Movie Reaction: The Eternals

Formula: The Muppet Movie ^ Avengers: Endgame

 

When you take a step back, it’s crazy how deep into the rabbit hole Marvel has taken worldwide audiences. There was a time when the X-Men and Spider-Man were considered risky prospects. Then they worried that Iron Man and Captain America would be too obscure. Over the years, they’ve gotten increasingly wonky with the likes of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther. The world of the narrative has moved from straightforward villains to multi-verses and intergalactic travel. Movies they are making now couldn’t have gotten past the pitch stage a decade ago. Eternals is a movie that would’ve scared away audiences in droves. It’s a cast of mostly familiar actors who the casual movie goer doesn’t know by name. It’s about timelords who have guided humans for thousands of years and is about the very nature of humanity. That this movie had the second biggest opening of 2021 (worldwide) rather than a Seventh Son-sized weekend is an accomplishment.

 

My take is that The Eternals fits in that C+ to A- range that all MCU movies fit into. I think the rotten Tomato score has only a little to do with the movie itself, but I won’t get into that*. This movie is about a group of immortal beings called Eternals. They were sent to Earth 5000 years ago to protect humans from creatures called Deviants. Otherwise, they stay out of mankind’s way. For example, they weren’t involved in any previous MCU movies because none involved Deviants. Even though the Deviants have been gone for centuries, the Eternals remain on Earth waiting to be told that their mission is complete. They live lives as normal people. Well, as normal as ageless eternal beings can. When one of them dies and new Deviants are discovered, they decide to get the gang back together after hundreds of years. The bare bones of this movie are pretty simple. It’s The Muppet Movie except instead of recruiting for a show, it’s to save the world.

 

*Short version: People seem unsure whether to rate this as a Marvel movie or a Chloe Zhao movie. There’s pent up Marvel fatigue, especially with the post-Thanos uncertainty. And frankly, Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t know what to do with reviews that say “I respect what the movie attempted even though it wasn’t wholly successful at it”. RT judges good vs. bad. It doesn’t know what to do with middling.

 

Where the movie gets complicated is the size of the group. There are 10 Eternals. Most have separate stories that each need some time. So, 10 minutes for each character already puts this at nearly two hours with credits. And the film almost casts too well. This cast is stacked. Gemma Chan plays an Eternal named Sersi and is the functional lead of the movie. Her fellow Eternals include A-listers Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek, leading man in search of a franchise, Richard Madden, over-qualified scene-stealers Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Barry Keoghan, and Ma Donh-seok, and promising newcomers Lia McHugh and Lauren Ridloff. As that syntactically complex run-on sentence confirms: that’s a lot of mouths to feed. Not to mention Kit Harrington floating around on the side. I liked most of the performances. Chan is a pitch-perfect hero not ready to accept her call to action. Madden is best when he’s just left-of-center of the leading man roles. He’s not quite Superman. He’s better as Superman’s brother with a gambling problem or an entitled upbringing. It’s amazing how willing Jolie is to be underused in the movie. Much was made of Nanjiani’s physical transformation, but it doesn’t get in the way of his ability to deliver the jokes. It feels like the ideal version of this movie would have half as many characters but I don’t know which ones I’d want to get rid of.

 

Tied into the giant cast is the inarguable problem with the movie. It’s too ambitious. Most MCU movies start small. The introductory story is about a business disagreement (Iron Man), a lost throne (Black Panther), or an identity crisis (Captain Marvel): something to get the audience introduced to the characters, sneak in some exposition, and explain their place in the larger universe. The scale of The Eternals on the other hand is second only two an Avengers movie. Too many characters. Too many storylines. Too much exposition. I can’t understand if director Chloe Zhao misunderstood the assignment or if Marvel got too cocky about their ability to make event movies. My guess is it’s the latter. Either way, it’s a problem.

 

I actually really liked Zhao’s direction. She fits a lot of excuses for the characters to be out in a dusty field, which is her specialty. Despite having so many characters, almost every relationship between two was unique and full of its own strengths and complications. I was very impressed by her control of the action sequences. That’s where these directors moving from small indies to blockbusters tend to falter. She really captured the scale of it. I’m upset I didn’t try and track this down at an Imax or XD screen.

 

The Eternals feels like a 2-part movie that was forced into one. There’s too much going on yet it has pacing issues in the middle. Zhao and company put together arguably the most interesting cast of any first MCU movie. The story has a lot on its mind and helps move the MCU along this more esoteric path of multi-verses and elemental forces. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite the weaknesses, which is exactly where I land on nearly every MCU movie.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend