Here is a very bland and derivative sci-fi adventure from Netflix, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, freely adapted from the illustrated YA novel by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. It drains away the book’s thoughtful human complexity and turns it into a laminated Spielberg/Lucas knockoff with bits of Toy Story and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as simply too many other individual borrowings to count. I even wondered if Millie Bobby Brown’s hairstyle was supposed to make her look like Chewbacca.
It’s a kind of retro-tech romp set in an alternative-reality version of the 90s and 00s, perhaps indicating a yearning to go back to a time before social media, VR and AI ruled over us. During the Bill Clinton administration – and there are some neat satirical laughs in the flashback news montage, I admit – humanity is supposed to have suppressed a massive uprising on the part of the “the bots”, artificial humanoid helpmeets and domestic servant machines which wanted to be treated as human. Now this defeated robo-clan live like underdog heroes in a ruined reservation in the desert.
