Movie Review: ***^The Electric State (2025)

This is a made for Netflix movie.  The Electric State is about a war between humans and robots.  Robots initially helped an, but eventually they wanted their own lives, which resulted in a war for freedom.  However the humans won the war and established a world without robots; but with helmeted devices where people control drones of themselves.  It has become illegal to have a robot.  However, one shows up at the home of Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) a student.  Cosmo (voice Alan Tudyk) explains that he is a drone controlled by Millie's brother, Christopher (Woody Norman) and he needs Michelle to save him.  Michelle has for years thought her brother dead in a car accident.  

So begins a trek to find her brother.  He is in the offices to Neurocaster with CEO Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci).  Neurocaster developed the technology to win the war by being able to make drones dependent on people, sort of like VDR headsets.  By developing this technology, people were saved during the war with computers so the computers sued for peace.  They were banished to the world outside the populated areas. The Neurocaster technology is not working as well with Cosmo gone. It is very difficult to get to the Neurocaster site.  Stake hires Colonel Bradbury AKA the Marshall to bring the drone traveling with Michelle back to the company.  He is a bounty hunter policing for computers who do not stay in their own area.   

Michelle and Cosmo are joined on their trek by a couple of black market runners, Keats (Chris Pratt) and his robot, Herman (voice Anthony Mackie).  Herman is a robot that can change sizes.  Of course he is illegal being in the human areas.  The make it to a community of robots in the outlying district.  There they meet the scientist, Dr. Amherst (Ke Huy Quon).  He has left the Neurocaster company but was significant in telling Michelle his brother had died.  He also built Cosmo for Christopher.  He explains that the found Christopher in a vegetative state.  However Christopher was a genius so they were able to use him to develop the technology to build the Neurocaster system where people could control a drone through their headset.  

Lots of adventure.  Bradbury and those who work with him finally attack the computer city ruining everything.  However the computers put themselves back together and decide to go after the Neurocaster base.  At the same time Michelle wants to talk to her brother.  There is a difficult decision coming as all the Neurocaster technology runs through Christopher.  

Movie Review: Star Wars: Rogue One

This is the hot movie of the Christmas season this year, and so we ventured.  I had a great time, although there were some poorly written scenes.  The story line is great, telling the story of the spies who retrieved the plans for the Death Star.  In the first Star Wars we get a hit of this movie, when the general says, "Many died to retrieve these plans."  So this movie gives us the heroic stories of those many dying.  Jyn (Felicity Jones) is the daughter of the man (Mads Mikkelsen) developing the plans for the death star.  He was forced to by the empire, particularly Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn).  However he has deliberately put a flaw into the design.  Getting the idea of that design flaw to others however is difficult.  His daughter, in the meantime has been in hiding since she was a girl.  However, the Alliance contacts her by breaking her our of prison where she was under a different name.  She agrees to go with a small crew, because it will mean seeing her father, and proving he is not the terrible man everyone makes him out to be.  However the Captain of the mission, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) has special orders to kill her father if they can reach him.  In the meantime the death star is operational, and used on a target where it is feared there is an imperial pilot turned against the empire.  He was sent with a message from Jyn's father.  So the adventure goes.  they go to an Imperial communications hub to retrieve the death star plans, which are needed to know how to destroy it.  however Krennic is also headed there.  Soon the death star follows.  A raging battle follows, with our heroes trying to get the plans out of the communications base.  Now for the pieces I felt were contrived.  They had to retrieve the actual plans from a tall tower, and they have to climb up this when the power goes out.  Then Jyn has to reset the satellite dish, and has to go out on the eat of the tower to do this, where she is vulnerable to laser fire.  Why couldn't the control be some place convenient?  However I must say this is a movie I will see again.   Also interesting characters were Chirrut Umwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Wen Jiang) both Rogue Warriors.  A new droid, K2SO (Alan Tudyk) is an imperial protocol droid now helping the Alliance.
At the end of this story, the first Star Wars story (episode IV) is set up.

Movie Reviews: ****Wreck-it Ralph (2012)

"Wreck-It Ralph" is produced by Disney.  Tony saw this with me.  Tony says the best part of the movie was the fighting.  John C Reilly portrays Wreck-it Ralph who is not happy with his status in life--the bad guy in the video game Fix-it Felix.  He has been at it for thirty years.  He crashes the party for the thirty year anniversary.  He was not invited.  He is told, if he can win a medal, then he can hang with the other game characters in the pent house.  And so he goes on a trek to a shooting game against viral bugs.  He wins his medal, but in getting it, a viral bug attaches to his vehicle, and he ends up crashing in candy land.  Alan Tudyk plays the bad guy--king of candy land, and sounds and looks just like Ed Wynn (Uncle Albert from Mary Poppins).   Albert befriends Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who supposedly is a glitch.  This friendship has several nuances which make it entertaining as Vanellope attempts to get into the race and win.  Having a friend cures Albert of his doldrums, and gives meaning to his life.  His relation also improves with others of his own game.  This is not a traditional Disney with singing, but it does have relationships and a very good villain.