Eternals: Full Review
Eternals (2021) surprised me as a longtime fan of Marvel and the MCU. The classic hero’s journey has been tossed away in favor of a darker, more philosophical tale. It brings a slew of A-list talent, brutal hand-to-hand combat, and even a sex scene - to which some people in my theater actually gasped. Director and writer Chloe Zhao handles the large cast well, and lets each of the Eternals' personality shine while letting them make decisions for themselves without turning them into pawns for the plot. This film is not for the light hearted, and the themes and conversations will probably fly right over children's heads. This is a new era for Marvel Studios. However, while the film has its strong points, odd pacing, randomly placed action and the final “twist” leaves little room for the original threat to evolve (literally) into its potential, and leaves casual viewers yearning for something more concrete.
Coming into Eternals blind was probably the best way to go. Usually, if I know I am going to watch a film (as such with all MCU films for myself) I stay away from as much promotional material as possible to view the film organically. This is because I want to see the film just as the director intended, with no preconceived notions about it before-hand. This was highlighted by the fact this is the first Marvel film I have seen where I am not already acquainted with the characters from reading the comics. So I was truly not aware of what I was in for.
The film opens with a scrolling text giving us a simple exposition about the history of the universe the MCU (pre-Kang) exists in. Though this is usually a lazy way to introduce information, it can be useful in stories like this where 1) the run time is already long enough and 2) we will be revealed to more information as the characters learn it. Then, we see the Eternals first come to Earth to protect humanity from the mysterious predators known as the Deviants. Led by Ajak (Salma Hayek), the Eternals watch over humans for centuries, on the condition that they do not intervene.
The Eternals go on to influence our history, which are fun easter eggs to spot, and give a pathway as to how they have protected humankind for millennia. Babylon, Hiroshima and even the Gupta period: the Eternals have been present through good times and bad, and are now living as humans waiting to hear about when they can return home as they are done with their mission to kill all of the Deviants present on Earth.
When some Deviants prove to still be alive, having been trapped in now-melting ice (good to know the MCU still portrays climate change), the Eternals, who are now scattered across the world living their own lives, must reunite and reassess their relationship with the Celestials, humans and Deviants.
The plot seems simple enough, but when we are introduced to characters who have now been doing their own thing and growing as wildly different people for the last 7000 years, it is clear the story will not follow the typical story-line that often accompanies the re-uniting cliche.
In the present, Ikaris (Richard Madden) finds his beloved Sersi (Gemma Chan) in a relationship with the human Dane (Kit Harington) in London. Sprite (Lia McHugh) is stuck at the age of 12 and hating every minute of it. While Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) is making Bollywood movies, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is basking in domestic bliss with his husband and a kid with dimples. Gilgamesh (Don Lee) has been ensuring that Thena (Angelina Jolie) keeps her tendency to go rogue under check. Druig (Barry Keoghan) seceded a while ago and is hiding out in the Amazon. Finally, we are introduced to Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), a hearing impaired Eternal who has been waiting to hear news about returning home.
Most of the film consists of gathering the forces to stop Earth from being destroyed by the baby Celestial emerging from its core and arguing over a cosmic-trolley problem, while simultaneously fighting off the now-intelligent Deviants who are revenge-bent on killing off the Eternals and stealing their powers to speed up the Deviant evolutionary process. These fight scenes, while beautifully choreographed and fun to watch, came at the film's behest. As more Eternals gathered, you would think the fights would also become more dense as it would be easier to track them as a group, but they did not. Kro, the Deviant who gained consciousness, would show up only enough to keep the action fans awake. So when it is revealed that both the Eternals and Deviants were created and used by the Celestial Arishem, it begs to wonder why did the Deviants and Eternals not team up?
The film poses moral questions that muddy up the grey-zone of good and evil. Before 2021, every MCU film has had a big bad, and the heroes save the day. Many of the villains can be argued to have been misguided but good in intention, namely Killmonger, Thanos, and recently Wenwu, and I think Kro is placed in the perfect position to become an anti-hero too. Instead, we get a sudden death for Kro to which someone in the theater said aloud, “that’s it?” I feel ya buddy. These red herring villains are starting to get old, and Kro was built up just to be thrown away in the end for a Superman vs Justice League type of fight. Which, again, was fun to watch and well choreographed, but had no real stakes. With Marvel consistently exploring morally grey characters, Ikaris’ reveal was no surprise, especially when the film constantly begged the question, “Why did Ajak choose Sersi?”
While the plot is somewhat all over the place and pacing is drawn out to show us the history of the massive main cast, Zhao’s choice to shoot much of the film in real-world locations instead of the MCU’s characteristic green screen sets makes for some really beautiful shots. Eternals’ dusty deserts, clouded beaches, and lush rainforests feel real in a way that the CGI landscapes often don’t, lending a tangibility to the more fantastical going-ons. Since much of the film features special effects, having real locations balances what would’ve been a CGI nightmare. Other features like the score are forgettable with the constant changing in tone, and the humor falls about the same as it does in most MCU films.
The diversity and representation in the film is a whole other conversation. While I love being able to see such a diverse cast in race, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability, it's hard to forget that it is a directorial choice. If the Eternals are synthetic bots created to destroy the Deviants, why not just make them all the same? Looks, power, ability - the differences seem arbitrary except to make them seem more human. It feels more efficient on Arishem's part to just make an army, but maybe we will get more explanations for that in the future. Or maybe not.
The film ends on a true cliffhanger, with half of the remaining cast being swept away by Arishem, and the other half on a space-voyage to find other Eternals who would dissent with them. When Sersi is plucked from Earth by Arishem, this sparks Dune’s journey as the Black Knight, a name descended from Arthurian tales. Kit Harington seems to be taking on a role in the MCU similar to the well-known Jon Snow in tone, with probably more humorous lines. Those on the space-voyage are joined by Eros (Harry Styles), prince of Titan, who reveals he has knowledge of the whereabouts of the rest. This might’ve been the biggest supposed risk of the MCU so far, giving a boyband veteran a 5-film contract, but those of us who have seen (and loved) Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017) know Styles not only has the acting chops, but can portray the hell out of a cowardly, asshole character; completely different from his stage and real life persona. No type casting for Styles here, and I am looking forward to seeing how he grows as an actor.
Eternals at its best opens new doors and opportunities to grow the MCU in an expansive way while introducing us to a myriad of new characters and storylines, and at its worst is the Justice League live action we’ve never (really) got. Regardless, with this, a new MCU franchise is born.
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Okay okay, anyone can criticise a film for not being up to par, so what was I hoping for? Well, if this were a stand alone film, this is what I can see happening: Let’s say in the final battle Kros kills Thena and absorbs her memories that allows Kro to evolve even more to tell the rest of Eternals that if they gave their powers to him, he would kill Tiamut. And after some discussion, namely about however many times they've destroyed life for the greater good before, they could give their powers to him. He kills Tiamut inside Earth and goes off to kill his creator - Arishem. It makes no sense why Arishem in the original ending didn't just destroy the Earth. Kro even said that Eternals and Deviants are both victims of Arishem, so it makes sense for them to join powers, as that is the theme of the entire film.
In the end they did join powers, but it was out of the blue - honestly a gimmick. The movie’s excuse is that they are programmed to join powers with the Celestial which allows them to survive the Emergence, but that makes no sense, because a couple of scenes before this, the movie says that they all are sources of unlimited powers. So which is it?
That is why it would make more sense to allow their powers to be drawn from them, willingly. The Deviant didn't want to kill humans anymore, only to get revenge from the Eternals and Arishem. Really, how is Kro’s story different from Natasha’s? Being made to do his creator’s bidding only to dissent and realize Arishem created a new group of beings, meant to wipe him and his kind out. If they agreed to give powers willingly and find the common enemy in Arisham, then… Well, you get it.
Maybe I am just cynical, but this ending would be more compelling as it offers the maximum change of character (Kro) in the span of the movie, however I imagine this would upset many viewers, especially those who expect the usual feel-good MCU film, plus, there would be no future for this cast of Eternals - which is why I’m not the writer :)
