As fun as rusted metal.

I’m told that the new Netflix movie “The Electric State” cost $320 million to make. And after getting a look at the film in a New York theater, I wonder if it’s really true or just a way to keep streamers more interested. It’s supposed to be a robot action Sci-Fi comedy made by the Russo brothers and starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, but all these robots look and feel as rusty as the story, special effects, jokes, and action. And if it did cost all that money to make, then it’s money being burned to light cigars.

If the movie, based on Simon Stalenhag’s novel, is set in an alternate 90s and has robots in the mix, then they’re as updated as the ones in “Judge Dredd” or “Wild Wild West.” And if the Russo brothers want to break free from the “Avengers” movies, then they should push themselves to more limits like how they wrote “Extraction,” directed “Cherry,” and produced “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” But like “The Gray Man,” “The Electric State” is another wasted effort that’s still poised to hypnotize Netflix streamers.

As the story begins, a robot war has forced the genius Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci) to develop his own army: men who wear helmets called “neurocasters,” which allow them to operate robot soldiers with their faces on the small screens. And ever since Mr. Peanut (voiced by Woody Harrelson) signed a peace treaty, the robots have been isolated from the humans. However, like the Netflix streaming service itself, society makes neurocasters a thing, meaning people can use them for escapism, while I ponder if people should be actually listen to us critics and watch older movies until better new movies appear.

Well, almost everyone because a young woman named Michelle (Brown) can’t join the fan base or whatever the Hell this is. However, she is visited by a grinning robot named Cosmos (voiced by Alan Tudyk with a high pitched voice), who is inspired by her presumed dead and brainiac brother Christopher’s (Woody Norman) favorite cartoon. This robot only quotes lines from the show just to try to annoy us, but it is controlled by Christopher and it knows the doctor (Ke Huy Quan) who can tell her his whereabouts.

This is when Pratt comes in looking like a Hall & Oates splice as a smuggler named Keats, whose robot partner-in-crime Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie with a high pitched voice) likes to unplug his fridge just to charge himself up. Michelle and Cosmos enlist their help, while being hunted down by the feds (including one played by Giancarlo Esposito).

When “The Electric State” tries to go for the emotional jugular, it ends up being predictable and comical. When it tries to be funny, crickets are chirping. And the robots try to act so tough, they end up becoming weak. And when it features a main heroine who is trying to see the world without neurocasters, it’s easily understandable considering that movie theaters need audiences and malls need shoppers these days. I think you get my point.

Brown is a fine young actress, but she isn’t given the right material here. Pratt can play characters outside his Peter Quill and Emmet Brickowski personas, but he’s not funny or charming in this movie. In fact, he looks and acts like he doesn’t want to be here. And not even the vocal talents of Harrelson, Mackie, Tudyk, Jenny Slate, Brian Cox, or Hank Azaria can liven things up a bit. In fact, they’re just as wasted as Emma Thompson, John Cena, or Craig Robinson and others in “Dolittle.” “IF” may not have been a classic, but even their imaginary creatures and their voice actors were delightful.

There’s a scene when Keats shouts: “I am not dying to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch!,” and this is me saying: “I am not dying to this piece of robotic crap.” And I’m surprised none of them were crapping out lead.

Now in Select Theaters and Streaming on Netflix This Friday