It’s not easy being a Russo brothers fan.

The siblings have struggled to replicate that success outside of theMarvelsandbox, though.

It’s on the last of those streaming services thatThe Electric Statewill attempt to arrest that slide.

A vehicle being driven down a road with a giant dead robot on the roadside in Netflix’s The Electric State movie

The Electric State opens with a prologue that isn’t in its graphic novel namesake

Rise (and fall) of the robots

It’s 1994.

On an alternate-reality planet Earth, two years have passed since the Human-Robot War ended.

Narratively,The Electric State’s setup isn’t dissimilar to the graphic novel it’s based on.

Michelle and Kid Cosmo watching a video projected onto a screen in Netflix’s The Electric State movie

I was unmoved by all aspects of Michelle and Kid Cosmo/her brother’s relationship

Disappointingly, that’s where the commonalities end.

Netflix’s adaptation frustratingly casts aside the book’s biggest strengths.

There are world-building aspects that pleased me.

Michelle and John hiding in an underground storage facility in Netflix’s The Electric State movie

Michelle teams up with John Keats, a former army sergeant who fought in the Human-Robot War

It’s just a pity that the rest of Stalenhag’s novel wasn’t afforded the same luxury.

I won’t say Brown has been typecast as Michelle.

Bradbury is tasked with tracking down Michelle and her automated bestie by Skate, the movie’s secondary antagonist.

Colonel Bradbury and Ethan Skate standing opposite each other in Netflix’s The Electric State movie

Colonel Bradbury and Ethan Skate are the film’s two main antagonists

And therein lies the biggest issue I had withThe Electric State’s casting.

It lacks the childlike wonder and awe that perfuse those fantastical Steven Spielberg-directed features.

Amazon’s criminally underrated anthology series of another of Stalenhag’s eye-catching works did right by its source material.

John stepping onto Herman’s right hand during a battle in Netflix’s The Electric State movie

The Electric State’s action is par for the course

To say I was enraptured byTftLwould be an understatement

The Electric Stateis sorely lacking in all of those departments.

As for the aforementioned prelude: sometimes it’s better not to spell out everything for your audience.

Sometimes, less is just better.

Michelle, Keats, and Doctor Amherst looking unimpressed and worried in The Electric State

The Electric State fails to capture the magic of the 80s sci-fi movies that inspired its look and feel

But, as this review suggests, it’s a fault-riddled flick that doesn’t justify its expensive assembly.

Suffice it to say, it won’t be joining ourbest Netflix moviesguide.

I’m sure the Russo brothers will come good with a non-MCU project.

The Electric State | Official Teaser | Netflix - YouTube

For now, unfortunately,this is not the robot odyssey everyone’s been waiting for.

The Electric State releases exclusively on Netflix on Friday, March 14.