‘Eternals’ Review

Embark on the MCU’s most vast movie yet. Introducing us to the Eternals who need to come together to protect everyone on Earth, while trying to discover who they truly are.

The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.

When you think of stability within a movie franchise, the MCU usually comes to mind. Everyone loves it, and so do the critics. It’s rare that a movie isn’t met with high praise and warm words, until recently. The newest addition to the family has been met with the worst reviews for a MCU to date, and after seeing the movie myself – I’m not sure why. Sure, this movie doesn’t come without its flaws, as Superhero movies tend to do these days. It boils down to this, the MCU is expanding to the point of no return. With the ever expanding roster of new characters, ideas and universes, it can get difficult to keep track of everything, but that shouldn’t be a flaw with the movie at hand. Eternals is vast, it’s huge in scale, providing some of the biggest themes the MCU has to offer. We are dealing with literal gods and some of the strongest and most powerful beings in the entire MCU.

So who better to bring in than Oscar winner Chloé Zhao. Fresh off her impressive year, she brings a little extra flare to the MCU. Providing us with some of the best visuals, landscapes and emotional moments to date. Alongside, a cast that is longer than a CVS receipt. Each Eternal brings a unique set of skills, whether it’s super speed or strength, the ability to shape shift objects, control minds, invent the most badass technology or simply be Superman. And that is just the tip of the iceberg with these people, and respectfully they all have their own moment to shine and showcase their awesome powers. When the leader of this group Ajax (Salma Hayek) suddenly falls, she appoints a new leader of the Eternals Sersi (Gemma Chan) to take her place. They have been on Earth for 7000 years, peacefully and quietly providing assistance whenever a certain foe known as Deviants are involved. So when the end of the world is upon them, Sersi rounds up the rest of the team like Danny Ocean and sets out to save this world.

Prepare yourself, we got Sprite (Lia McHugh) not to be confused with the soft drink, Ikaris, who is basically Superman (Richard Madden), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) a Bollywood star who can turn his hands into deadly weapons, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) who is the technology expert, Druig (Barry Keoghan) the mind shaper, Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) the speedster of the ground, Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok) the heavy hitter, and finally Thena (Angelina Jolie) the Goddess of War herself. Together they make or made one happy family, now separated for centuries. The standouts for me were Makkari and Kingo. I thought the speedster was so well done, and Kumail crushed his role. His arc and comedy were some of the best parts of the entire movie. When you have this much acting talent within the cast, some scenes are going to feel heavy and emotional, and I’m so glad they let each one of them spread their wings.

They must come together once more and overcome their differences to deal with the possibility that their entire existence has been one big lie. Introducing us to so many new and likeable characters is no easy feat, in fact, it’s one hell of a mountain to climb. With so many new people and a movie that deals with giant themes and elements, it can feel a little over bloated at times. Overstuffed with ideas, but in order for the MCU to grow, certain seeds need to be planted. This isn’t simple times anymore, we are dealing with cosmic deities who make Thanos feel like a cakewalk.

One thing I did appreciate about Eternals, it didn’t feel green-screen heavy. Chloé wanted to shoot a ton of stuff on location and you can tell. There is a ton of amazing imagery and visuals sprinkled throughout. The diverse cast helps propel the movie when it feels like it hits a bit of a snag. The movie is long, but when you have so much material at hand, what did you really expect? The middle certainly feels slow, but the third act is something to behold, when everything is up for grabs and these awesome new heroes get to showcase what makes them super. It’s going to be awesome to revisit these guys and gals again and see them interact within the MCU more. That’s the thing about going forward and getting introduced to all these new characters, I can’t wait to see where it all goes.

Don’t go into this movie just thinking about Rotten Tomatoes. Judge for yourself. It’s fun, cinematic and there’s a lot of good in this movie. No where near the bottom of the barrel for the MCU

Eternals = 71/100