Eternals

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridoff, Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-seok, Harish Patel, Bill Skarsgard, Harry Styles, Patton Oswalt
Directed by: Chloe Zhao
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: The Eternals are a secretive race that aided humanity throughout its history. They return to the forefront when a new breed of Deviants threaten the species.

Review:

Tim: I do love that Marvel continues to take risks with the MCU. Eternals is the 26th film in the series and in many ways, one of the most unique. Chloe Zhao directed it, coming off her Academy Award Best Picture win. The cinematography was beautiful, some of the shots here felt wholly unique in the MCU. However, I also think it's one of the weakest movies in the MCU in recent years. It still continues the series' jaw-dropping streak of every film being at least a 7.5, but it did flirt with the lower end of the scale. In the end, I liked Eternals- there were some things I loved about it, but ultimately, it had some disappointments as well.

This was always going to be a bit of a tricky property to adapt. I wasn't well versed in Eternals history before this film, but a group of godlike beings who influenced humankind throughout its history is a bit of a leap from the Avengers movies we've seen in recent years. I love that Marvel didn't play it safe, but this film felt a bit too disconnected from everything else. Marvel is expanding their universe, appropriately, but this film felt a bit disjointed. I wish there were more ties, a closer connection to what the MCU is and where it's going. As is, it feels like a bit of an outlier, which doesn't feel good in a series whose main premise is that it's all connected.

Another challenge here is that the Eternals team is so big. Without a history of these characters, it felt a bit overwhelming to have so many introduced together. Zhao does a fantastic job of balancing these characters' screen time, but there just isn't enough time to fully invest in each one of them. The characters are good, the actors effective, but there weren't too many standouts. Gemma Chan leads the film as Sersei. She definitely stands in that main protagonist role. We do get a lot of time with her, but I wish we had more. Chan is good in the role, but she gets swallowed up a bit with the large cast. We needed more time to build a connection with this character. Richard Madden was wonderfully cast as Icarus. His performance is solid (not quite great) and he makes for a fairly interesting character. Icarus isn't the most unique superhero, so the parallels to others didn't do him many favors. Angelina Jolie felt a bit out of place as Thena. Her character was surprisingly bland and not used effectively enough. Jolie could have worked in this role, but the movie doesn't have the energy or space to allow her to be more than an afterthought. Salma Hayek was brilliantly cast and I loved her performance as Ajak. We desperately needed more screen time with her, unfortunately. She was great but just doesn't get enough of substance to do. I really like Kit Harington and I love that he had a scene with Richard Madden. He makes a small impact on this film, but I understand that it's more setup for future projects. Kumail Nanjiani was definitely a highlight of the film, an unlikely but effective superhero. Kingo isn't a memorable superhero, but Nanjiani's performance elevates the character beyond what it would otherwise have been. I thought Lia McHugh was woefully miscast, her Sprite being one of the low points of the entire film. I wish they'd cut her character out of the script. I really like Brian Tyree Henry and Phastos is a fascinating character, but he has too little to do throughout the film. I love that Marvel is increasing its diversity, but Henry is a real talent and needed more substantial things to do. You could say the same thing about Lauren Ridoff- it's amazing to see a deaf superhero, but Ridoff's talent required more screen time. Henry and Ridoff feel like afterthoughts, which isn't good from a diversity perspective. Barry Keoghan doesn't get enough screen time, either, but his performance as Druid is so good, so offputting and weird at times that he's quite memorable in the role. I really like Ma Dong-seok and his Gilgamesh has a few terrific moments, but he should have had so much more screen time. Harish Patel is a scene stealer, which is always fun. I was disappointed that Marvel used Bill Skarsgard in such a unrecognizable and bland villain role. I don't even know what his name was? See the issue here? Zhao has a terrific cast, but it's too big and too many actors get shortchanged.

The story itself was interesting. The script does a good job of pulling us into this world of Eternals, Celestials, and Deviants. Much of the plot felt very different to what we've come to expect from the MCU, so I appreciated that. There's a few standout sequences, especially the movie's climax, which I won't spoil but is especially cool. The scale and scope of that felt truly epic. I love that this movie showed so many scenes throughout human history. It was a nice way of showing the connection the Eternals have with humanity, while also vastly broadening the scope of the MCU. There's effective action scenes, worthwhile drama, and the visual effects worked well. One issue I had is how not funny this movie is. The MCU always delivers in the humor department, but most the jokes here felt flat and not especially funny. There's a few good moments, yes, but it's one of the more serious films in the series.

It's a bit hard to gauge how this film will eventually fit into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe narrative. As is, it feels like a definite risk, an odd film in the series. That's not bad at all and there's so much to like about what Zhao did here. As I said, I really did enjoy the movie. However, it leaves so many questions about these characters and if/when they will return. That's part of the issue with the now-sprawling MCU- it's telling one unified story and while there always needs to be the ability to tell smaller, more self-contained stories, they need to support the larger narrative. With the number of godlike beings introduced here, this movie never feels small scale. It feels massive and the MCU needs to incorporate it moving forward.

That's all fine, but if you look at just Eternals, it's a mixed bag, but a film that clearly has strengths that far outweigh its limitations. Zhao took an ambitious approach to this movie and crafted something that feels familiar yet unique. That's a win more than anything.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Nomadland, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame