Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans finally have their next movie in the ever-growing universe. However, this entry is one of the worst and more generic films to have been released by the Disney-owned studio.
The film focuses on a bunch of immortal robots, that's right there are cosmic robots, created by the Celestial Arishem who needs the Eternals to fight off the Deviants, who were also created by Arishem. The Deviants were a mistake so the Eternals were needed to be created to combat the Deviants to protect the human race and so the race could grow on the planet. Bottom line of this plot line is that Arishem never told the Eternals why they were needed to protect the humans and planet and it isn't revealed until later in the movie it was to bring a new Celestial into the fold that would both destroy the planet and humans. After thousands of year protecting the humans, several of the Eternals came to care for the humans and they wanted to stop the "emergence" of the new Celestial to save both the humans and planet.
Sounds cool if this were a sci-fi movie with no attachment to the MCU, and while it does potentially set up some larger narrative things for the future of the MCU, it is a boring movie with lots of exposition and the film even starts with a wall of text getting viewers ready for what is about to happen in the film.
The characters of the Eternals are mostly dull. Some try to show some emotion but there's not much connecting with these characters for the most part. It's not the fault of the actors, it's the script and story that is the problem. None of these characters seem to be having any fun except for actor Kumail Nanjiani who is just doing his schtick and gives the only bit of lighthearted levity throughout. The movie isn't dark but just very muddled and the pacing is a drag.
The Deviants play a role that could have been somewhat interesting but they are really just punching bags for the Eternals to show off their immense power. Otherwise, the Deviants are a waste of time and just a plot device to try and get the narrative moving.
Filming this movie in real life locations definitely helps the look of the movie and it is shot very well and looks beautiful at times but that is all taken away by some iffy CG effects, especially in the final battle that is very CG heavy. The film really feels like it was Marvel's attempt to try and make a DC movie. If Marvel CCO Kevin Feige was trying to make his own version of a DC movie, even he couldn't stick the landing.
MCU fans will eventually need to see this movie since there does seem to be some framework of connections to events coming in the Phase 4 films releasing in 2022 and 2023, but this is really a see it once and you're good and there is no need to rewatch it.
While leaving the theater there are doubts that ETERNALS will be able to drive viewers into theaters to see this and a huge second weekend box office drop off seems inevitable as word of mouth won't be that good. A sequel is definitely not guaranteed for this attempt at a new MCU franchise.
Finally, stay for both credits scenes as the first one is better and more exciting than anything that actually happened in the movie while the second one adds some mystery moving forward for one character.
Written by Daniel Wolf, Founder and Publisher
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