Eternals was Not Made to Please Everyone (Marvel Studios Eternals) (Spoiler-free review)
This 26th Entry to the MCU introduces 10 new characters that have been alive for the last 7000 years. Each of them has a different set of powers with 5 of them being the heavy hitters' AKA the warriors while the others have powers that are considerably... tamer. They are led by Ajak (Salma Hayek), the healer and she is the only one able to communicate to the Celestials, their 'boss' essentially. The team consists of Ikaris (Richard Madden) who flies and shoots lasers out of his eyes like Superman, Sersi (Gemma Chan) who can manipulate matter, Phaistos (Brian Tyree Henry) the engineer; Gilgamesh (Don Lee) who dons powerful fists and has immense strength; Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), the speedster; Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) who shoots energy blasts out of his fingers; Druig (Barry Keoghan) who can control minds; Sprite (Lia McHugh), the master of illusion and Thena (Angelina Jolie) who can manifest any weapon she wants or needs to fight.
The story jumps from past and present, portraying the lives of these Eternals being the oldest superhero-type beings on Earth and only protecting humanity from the dangers caused by Deviants, creatures that crawl out of the Earth to hunt and feed. However, when it comes to other dangers -- as instructed by the Celestial Arishem -- they are not to interfere for humans are to 'learn' by themselves. After the events of Avengers Endgame with a bunch of snaps and blips that occurred and ruined the natural order of things, Earth has yet another world-ending event that will need the Eternals this time around to save everyone. Regular superhero stuff so far, right?
Directed by Oscar winner, Chloe Zhao, Eternals is the first film within the franchise to abandon the aforementioned Marvel formula by making a movie that doesn't seem at all... well, Marvel. After years of criticizing the 'Marvel formula', there have been complaints on how Eternals did not feel like a 'Marvel movie'. Fans are confusing, aren't they? Without tweets and opinions of unsatisfiable fans, Eternals looking and feeling like a 'film', some may call it, is something audiences would not expect from a Marvel movie and the result was honestly something to marvel at.
Although Eternals runs for at least 2 hours and at least 35 minutes, making it the longest MCU feature right after Avengers Endgame, Eternals utilizes its long runtime for the right amount of screentime for each character. Unlike previous Marvel movies, this is our first Eternals sighting and it would only make sense when the film includes 10 main characters alongside three large acts.
With each character getting somewhat enough time to shine, the actors themselves show their acting chops no actor has done in one movie. It might have been mind-boggling to witness 7000 years' worth of character development in 2 and a half hours but unlike most opinions, there's no else who can play these Eternals better than the ones already cast. Chan and Madden were subtly the main leads of this movie but the real stars were almost everyone else. Keoghan's portrayal of Druig resonated with me the most as the only Eternal who does not want humans to live their lives in conflict and his internal struggle to use his mind control against others is a power a lot of us want, whether it is to avoid conflict or not. Jolie's Thena is the unsung hero of this Marvel-epic being one of the more complex members of the Eternals especially when it came to the character's mental state. I think it is safe to say that this might be one of the few better roles she has tackled in her long-running career and I really hope Marvel expands her story further in the near future. Our comedic relief arrives in the form of Nanjiani's Kingo who unfortunately is the most underused character within the movie, which is sadly disappointing,
It may seem that the number of disappointments really lacks from this current review you're reading but the only flaw within this gargantuan of a Marvel-epic that was jarring enough to possibly bother a number of Marvel fans is the changes they made from comic to screen. It would be suicidal to list them out in this review but if audiences did have knowledge on the Eternals lore created by Jack Kirby all those years ago or at least have an idea of what happened in Neil Gaiman's most recent comic book run, it would be easier to differentiate and connect the confusion that is bound to occur in your brain. On the other hand (moviegoers who are not familiar with comics), Eternals might just leave you with more questions than answers.
There were also opinions being voiced out about how Eternals spends most of its time setting up for other movies instead of focusing on the central storyline, a mistake that was once done in Avengers Age of Ultron. As a constant advocate for Joss Whedon's last project alongside the MCU, AOU indeed had its flaws with audiences never actually seeing the 'age of Ultron' taking place as well as the film spending a considerable chunk of the storyline teasing the infinity stones and the central set of events in Infinity War and Endgame.
I can guarantee fans Eternals does not attempt at such a feat. In fact, the film barely makes any big MCU references that it makes one forget that Eternals is a part of the franchise. It is very rare to see an MCU film so unattached to its brother/sister movies. This is also a good thing since every Marvel Studios release this year portrayed their importance to not only the ever-growing 'cinematic universe' but also the multiverse that has been cracking open with each property that deals with the theme, even if it's for a few minutes.
My verdict -- without being overshadowed by anyone else's -- Eternals may not be for everyone, but I know in my heart that true, non-toxic Marvel fans have been waiting for a film like this to consider itself canon within the vast Marvel lore. Eternals is a roller coaster ride filled with adventure, narrative experimentation and includes more inclusivity as well as more diversity than any Marvel film combined. The only thing I ask of everyone is to not listen to reviews before watching this. Your personal opinion, this time around, is imperative... especially when it comes to opinions that have not been influenced by others, whether it's critics or people who have already seen it. Eternals is playing in theatres today.
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