Being the 26th addition in the mammoth MCU franchise to get a theatrical release, Chloé Zhao’s Eternals was announced to be something entirely different, and this super-powered drama is indeed very different from most of the MCU’s other offerings, thanks to its more mature tone and a heightened focus on the emotional lives of its characters.Taking this unfamiliar route has resulted in a divisive reception, with critics largely panning the film and audiences overwhelmingly expressing their satisfaction with the story of the latest heroes to be added to the MCU. This divide seems to be driven by the preconceived notions some have about what a superhero movie should be, rather than what a superhero movie could be.
The MCU has always been praised for its gradual introduction of new characters, but considering the Eternals all arrived on Earth at the same time and are intricately intertwined with human history and tales from early civilizations, it makes sense to introduce all the characters in one film.
Furthermore, since these beings all arrived together, their story is even more so a collective tale than usual, as there are also narrative reasons for why we do not get introduced to them little by little in a handful of films instead of the ambitious epic Eternals seeks to be.
Relying more heavily on drama than previously seen in the franchise, the film has solid performances from its diverse and talented cast. While the drama and the emotional lives of the Eternals is the focus of the film, that is not to say that the film is without humor; the familial squabbles of the group add both levity to the story and endearing depth to the characters, and in terms of comic relief characters, Karun – the valet of Kumail Nanjiani’s attention-seeking Kingo – is one of the better such characters the MCU has introduced in a while.
The visual effects are impressive, helping to successfully establish the scale of the gargantuan Celestials, just as it makes the fight sequences involving the Eternals largely engaging. This is not least thanks to how the action juxtaposes the increased emphasis on drama. Each character has a distinct fighting style and set of abilities, and the realization of the powers of Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari is one of the best depictions of speedster powers in any franchise in recent memory. Aside from the characters’ individual identities being expressed well in the way they each fight, how they combine their powers to tackle threats as a team also flows well for the most part.
Arguably, the film has some pacing issues in the first half, and depending on what one normally finds appealing in terms of narratives about super-powered beings, the first half of the film will feel like either worthwhile character building or aimless dawdling. As such, one could argue that the film would have been better served as a Disney+ series, which the MCU has utilized to further flesh out several of its characters, but considering the scale in both the figurative sense with the story and the literal sense with beings like the Celestials, Eternals always deserved to have their introduction on the big screen rather than the small screen.
Time and time again, the main point of criticism from the naysayers of the MCU has been that the genre is merely an assembly line of disposable, repetitive escapism – and there is certainly nothing wrong with that kind of entertainment. As such, one would think that these naysayers would celebrate this newfound maturity of the MCU, but that has clearly not been the case.
If this franchise is going to continue to grow and thrive, one should embrace that this will mean that the MCU will increasingly focus on genre aspects outside the tried-and-tested action/adventure spectacle in order to accommodate an ever-expanding roster of heroes and villains. With Eternals, this means a drama about a group of immortal heroes who have witnessed and been part of all the horrors and wonders of our world, which has in turn gradually made these immortal beings more human and given them the wide array of emotions and moral complexity that comes along with the human experience. That may not sound like an MCU film to some, but the franchise will undoubtedly only continue to release divisive fare, and it and its fans are ultimately better off for it.
Verdict: 8 out of 10
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Produced by Kevin Feige, Nate Moore
Screenplay by Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo
Story by Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo
Based on Eternals by Jack Kirby
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh,
Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee,
Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie
