Eternals, directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, hasn’t garnered the most favorable reviews in the lead up to its release. Having watched the film, it’s easy to understand why: it’s plot is complex and dense, marrying the superhero backdrop with heady science fantasy elements. It also introduces ten new main characters and, despite having a runtime of 2 hour and 37 minutes, feels both cramped and drawn out at different points in the film. However, if you take the film as it is, you just might be surprised.
Eternals are ancient superhuman beings that have been sent by god-like Celestials to different planets to fight Deviants, who threaten to destroy all intelligent life. Some 7000 years after their arrival, by which time they had all gone their separate ways, a resurgent Deviant threat brings them back together. Sersi (Gemma Chan), who can transform inanimate matter into whatever she pleases, finds herself thrust into a leadership role even as she deals with Ikaris (Richard Madden), who she was married to for many years before separating. Soon, Sersi learns of a far more sinister threat that divides the Eternals as they struggle to decide whether they should stick to their original purpose or try to find a new one.
Zhao’s signature directorial style is on full display in this film. She famously pushed for shooting Eternals on location as opposed to using green screens, and the results speak for themselves. There are many lush, spectacular vistas, from the Australian desert to the lush Amazon rainforest. They serve as beautiful backdrops to the weighty issues that the Eternals are dealing with. Other than the main plot, these include Thena’s (Angelina Jolie) struggles with mental illness as her mind is becoming fractured with too many memories, Sprite’s (Lia McHugh) feeling of isolation at being forever stuck as a child and Druig (Barry Keohan) deciding to use his powers to curb humanity’s destructive ways.
However, the film struggles with the weight of the plot.
Often the characters discuss their issues standing or sitting around a table, and at the hour mark, the film grinds to a halt as Arishem gives an exposition dump about the driving force of the main plot. While the film doesn’t completely fumble the introduction of the new characters, it’s almost impossible to give all of them the screen time they deserved. Furthermore, the narrative structure of the Eternals traveling around the world and meeting another member of their ‘family’ gets tired after a while. One of the villains isn’t fleshed out enough, though an effort is made to characterize his motivations with just a handful lines of dialogue.
Eternals is stuck between trying to be an ambitious epic and having to play within the MCU sandbox. The scale of the film dwarfs anything attempted in the franchise before, and when you see the Celestials in comparison to the Earth, you realize how gigantic they really are. There are a handful of obligatory fight sequences, and while the very notion of them may feel tiring, they are actually handled in an effective manner. Makkari’s (Lauren Ridloff) super-speed is portrayed very well, and the conclusion to the final fight is also suitably impressive. The golden circles and lines encircling the Eternals is also a nice visual motif that helps the film stand out from the usual Marvel fare.
Still, the family aspect of the narrative is very potent and mostly realized throughout the story. If only this wasn’t a film and rather a TV series, then the story could have been done justice. There are some Shakespearean character beats at play, and the historical elements of the story, such as the horrors of the sack of Tenochtitlan in the 16th century and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could have been given a lot more room to breathe.
Then there’s the star studded cast, who all turn in robust performances. It’s easy to see why Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie are veterans of their craft. Kumail Nanjiani also provides comic relief as Kingo, although he unceremoniously dips out of the film near the beginning of the third act only to return for the conclusion. Kit Harrington is criminally underused, although his character is set up for future movies in the post-credits sequence.
Due to the sheer number of characters, you get more of an impression about their personalities rather than a fully-fleshed out exploration, which sometimes leaves plot/logic holes.
Of course, Eternals also boasts the most diverse cast ever brought to a superhero film, and some of the characters, such as the deaf Eternal Makkari and gay Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) are shown as capable members of the team who aren’t afraid to embrace who they are.
Eternals currently has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score in the MCU franchise, and that feels quite unfair. At this point, people have too high expectations from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As flawed as the film is, it isn’t objectively worse than the likes of Thor: the Dark World or Iron Man 2. It probably sits a little above the middle of the pile of the 26 films released so far, which isn’t a bad feat by any means.
If you are up for going into the theater with an open mind, then you might end up liking Eternals, if not loving it. Zhao’s vision is definitely worthy of the theater experience.
Hopefully, Eternals is a positive learning experience for Marvel, and not seen as a sign that they must stick to their formula.
Great things can definitely be done with the franchise, and hopefully we see more attempts at it in the future.