to punch Nazis? 

Leaving politics aside, and Marvel's unwillingness to get a bit of dirt on its hands, Cap IV is fine. It's a familiar mystery punctuated by some fun action sequences - an aerial battle over the Indian Ocean is pretty great, and watching Red Hulk cut loose is undoubtedly enjoyable. It maintains an upbeat tone thanks to Mackie and relative newcomer Ramirez keeping things light in between the deadly serious  and somewhat OTT dialogue, while Ford brings gravitas to the late Hurt's role. Lumbly is one of the real highlights, as is an underused Nelson.

If this had come out in the early 2000s, ie. pre-MCU, maybe we would have thought it was a lot cooler.  Elements of the plot already make it feel like a second-run at Captain America: The Winter Soldier - sleeper agents, Cap on the run from the government, an unknown villain pulling strings from the shadows - but this lacks the sharp tone or panache of that excellent MCU entry. Cap IV never fully nails its thriller aspects, but when it's throwing punches and blowing things up, it's a good time.

Again, we've been spoilt by the MCU. Cap IV pales in comparison to much of what has come before, but having said that there are far worse superhero movies around. 

The Last Journey

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Victoria's Statewide Mornings program on March 6, 2025.

(PG) ★★

Director: Filip Hammar & Fredrik Wikingsson.

Cast: Filip Hammar, Lars Hammar, Fredrik Wikingsson, Tiina Hammar.

Gramps was dead-set on a Vegas road trip for his buck's party.

Getting old sucks. Being made to do things you don't want to do also sucks. If you put both these sucky ideas together you would have The Last Journey, the highest-grossing Swedish documentary of all time.

Not that The Last Journey totally sucks. It is annoyingly contrived and often uncomfortable to watch, but its heart is in the right place and it does offer up some sweetly sentimental moments. However, the whole thing is an awkward and unfortunately answerless discussion on ageing.

Swedish TV star Filip Hammar is struggling to deal with his 80-year-old dad Lars' decline into old age, and surprises him with a trip to the south of France - the location of their past family holidays - in an effort to spark some life back into the old man.

With his buddy and fellow Swedish TV star Fredrick Wikingsson squeezed into the back of a Renault 4, the trio set about recreating Lars' past glory days on the Mediterranean and revitalising his life.

The Last Journey, like its star Filip, is well intentioned but ultimately misguided. The doco is occasionally successful at hitting you in the feels, but in between it can be a tough watch.

In the early part of the film, Filip's efforts to drag his father along on this final vacation are ill-conceived and even ignorant. While Filip and his mother agree it's the best medicine for Lars, his health and in-built pessimism make it painful to watch him passively try to back out of the project, all the while Filip is manipulating him into staying in. 

Some of these awkward vibes continue through-out the doco. Filip is obviously doing this as much for himself as he is doing it for Lars, but there is no self-awareness or revelation for Filip by movie's end. Instead, it feels very self-serving or self-congratulatory when he and Fredrich's contrived plans come together. And Filip regularly seems oblivious to the physical ravages of age, urging his dad to play guitar or chop vegetables or walk without his walker more often than is comfortable to watch.

That's not to say The Last Journey is a waste of time. It has a lot of heart in among the prank show-style set-ups, and the trip genuinely seems to reinvigorate Lars, although it would have been nice to get an understanding of how much pep it put in his step via a more detailed post-script.

But for the most part, it feels about half an hour too long, and gives us no real answers to the questions it poses about living our last days in the best ways.