Eternals (2021)

Director: Chloé Zhao

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Runtime: 157 Minutes

Main Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Ma Dong-soek

Plot: The Eternals are a team of ancient beings with superpowers, sent to live on Earth for thousands of years to help mankind grow and evolve, whilst also keeping away the evil beings known as Deviants. When the Deviants reemerge, the Eternals are forced to come together once again to save the world.

My Thoughts: Can we take a moment to appreciate the new content Marvel has given us this year? I loved catching up on more indie movies last year but oh man, I do love me some Marvel. I was apprehensive about Eternals though, partly because I knew nothing about them, and partly because of the negative reviews that exploded onto social media a few weeks before the wide release. It’s really difficult to keep my thoughts short and sweet but I’m going to try. In summary, I enjoyed the movie a lot, but it has some huge issues also. Still, how many movies are in the MCU now? They can’t all be winners!

Let’s talk about the good. The movie is stunning. From the immense visual effects, to the gorgeous costume design, to the beautiful cast, Eternals is lovely to watch. There’s so much story to be told in the timeframe, on paper it should be an impossible task but Chloé Zhao did a fantastic job. I came away feeling clued in about the Eternals themselves, as well as feeling like I had enough time with each of the characters to care about them. This is not your average superhero movie, there’s a lot of depth to the story, and some great twists along the way, too. The cast is diverse and each character gets a fair amount of screen time.

Now the not so good. Yes, the story was told well but the pace is uneven. The majority of the movies flies back and forth between present day and back in various periods of time that it’s a bit overwhelming, and then the final showdown grinds everything to a halt which is a bit jarring. A lot of the humour didn’t work at all, which is strange for a Marvel movie. There were many jokes that didn’t get an audible laugh at all from the audience I was part of. It was really awkward! I don’t think the movie deserves the stick that it’s getting, though. It’s flawed, but it’s still a good movie.

Best Bit: I don’t know who I was expecting to be my favourite character but Kumail Nanjiani and Harish Patel were scene stealers for me. From the Bollywood dance scene to the sheer number of cameras brought along for the ride, they pulled in the biggest laughs for me.

Worst Bit: I could watch Richard Madden all day but I had huge problems with his performance. He has such natural charm but seemingly has only 1 facial expression throughout the entire movie. He’s completely devoid of a personality, which, when you consider the fact his character is compared to Superman, is a funny coincidence because I had the exact same issue with Henry Cavill as that character. So I guess it’s a deliberate choice, but it makes no sense to me.

Fun Trivia: Keanu Reeves, Luke Evans, Rami Malek and Ian McShane were considered for the role of Druig, before Barry Keoghan was cast.

My Rating: 3 and a half glasses of beer, home brewed and fermented with…spit.