Eternals

This will be a spoiler-free review.

The latest film out of Marvel Studios is Eternals, which had a lot of hype and even more questions about who these new characters are to join the MCU or what they are doing on Earth in the first place. The movie’s premise is a group of immortal beings sent to Earth thousands of years ago to extinguish a group of monsters known as Deviants. After this group got rid of the last Deviants, they’ve been wandering the Earth, living their own life waiting for when they can return to their planet, Olympia. Now how exactly does that stretch out to fit the 157 minutes runtime? The truth of the matter is, it doesn’t. At least not in the traditional MCU standard, as the director Chloe Zhao takes Marvel’s first stab into the more traditional drama genre.

Chloe Zhao brings an entirely new vibe to the MCU with her film. In the past, the leading hook into the movies is the superheroes with the action and destruction. However, Eternals is different because of the considerable timespan they spend on Earth, and in various continents, it widens the scope and beauty of the entire world. The other movies constantly talk about saving the world, but the fight usually occurs in New York. While with this film, Zhao changes the formula up with shifting environments and new elements that weren’t previously explored.

There is a downside to the vast and landscape shots throughout the film that affects the fight sequences. These huge empty areas felt a little Power Rangers-like because of these massive battles of power, and it’s all conveniently happening in a place where no one is. It could fall back into protecting humans by keeping it away from them. It does take away from the immediate danger of losing their fights with the Deviants.

The ten Eternals comes from the planet Olympia, and they are all of the various races, age, and gender, but through the 7,000 years they’ve spent together on Earth, it’s only natural that they become family. Some eventually make their own families separate from the other Eternals, but it’s a continuous theme throughout the film. The idea of picking your own family and standing by them through thick or thin brings the double-edge sword of blindly following them. All of the characters have moments when they question everything they’ve done in the name of family or duty, and it keeps the movie compelling as they begin to continue to grow after all this time on Earth.

With movies with a more extensive cast, some characters tend to get lost in the shuffle most of the time. Even with the first Avengers movie Hawkeye was the one that felt left behind, and that was only with six main characters. Eternals has ten, but each receives severe screen time in this 2 hours and 37 minutes movie.

The cast breaks down like this: Gemma Chan possesses the main point of view of the film as Sersi. Richard Madden does his best impression of Man of Steel by playing Ikaris. Salma Hayek plays Ajak, the group leader and messenger between them and their home planet Olympia. Angelina Jolie gets to continue playing badass characters with her role as Thena. Kumail Nanjiani is the comedic relief and scene-stealer of the movie playing the role of Kingo. Lauren Ridloff gets to be the new blueprint of what speedsters should be in comic/superhero movies and the first deaf-superhero in the MCU by playing Makkari. Barry Keoghan plays Druig, a character who asks the right questions but not always in the most friendly tones. Brian Tyree Henry plays Phastos, the intellectual of the group and the character that brings the biggest heart to the film. Don Lee is the gentle giant known as Gilgamesh, a character who, criminally, gets the least screen time. Lia McHugh closes out the cast as Sprite, the youngest and most spirited of the team.

Although the characters come to Earth as protectors of humans, they aren’t gods, and it would be assumed they would be a lot less emotional, but Zhao makes that the exact opposite. Even with some of the “darker” characters, there is still a vital dynamic element in each one that they have developed over their time on Earth and their bonds to humans. Even if a few of them didn’t get a ton of exposition on some of the Eternals, we still got enough to see a small goal that gave the audience a view of their strong personality traits.

While the personalities and goals of the characters were given to the audience, the love story that was presented didn’t feel as complete. Specifically, the story dealing with the past love was more heard and not seen throughout the film. There were some glimpses into the past that showed the love being planted. There was never any bloom. The decision felt a little forced rather than making sense to the current storyline, and though it was used to propel other characters, it felt more of a scapegoat for that case.

One of the biggest questions throughout the film is, “Why didn’t you jump in when Thanos was attacking?” Their answer is simple: they do not interfere when humans conflict. It comes back to parents watching their children fight or make a mistake, and rather than stopping it right then and there, and they just let it play out. So even a Titan leveling half of the universe for five years still isn’t enough to help out? This directive from their higher-ups is part of their inner conflict about watching people they were ordered to protect and kill one another. This comes back to the theme of duty over family.

Overall Eternals is a movie that may feel a little out of place in the current MCU films, but as all Marvel movies do, it lays the groundwork for future films.