ETERNALS
2021 | Dir. Chloé Zhao | 156 Minutes
2021 | Dir. Chloé Zhao | 156 Minutes
"When you love something, you protect it. It's the most natural thing in the world."
An all-powerful cosmic entity sends ten immortal beings to planet Earth to protect the human race from ancient monstrous extraterrestrial beasts. Thousands of years later, the ten learn the true nature of their mission, forcing each one to choose between fulfilling their intended purpose or preventing the mass extinction of the people they have grown to love.
Chloé Zhao's Eternals features a massive scale story spanning thousands of years, breathtaking visuals photographed with natural lighting at real physical locations, and a diverse ensemble cast embodying an entire spectrum of incredible talent. While all of this sounds amazing on paper, and Zhao clearly demonstrates total commitment to the project judging by the technical merits of the feature, astoundingly the end product is a bit of a convoluted mixed bag that is sometimes a chore to sit through. Essentially establishing a brand new quadrant of the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the ground up with only the most tangential of connections to previous films, the feature's ambition is nothing short of admirable. However, the exposition required to introduce an entire set of brand new characters and concepts all at once is absolutely overbearing, greatly hampering the pacing of the film as it choppily jumps back and forth from ancient past to present day to deliver sometimes confounding world-building and character moments that are serviceable at best and somewhat dull at worst. Perhaps the largest issue is that the story lacks anything resembling a meaningful emotional core despite taking great lengths to sell the troubled romance of its two primary lead characters Sersi and Ikaris. Thematically, Eternals pits the notions of driving purpose and faith in a greater design against free will and profound compassion, which is an intellectually stimulating conflict in its presentation but never quite succeeds in eliciting a visceral response of any kind.
Eternals is a stunning picture to behold for sure, a welcome departure from Marvel Studios' sometimes rote standard visual style, presenting numerous striking exterior locations bathed in natural light. The scale of the action sequences are awe-inspiring, the superpowers wielded by the film's lead characters are visualized and realized in ingenious ways. Sersi's ability to transmute inanimate materials, Makkari's super speeed, and Thena's energy blades are particularly impressive. The visual effects are reliably appealing for most part, but the creature designs for the Deviants leave much to be desired, every single one including the lead Deviant looking like nothing more than an ugly digital mess of haphazard limbs and appendages.
As Sersi, Gemma Chan delivers the most sympathetic performance of the large cast, convincing in the role of a kind-hearted caretaker reluctantly inheriting on the mantle of leadership. Richard Madden as generally fine as the broody conflicted eye beam shooting Ikaris, his performance perhaps limited the script. While Lia McHugh is compelling as the embittered perennially youthful Sprite, doing a decent job conveying the character's weariness, the role is unfortunately pretty one-note overall. Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo is the life of the party, injecting the picture with a boost of energy and much-needed levity, though he is noticeably absent for the entire final act of the film. Angelina Jolie serves up the most exciting action of the group as the energy blade slinging Thena even as the character's thinly drawn arc of managing a certain level of metaphysical mental illness is woefully underserved. Don Lee's hard-hitting Gilgamesh serves mostly as a supporting role to Jolie though he at least has some of the best lines. Barry Keoghan exudes pure menace as the mind-controlling Druig, the first to question the Eternals mission on Earth, easily the most fascinating player of the group despite his limited rather screen time. Brian Tyree Henry is simply lovable as the enthusiastic herald of technology Phastos and quite believable as a mild-tempered family man. Lauren Ridloff is a real joy as Makkari, and the film doesn't give her nearly enough to do. Though her role amounts to what is essentially an extended cameo, Salma Hayek is a natural fit as team leader Ajak, emitting a regal and unconditionally affectionate presence. Kit Harington appears very briefly as Sersi's boyfriend Dane Whitman, amusing enough as the odd man out, while Harish Patel is truly hilarious as is Kingo's sidekick Karun.
Eternals is undeniably the first significant stumble for Marvel Studios in years. Despite the considerable breadth of talent in front of and behind the camera, its meandering pacing and leaden exposition very nearly undermine all that is fascinating, unique, and daring about the film. It is a frustratingly flawed introduction to a set of incredibly likable characters struggling with faith and free will. With any luck, Sersi and company will be involved in more engaging adventures in their next appearance.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
Onboard their spaceship, Thena, Makkari, and Druig grow concerned as they have lost communication with their companions on Earth. Before they are able to turn back, Pip the Troll (Patton Oswalt) and Thanos' brother Eros (Harry Styles) unexpectedly appear before them.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
Dane Whitman examines an ancient family heirloom, a black sword with a foreboding enchantment, hesitating to lay a finger on it. As Whitman approaches the blade, he is interrupted by an unseen character who questions his resolve.
- The needle-drop of Pink Floyd's "Time" leading into the Marvel Studios logo took me by surprise in the best way
- Super amusing to see Game of Thrones alums Richard Madden and Kit Harrington as romantic rivals though they only share one scene together in this film
- I've loved Kumail Nanjiani as a comedian and podcast personality for years so it's truly thrilling for me to see him in the MCU
- My first exposure to Don Lee was his fantastic performance in the seminal zombie film Train to Busan
- The direct references to DC Comics' Batman and Superman in the dialogue aren't all that jarring to me, though the notion Marvel Comics' de facto rival exists as a media company within the MCU is more than a little bonkers
- I was honestly a little shocked that Richard Madden's Ikaris turns heel instead of Barry Keoghan's Druig given Keoghan's tendency to play shifty characters and Druig's incredibly creepy super power
