“Eternals” Review
Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersei (Gemma Chan) lead the immortal race of superbeings called The Eternals in this MCU entry.
After the release of “Nomadland” earlier this year and its subsequent Oscar wins, I was excited to see that director Chloe Zhao would be helming “Eternals,” the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Zhao certainly gives it her all as a fantastic filmmaker, I found myself largely unresponsive to this film which is a shame. I understand the intricacy of this franchise and rank it in its entirety as one of my favorite films which is why I found myself disappointed with an otherwise serviceable film.
Set after “Avengers: Endgame,” the film stars an ensemble cast of incredible actors as the titular team of heroes that came to Earth thousands of years ago to protect humans from creatures called Deviants. After killing them all, the Eternals went their separate ways and have been living among humans. When the Deviants return and a series of events mark the end of the world, the team must reunite to save the planet.
Other team-centered films in the MCU, like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” have a central character to focus on and “Eternals” is no different. Sersei (Gemma Chan), an Eternal with the power to manipulate inanimate matter, is the heart of the film and seeing her rise to leadership of the Eternals is fantastic to watch.
The entire cast is not only star-studded but memorable. There are ten heroes and it must have been difficult to make them all resonate with viewers but it paid off. I walked out of the theater remembering all of these characters and their personalities. Every single one of the Eternals was fantastic and the diverse casting did a good job of creating a team that represents nearly everyone on the planet.
While it’s impossible to go into every one of the characters without upping the word count by 1000, I was very entertained by the characters of Sersei, Ikaris (Richard Madden), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Druig Barry Keoghan), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Kingo (Kumail Nanjianni), Thena (Angelina Jolie) and Ajak (Salma Hayek).
“Eternals” has interesting characters and also addresses some heavy subject matter with them. The Eternals have been on Earth since 5000 B.C. and they have constantly been influencing humans as the species developed. This has consequences when human technology evolves and humanity descends into genocide. Since they can’t interfere with any conflict that isn’t Deviant-related, the Eternals must bear the load of being indirectly responsible for both humanity’s best and worst acts.
With a large ensemble cast, “Eternals” has a fantastic group of characters that not only represent the diverse nature of humanity but also have a lot of personality and charm.
One thing I admire about Chloe Zhao is how beautiful her films are and “Eternals” has an aesthetic to it that separates it from all other Marvel films. While this may not be the most substantive Marvel film, it’s among the most gorgeous.
However, this feels like a standard Marvel film when it should be an epic one. The film’s story feels underdeveloped with clunky exposition and unnecessary out-of-order storytelling. Had the film been told chronologically, it would have been an improvement. The film’s villains, the Deviants, are also among the least interesting of the MCU because they just seem like just another obstacle for our heroes to fight. The Deviants make “Thor: The Dark World’s” Malekeith or “Doctor Strange’s” Kaecilius look complex.
“Eternals” also succumbs to the sequel baiting franchises are sometimes known for by having characters, mainly Sersei’s boyfriend Dane (Kit Harrington), clearly there for future films but don’t contribute to the story. While Marvel has introduced characters like The Wasp, Spider-Man and Black Panther before they starred in their own films, those characters did heavily contribute to their breakout story. I doubt Spider-Man’s appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” would have been as well received if he was only in the film briefly as Peter Parker and only donned the Spider Suit in a post credits scene.
Somehow “Eternals” has been getting an internet reputation as the worst MCU film and, while I don’t even think it’s the worst Marvel film, it’s certainly not one of their best. With that said, it’s still reasonably entertaining and I’ll gladly take it over recent releases like “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” any day.
There are two kinds of films within larger franchises. Those that you can watch on their own and those that you watch when marathoning the whole series. “Eternals” is one of the latter. I do wish that the film was as good as I’d hoped given the director and nature of this series. However, for those who proclaim that this is the worst film, I’m sorry for your bizarre amnesia that made you forget “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2” and “Thor: The Dark World.”
“Eternals” will probably entertain most MCU fans. I know that I was interested in seeing what would happen but I probably won’t watch the film as much as “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Black Panther” or “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” The film is perfectly average.
