by Aaron Schweitzer, Editor
Eternals might be my favorite superhero miniseries. [Editor pulls me aside] Oh, it’s not a miniseries. Sure felt like it was. Okay, then… Eternals is among the top tier of the DCEU films. [Editor whispers in my ear] What? Really? Well then Eternals is a visually stunning, mid-tier Marvel film that has so many strengths, but just as many weaknesses, that make it a rather underwhelming experience.
Eternals is a new property for many comic book movie fans, including myself, but it fails to do the things necessary for it to become a household property for the future of the MCU. For one thing, there are simply so many characters that it is difficult for me to care about more than a small handful. It should say something that the character I cared most about and had the most love for was the only human character that hangs out around a group of ancient super beings! Another problem is the film has the content to justify a six-hour miniseries, but shoves it into a two-hour and 37-minute film. While those are my two main negatives (and it seems are most people’s), there is still plenty to love about this film.
Let’s go a little deeper in that order. When you introduce so many heroes, such as Sersi, Ikaris, Thena, Ajak, Kingo, Sprite, Phastos, Makkari, Gilgamesh, Druig, it makes sense that other characters such as Kro, Karun, and Dane get the short end of the stick. Honestly, it would not surprise me if you cannot place half of those names. But even with all those characters, the only ones that get significant time are Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), and Sprite (Lia McHugh). So much so that Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is only re-introduced one scene before the climax. While I had a hard time really loving any of the characters other than Karun (Harish Patel) and Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok), that does not mean I think any performer is doing a bad job; it is just that unless a character is written to be endearing, they don’t have much time to win over the audience. There is one performer that I thought was a particular stand-out and that is Madden. Now, the character is rather predictable (especially with a name like Ikaris), but Madden is giving a really compelling performance and seems to wrestle with his feelings more than the other characters.
Moving on to the content that felt like it was meant to fill a longer runtime, there is so much in this movie that, at times, makes it easy to forget that it is trying to tell a story. There are time jumps, flashbacks, and introduction scenes that really kill all momentum the film gains. There is a side plot involving a really cool concept with a deviant that pretty much goes nowhere, but could itself be a really interesting standalone story. It really feels like it should have been the main plot for the first or second film, and the bigger plot in this film should have been the other. We also get side stories from each of our characters after a split-up that we don’t get to touch on at all, but feel like they could also be their own stories. You could have an episode’s worth from each Thena and Gilgamesh, Sersi and Sprite, Phastos, Makkari and Druig, Kingo anand Karun, Sersi and Ikaris, and Sersi and Dane. It just seems like the film was meant to be a series, but Marvel was concerned that too many people would confuse it with The Inhumans.
Like I said earlier, those are two of the films’ main issues, but there is a lot to love about Eternals. The reason I made the joke that this is a DCEU film is because it feels like it, but in a good way. Rather than the typical Marvel formula of humans trying to transcend humanity and become like a god, this film takes the DC route of gods who are trying to be more human. The Eternals themselves are transcendent of humanity, but in many ways, they feel more human than most superheroes.
There is one choice this movie makes that I really want to applaud. There is a scene where one of the Eternals (to avoid spoilers, I won’t name who) removes himself from the group at the film’s climax. I think it showed understanding and compassion, and explored the consequences of fighters’ actions. There seemed to be a respect in the handling that said, “I disagree with you, but I also am not going to fight you.” A lesser movie would have added that Eternal as a conflicting character and added to the chaos in the climax, but they do not come back as an antagonist. Just as bold a choice, we nearly expect them to come back in a save-the-day moment, but that never happens either. The next time we encounter the character is after the resolution, and there seems to be no ill will among the Eternals.
At the end of the day, this turns out to be a relatively unspectacular Marvel film. Director Chloé Zhao makes the movie visually a treat, but it doesn’t feel as special as anyone wanted it to be. It’s got stakes, but at the same time, when the stakes are world-ending and it takes place on Earth, the stakes go away because you just know they aren’t going to do something they can’t reverse, such as in Infinity War and Endgame. While I didn’t particularly love this film, I am really excited to see these characters again. I just hope the next film is a little more focused.
Grade: B-
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