"The Eternals" Review: A Cosmic Story Contained on a Human Scale
- Vega
- Nov 7, 2021
- 10 min read
Platform: In Theaters
Release Date: November 5, 2021
“The Eternals” comes at a weird time for the universe in which it is set, with over twenty movies under its belt, the MCU is far past well-established. This film, while clearly set in a post-snap world, feels like more than just an origin story for its vast group of characters, but also as a psuedo-origin for the MCU as a whole. Outside of brief splurges of exposition by the Collector and Ego in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the cosmic origins of this particular version of the Marvel universe have yet to be explored. So not only does that open new doors, but this movie also explores Earth's development independent of the Marvel-specific entries to which we have since been exposed, albeit for a couple of lines here and there. With the amount of new that the movie introduces, it almost feels like its setting up a different MCU with an ending that could split into multiple new entries for Marvel Studios. That leaves this movie feeling very distant from the established story in its content, but after seeing the movie, also in its structure of storytelling.
Spanning thousands of years, the film begins in 5000 BC when ten superpowered beings are sent to Earth by Arishem the Judge, an original universal, cosmic-being known as a Celestial. The Eternals' sole purpose is to protect humanity from a race of monsters called the Deviants without interfering in any of humans other affairs. Once they seemingly wipe out the last of the Deviants around the 1500s, they await Arishem's orders to return home, but they never come. Over the time they spend on Earth, their collective perspective on their responsibilities begins to split as they all begin to differ on their opinions of humanity and their places on Earth, leading to the group's separation for hundreds of years. When the Deviants return with new developments, led by their leader Kro, the Eternals must come together again to stop their natural enemy. However, this reunion comes with the truth about their origins and their purpose: they were created by the Celestials to stop the Deviants, who were also created by the Celestials, but evolved out of their original purpose. Even bigger, the Eternals are meant to protect planet's civilizations so that the life energy can build up enough to initiate the Emergence, or the birth of a new Celestial from the very core of the planet that they protect. With some not willing to allow Earth to be destroyed, they have to come up with a way to stop a birthing Celestial (Tiamut) while fighting not only the Deviants, but some of their own who are willing to comply with their original purpose.
This movie differs from the typical MCU-formula in many ways, but I think its biggest defacting presence is how it focuses on the inner world of its characters and then attempts to expand that focus into the larger scale story. A signature of Chloe Zhao's directorial work, I can see these remnants from her direction of “Nomadland” (which I did not particularly like) in how this film explored the intricate humanities of the characters and attempted to show these intricacies flourish as the story progressed. This was done by showing the characters throughout the vast timeline of Earth's civilization, such as Babylon and Mesopotamia, with each of these flashbacks adding a new layer to one or two of the Eternals shifting perspectives and ideals. I do not think she failed in her direction with some of these characters, but to balance a world-ending threat with character studies across ten different personalities, there are some unavoidable trade-offs. Now the things that were very “Zhao” were good, and some very good: the individualization of the characters, the humanizing journey that some of them take, the beautiful historical settings, and the world capturing camera shots. I find Chloe's focus wanting to be about making the audience feel the journey of a film through a character's small moments and in this film, that comes off as very inconsistent.
I find myself questioning both of whether there was too much character focus and not enough character development, of which those are usually contradicting. However, with over ten character sharing some form of the spotlight, that contradiction feels quite fitting:
Ajak (Selma Hayek): The leader of the Eternals with the ability to heal and serves as the conduit between the Eternals and the Celestials. She is the fodder for her most loyal student, Ikaris, to stab her in the back as she wavers from the ideals she helped instill in him. I like Selma Hayek and I think she portrayed the role of the wise older Eternal well. However, her range has always been limited and I do not think she really portrayed the higher range of emotions warranted by her secrets and the portrayal she experiences at her end.
Sersi (Gemma Chan): She can manipulate matter and is chosen as the next in line following Ajak's death. She develops a strong connection with humanity and this is the driving force behind the main conflict of preventing Tiamut's emergence. I thought she was one of the highlights of the movie and brought a heartful performance of someone enamored by and enthrusted into the best sides of humanity. I really enjoyed how her character arc included two love interests, but neither became a focus of her motivations and that she maintained her virtuous endeavors.
Ikaris (Richard Madden): With the ability to fly and shoot energy beams from his eyes, this character serves as the ying to Sersi's yang, as he is disconnected from humanity and lives for the purpose instilled in him by Arishem. This guy sure knows how to play stoic, so much to the point that the character comes off as stale at times. He also victim of the worst plot decision: why suggest take the reins in bringing everyone together and risk the Emergence? He could have accomplished everything he wanted by doing absolutely nothing. It would have made more sense for pretty much any other character to suggest it over him. You do not like the character, but I also do not think you end up hating him enough to actually feel impacted by his eventual suicide.
Thena (Angelina Jolie): She is able to craft weapons out of cosmic energy and is the group's most skilled warrior, as well as the only one losing her mind. Due to the memory wipe that the Arishem performs on the Eternals between each planetary mission, Thena experiences mental breakdowns from the intruding memories of past Emergence events. I was impressed with Jolie in this role and thought she really tapped into some of her energy from “Girl, Interrupted” and played this shattered character well.
Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani): Having the world's greatest finger cannons (and most expressive eyebrows), Kingo can fire energy projectiles from his hands, even being able to build them up into a larger energy ball (think Dragon Ball Z). He was the comic relief and the most liberal member of the group, acknowledging the pros and cons of both sides, and ultimately choosing to not participate in the final confrontation. I can forgive his absence in the final act as it opened the door for underutilize characters to grab some spotlight, but taking a major player off the table in the most important part of the movie seems questionable.
Sprite (Lia McHugh): The illusionist of the group, Sprite can both create illusions, as well as hide herself and others through invisibility. Being embellished with the body of a young girl, she not only looks the youngest, but she also plays the part. I liked the actress and thought she brought a snappy personality to the film, but her character arc had no weight whatsoever. She is secretly in love with Ikaris, sides with him in the end, and feels cursed to be stuck looking like a human child, and thus, is ostracized from the complete human experience. Through Sersi's final act power-up, Sprite is turned human and begins her journey of growing up, but none of that development felt explored or touched upon until the end, leaving her conclusion with no real impact.
Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry): The group's inventor who is able to use cosmic energy to create weapns and other helpful technology. Even more than Sersi, Phastos is the most humanized of the Eternals and his performance felt the most like a typical character actor with his natural portrayal of a character with deep emotions for his family. He quickly became the stand-out performer, followed closely by Nanjiani.
Makkari (Lauren Ridloff): With the gift of super-speed, this deaf hero had some of the best action sequences in the film, probably because she did not have much else. I love Ridloff's work on”The Walking Dead” and have always wanted to learn ASL, but she is left off the board until the final act and receives the least amount of character development. Other than her flirtations with Druig, she does not get to show a lot of her personality, thus making it difficult to ascertain whether she has experienced any development over the thousands of years she has been on Earth.
Druig (Barry Keoghan): A bit of an outcast, this Eternal can manipulate and control the minds of others and is the first Eternal to really call into question their lack of interference in human conflict. He is not a simple hero, though, as he achieves peace and tranquility in his village in the Amazon Rainforest through his mind influencing abilities. Representing the worst case scenario for Arishem, Druig maintains the status quo of simple living with little advancement, which is pretty much par for the course with his character's development.
Gilgamesh (Don Lee): The group's powerhouse who takes on the caretaker role for a shattered Thena and that pretty much sums him up. I absolutely think he was killed off so he would not get confused with Benedict Wong's Wong as he establishes himself in a greater capacity in the MCU. Just saying.
Dane Whitman (Kit Harington): Sersi's boyfriend who serves little purpose in this film other than to further cement Sersi's integration with human society. As told through the end-credit scene though, he will take on the mantle of the Black Knight, as his character approaches the magical Ebony Blade following Sersi's disappearance after being abducted by Arishem. More exciting than that was the off-screen voice that questioned Whitman's readiness for the sword, which was the MCU's first cameo for Mahershala Ali's Blade.
Karun (Harish Patel): Kingo's long-time manager in the Bollywood business who accompanies him for the majority of the group's reconciliation with each other and attempts to help capture footage for an Eternals documentary. He was an absolute joy to watch on screen and served as more than additional comedic relief, he represented the other side of the coin, a mortal in the world for which some of the Eternals are fighting. I would have taken more Karun over a handful of the lesser used Eternal characters.
Through this vast cast that also included Bill Skarsgard's voice for Kro and David Kaye's for Arishem, the movie explored some of the many human aspects of life that are left by the wayside in the typical MCU formula. The movie includes a much more graphic than expected sex scene with clear thrusting, a gay couple, frequent kissing, deafness, and even suicide. All common aspects of the human condition, they rightfully have a place in a universe that has much semblance to our own. These never came off as anything more than character details, not part of a social commentary or anything of the sort, they were just there, further capturing the world as it is, which is very fitting for a film about characters embracing humanity with all its wonders and flaws. Where the film struggles is in balancing the characters' development and how it is structured across multiple time periods. Because most of the characters are undergoing the same two critical points in their existence: questioning their mission on Earth and then the revelation of that mission being a lie, there is a lot of back and forth that feels very repetitive. I montage here or there could have summed up a lot of this transition from the past to the present and allowed more focus on the world-ending catastrophe going on or even more exploration of the cosmic world being introduced. Unlike others, I do not think the pace of the movie was hurt much by this, nor did I find it slow but, rather, a bit tedious.
Again, telling a human story within a superhuman world comes with sacrifices and many of those came in the “super” part of the story. The designs were cool, the Deviants looked menacing, and the special effects and CGI were some of Marvel's best. However, there were many details that were either glossed over or not acknowledged, such as the inconsistencies in what could damage and kill the Eternals. Druig gets demolished by Ikaris in the final act but is able to come back after a bit of a nap, but Sersi gets stabbed once by Sprite and struggles throughout the rest of the film's ending. Having such a character-focused plot also made the tone of the film a bit hard to understand. I felt there was more focus on reminding us of how amazing humanity can be and not enough on the chaos that the world would be experiencing as it is coming to an end. The Eternals are so concerned about humanity, but they 1. do not feel it necessary to warn to the planet or 2. seek out no help from the many other super-powered individuals already in existence. Also, how many generic, super-group walking together in a line moments can one film have?
This is a world riddled in super-powered beings that has experienced many life-altering events, and yet, this never felt like part of that same world most of the time. Fitting to the story, everything was done in very human settings, seemingly untouched by a history of 20+ other movies having an impact on Earth. If this was not an MCU movie, this would not be an issue at all, but having the responsibility of moving not just its own plot but the plot of a shared universe forward, it failed a bit in that regard. I think it was only really captured in Whitman's end-credit scene and the mid-credit scene's arrival of fellow Eternal Eros/Starfox (brother of Thanos portrayed by Harry Styles) with Pip the Troll (voiced by Patton Oswalt).
All in all, I just do not get it. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” received more favorable reviews than this movie? Is it because of the lower expectations it garnished or because of the higher expectations critics may have had of the most recent Best Director Oscar winner? This is not a great movie and it exists, for me, just outside of the upper half of the MCU's offerings. However, I appreciated how it tried to take a different approach to the structure of a Marvel-based movie and tried to tell a world-ending story from a different perspective. There were times I really liked this movie and was enamored by the sites and action, but there were just as many times when I wished it would sum things up and move into something greater and less grounded.
RATING: 🌋 🌋 🌋.75 / 5
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