Eternals... review

Let’s talk about Eternals.

For those who don’t know, The Eternals are a team of ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. When an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows, they are forced to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants. Most of these heroes draw inspiration from gods and characters found in Greek mythology and other cultures and are (even without knowing the comics previous to seeing the movie) extremely recognisable names. Starring Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Salma Hayek as Ajak and Angelina Jolie as Thena, this movie held nothing back when casting some huge names to be the stars. Written and directed by Chloé Zhao (the MCU’s first oscar-winning director), this is the 26th movie in the MCU and the third instalment of phase four, with Black Widow and Shang-Chi coming before.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The scope of this movie expands beyond some of the most ambitious MCU movies to date; don’t believe me? It spans thousands of years and tells the origin story of the entire MCU. Kevin Feige has stated that “Eternals explores the very creation of the Marvel universe itself”.

So, what did I think? Let’s start with the positives.

The casting is perfect, the actors fall into these roles so seamlessly, almost like they were born to play those characters. Most notably, Gemma Chan and Angelina Jolie, who absolutely stole the show. Brian Tyree Henry who plays Phastos (the OG Tony Stark, inventor and tech wiz) also plays a great part and executes it perfectly. The Eternals really do feel like a family, they have great chemistry between each other, and even with love triangles and people’s past creeping up on them, they know that what makes them strong and makes them win is being a family and working together.

I think this movie has some of the best VFX and CGI of any MCU movie to date, possibly just below Infinity War and Endgame. Think of the rhinos in Black Panther, yeah, it is nothing like that. The special effects in this movie are beautiful and clever, especially the use of Sersi’s (Chan) powers of manipulating non-sentient matter. It flows so naturally from her that it never feels like it has been added in post. Maybe that is also credit to Gemma Chan, but I think it is absolutely a team effort from both actor and effects team.

The highlight of this movie is the diversity. Let’s just break down who and what is going on in this movie.

Firstly, it is directed by a woman, which is not often something we see in the movie industry, let alone a superhero franchise movie. Lauren Ridloff, who plays Makkari (super speed) is the MCU’s first deaf superhero and communicates throughout the film in sign language. This is such an important step forward and a huge moment for the deaf community who, for the first time in this franchise, are watching a movie that is speaking their language. We have actors from all over the world, including South Korean actor Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee) who plays Gilgamesh and Mexican-American actress Salma Hayek (Ajak). Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos) plays the MCU’s first openly gay superhero. I can’t quite believe it has taken this long to portray this on film, but better late than never I suppose. But those scenes with his family are so crucial and important, they feel like they’re changing cinema. No longer can we stop creating or portraying characters that don't represent the audience that are watching, we must showcase real life on screen, and this film did that.

Now the negatives.

My biggest disappointment with the movie was the lack of development for these characters. Whilst I do think that this is purely down to the amount of "lead" characters in the movie (we are talking 10 Eternals), I never connected to any of them, and I didn't really care what happened to them, which is so unlike a MCU movie. I truly feel like the next phase will delve deeper into these characters more and explore them, but for an introduction movie, I don't think it was as well executed as it possibly could be.

The pacing felt off, the movie both felt like the longest and the shortest MCU movie. It feels rushed, and yet also boring in places. There are scenes which feel completely disconnected to the movie, almost like they didn't need to be included, but then scenes which would potentially develop a characters story arc are cut short or just not explored at all. Trying to fit in 10 characters past, present and potential future is ambitious, and I am starting to think, maybe slightly too ambitious for an introduction movie. (Whilst I am not comparing these movies, hear me out) Endgame worked having so many cast members because we knew who those characters were. We didn't need to introduce Captain America and his fight with Hydra in the 1940's during the fight with Thanos in 2019 just for the movie to make sense, we already knew who he was and everything about his past. This film felt like it wanted to achieve this level of ensemble and it fell flat a little.

But, ambition and intention should be commended here. Zhao has clearly worked incredibly hard to execute an incredibly powerful and diverse movie that introduces a new set of superheroes to the beloved franchise. The acting is amazing, and I can't wait to see what happens next with these characters. I wish we explored them a little more, but I will take what we were given.

As always, please stay for the after-credit scenes. They are some of the most exciting and they set up the next phase so incredibly well. *Spoiler alert* we may have been introduced to 4 new characters. Also, ignore the critics who said this film was terrible. It isn't, and if we are being honest with ourselves, bigotry and hatred have clearly fuelled those reviews. This is a solid movie, at times does feel disconnected, but has heart, great action scenes and new and fun superheroes with incredibly interesting powers.

"When you love something, you protect it" - Thena.