Also: Netflix’s expensive flop ‘The Electric State’

Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director of “Traffic,” makes a movie (or two) every year, jumping from different genres at ease and almost never delivering a dud.

His latest, the espionage mystery “Black Bag,” is already Soderbergh’s second movie of 2025, following the winter release of the point-of-view ghost story, “Presence.” Boasting two powerhouse leads in Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, “Black Bag” easily lands in Soderbergh’s upper tier of output, an impressive feat considering his reliable filmography.

Efficient, beautifully staged and oozing with icy dialogue (via screenwriter David Koepp), the movie makes for a near-perfect representation of the hushed, shadowy noir that inexplicably fell out of fashion in Hollywood these past several years. The movie quietly ratchets the tension, and the film’s most riveting scenes involve a few rounds of slightly aggressive dinner party games.

Blanchett and Fassbender spark with chemistry as British spies who become lured into investigating each other after a top-secret software program falls into enemy hands. They promise to protect each other at all costs, but what if one of them turns out to be a traitor?

Other players/suspects include fellow agents Tom Burke and Rege-Jean Page, as well as the agency’s far-too-involved therapist (Naomie Harris). Pierce Brosnan plays a demanding supervisor, playing as if his subordinates don’t know how to correctly spy (007 would know better).

Running at near 90 minutes, “Black Bag” demonstrates Soderbergh’s mastery of economy. He compellingly tells the story with no extra scenes. He also shot and edited the film, as he often does, under pseudonyms. He makes it look easy … until you remember how few of his contemporaries manage to do the same with more money and resources.

“Black Bag” is now playing in theaters.

"The Electric State" another blockbuster misfire

Speaking of more money and resources, Netflix’s big title last week, the sci-fi adventure “The Electric State,” reportedly cost as much as $320 million to produce. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo (on a major cold streak since leaving the “Avengers” behind) pour the money into some convincing CGI but forget all the important things — story, character, dramatic momentum, etc.

Based on a likely-much-better illustrated novel, “The Electric State" follows Netflix captive Millie Bobby Brown as an orphaned teen in the aftermath of a humans vs. robots war where an animatronic Mr. Peanut served as an essential leader of the (perhaps justified?) robot uprising. Chris Pratt plays an ex-soldier who joins her journey across generic dystopian landscape to discover the truth about her younger brother’s apparent death. The brother, you see, was a super-genius, and it seems like a billionaire “savior” played by Stanley Tucci may have used that genius to suppress the machines in some nefarious way.

The movie takes place in the mid-1990s, as evidenced only by Pratt and Brown’s haircuts and the occasional over-obvious needle drop. The characters are all flat and unengaging, even the robots voiced by a collection of overqualified stars (Brian Cox, Anthony Mackie, Jenny Slate). It’s a PG-13 movie with the depth of a lousy Saturday morning cartoon series, but even kids won’t likely have the patience to even reach the climactic battle sequence.

The Russo Brothers, not oblivious to their own missteps, return to the Marvel fold with a new “Avengers” film next year. Hopefully the stench of “The Electric State” doesn’t penetrate the confines of Netflix’s increasingly lousy collection of wannabe blockbusters.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

    This image released by Focus Features shows Cate Blanchett, left, and Michael Fassbender in a scene from "Black Bag."
  

    This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Herman, voiced by Anthony Mackie; PopFly, voiced by Brian Cox; Mr. Peanut, voiced by Woody Harrelson; Millie Bobby Brown; Penny Pal, voiced by Jenny Slate; and Chris Pratt in a scene from "The Electric State."
  

    This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Millie Bobby Brown; Cosmo, voiced by Alan Tudyk; Chris Pratt; and Herman, voiced by Anthony Mackie, in a scene from "The Electric State."