Chris Pratt’s 2025 sci-fi movie with a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes makes the actor’s earlier 2014 hit seem even more impressive all these years later. Throughout the course of his career, Chris Pratt has been involved with many iconic movies and franchises over the years, including roles in the Jurassic World series, the Lego movies, andthe MCU timeline.
Appearing in everything from political action thrillers to animated releases that have seen him play Mario and Garfield, Pratt’s filmography is a varied one, to say the least. Interestingly, said film history also includes one of recent histories' most well-regarded sci-fi films, and one of its least critically well-received, making these releases all the more interesting to compare.
The Electric State’s 14% Rotten Tomatoes Score Makes Chris Pratt’s 92% Rated 2014 Hit Even More Impressive
The Electric Stateinitially seemed to be a movie with the potential to garner major critical acclaim. The combination of a $320 million budget, the Russo brothers as directors, a star-studded cast - featuring the likes of Chris Pratt, Milly Bobby Brown, Anthony Mackie and Brian Cox - and an eye-catching sci-fi world appeared to pave a road to success.
However, the film’s release saw a less positive response.The Electric Statecurrently has a 14% critic Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes - and while the audience Popcornmeter score comes in at a better 68%, even this reflects an at best divided reception to the movie and its story.
All of this serves to make Chris Pratt’s other prior notable sci-fi starring role even more notable, as its critical reception is a far different story to this day.Guardians of the Galaxycurrently has a 92% score for both its Tomatometer and Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, reflecting the success of the first film in the trilogy.
Not only doesGuardians of the Galaxyhave a far higher review score overall compared toThe Electric State11 years after its release, it also netted this result on a lower budget. As per The Numbers, the originalGuardians of the Galaxyhad a budget of $170 million, meaning it cost just over half ofThe Electric State’s own reported budget as well.
Why Guardians Of The Galaxy Has A Much Higher Critic Review Score Than The Electric State
Ultimately, the premise ofThe Electric Stateappears to sabotage it somewhat in terms of the story it’s telling. With the original source material the film takes from being a more drawn-back look at the dangers of consumerism and technology, the divide between this and the more conventionally blockbuster-aimed film seems to have lost many critics.
WhileGuardians of the Galaxyalso played with its source material, audiences seem to have connected more emotionally with it overall- no doubt helped by the fact the movie opens with one of its most tragic and vulnerable scenes, showing a young Peter Quill losing his mother before he’s kidnapped by the Ravagers and taken to live in space.
Though both films feature sci-fi action, the factGuardians of the Galaxyis able to hinge more around the core team coming together gives it an easy way to continually endear itself to viewers. Even the film’s most alien characters have very human motivations and emotions, and this is always the focus of the story.
That said, it’s also possibleThe Electric Stateis a victim of its own success in a sense. As one of Netflix’s most expensive movies - and a film stocked with household names - expectations may have arguably been higher for the film from the offset, thus playing a part in many feeling let down by the movie they got.
Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Rotten Tomatoes Scores Perfectly Explains Why The Film Became A Trilogy
With all this said, it’s also worth noting thatGuardians of the Galaxy’s Rotten Tomatoes score isn’t just impressive when compared toThe Electric State- it’s impressive when compared to almost any other movie. This is most easily evidenced by comparingGuardians of the Galaxy’s Rotten Tomatoes scores against other superhero movies.
For context,these results giveGuardians of the Galaxya higher Popcornmeter score thanAvengers: Endgame, a higher Tomatometer thanAvengers: Infinity War, and overall scores that are only 2% away from matchingThe Dark Knight. Given the DC film is one of the most highly regarded superhero movies of all time, this speaks volumes.
With both the superhero and sci-fi genres so often being hit-or-miss when it comes to their movie installments, the factGuardians of the Galaxymanages to effectively pull off being both is undeniably impressive. This also highlights why the series eventually became a full trilogy, as it’s clear fans resonated with the initial story and would be eager for more.
Now thatGuardians of the Galaxyhas had its two film follow-ups - and James Gunn is instead the co-CEO of DC Studios - it’s not clear what the series' future holds forChris Prattor several other MCU stars. However, whatever unfolds, it seems the originalGuardians of the Galaxywill likely only continue to look more impressive with time.
