Eternals marks the 30th project that takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and promised to deliver something we’ve never seen before from Marvel. Helmed by Chloé Zhao, an auteur known for her natural lighting, beautiful colour palettes and character driven stories, Eternals was built up to be a completely unique and different take on the increasingly more saturated genre of superhero films, however it fails on this front. It’s by no means a bad film, far from it, it just didn’t deliver on being this brand-new direction on what an MCU film can be.
Paradoxically I think this is why Eternals has garnered such a divisive response. For diehard fans of the MCU, this film wasn’t “Marvel” enough for them and for “Cinema” lovers coming in to see Chloé Zhao’s vision, it was too “Marvel” for them. Leaving this film in a bit of limbo as critics who were invited to the screenings for the film will, for the most part, fall into one of the two camps (still baffling that it’s the worst rated Marvel film though). Audiences seem to be enjoying this about as good as any mid-tier Marvel film which is good to see that people are going to see the film and form their own opinions. What worries me though is that the critical reception to this film will be viewed by the executives at Marvel as a problem, and that will be related to this film being “different” from the other Marvel movies. Which for one it really isn’t, it’s a toned-down version of the Marvel formula (which honestly worked better in my opinion) but this might stop creative voices from coming through in their newer projects and we’ll be left with more cookie cutter films.
Anyway, to the film itself. As I mentioned earlier this is a really good MCU film. It continues the vast improvement in cinematography, which we’d already seen in WandaVision and Shang-Chi, this time however Ben Davis (who’s worked on multiple Marvel projects) under the watchful eye of Zhao craft stunning visuals that deserve to be seen on the big screen. Particularly the use of wide shots in this film honestly makes it easily one of the best looking MCU movies to date. Zhao’s use of natural lighting really sets the look apart from the rest of Marvel’s catalogue, gloriously shot frames on beaches and in alien spaceships had me audibly reacting to how beautiful they were. Contrast the muted and natural lighting with the vibrant, exquisitely designed suits and it makes for a great combination, one that feels so real and not like the over-the-top comic book style we’ve been used to in the MCU.
Zhao manages to capture the grandeur and scale of this new side of the MCU with such ease too. Conceptually this film is packed but it never feels too dense that you get lost. Eternals, Deviants, Celestials, The Emergence. The film handles a lot, but you can leave the film with a clear picture on the purpose and place of all these elements. Not to mention the stunning visuals that come from these high-level concepts. Any scene when an Eternal visits a Celestial is unbelievably beautiful, the scale of seeing these God-like beings being reduced to ants in the presence of Celestials was a powerful and stunning visual. There’s not one moment in the film where the visuals looked bad, the CGI, unlike the other Phase 4 entries, was faultless (apart from that atrocious end credit scene). The Eternals powers are also gorgeous and utilised so well. Each character having such a distinct power, both conceptually and visually, made the film feel far more interesting and dynamic as it didn’t feel like any of the characters got lost in having similar power sets. Particularly Thena’s powers were absolutely stunning, what is essentially just a spear, a dagger and a shield were visualised so interestingly and Makkari’s speedster abilities are easily the best we’ve seen on screen yet.
This film is a good example of what a good MCU film can be. It’s not stuffed to the brim with obnoxiously humorous side characters, there’s still humour but instead it feels more natural, coming from character interactions and therefore allowing tension to build (on the whole). The pacing, apart from the rough start, is good, it allows these slower moments that really enhance the character dynamics which was needed in a film with 10 main characters. There’s stakes in the film too, this is more of a product of the MCU as a whole but watching the first Iron Man it’s clear Iron Man isn’t going to die as there’s a sequel to be made but with the Eternals I was completely shocked at the sacrifices that were made. As the film reached its climax I was genuinely concerned for the characters as I didn’t know who was safe. There’s also compelling twists and an attempt at telling a thematic story underneath the character driven one.
However, it’s the juggling of all these elements that is the downfall of this film too. It’s just too overstuffed. For one there’s too many characters, the film does a good job at trying to introduce 10 characters alongside brand-new concepts but unfortunately this leaves some of them (often the more interesting ones) with not much screen time and very thin character development. This can lead to complications in character’s individual stories too. Spite is the biggest offender of this. Underneath the story we’re given there’s a really interesting concept on someone who can never grow up and is forced to age and mature yearning for adult desires but will never be able to have them. However, the rushed story we’re given is that she’s in love with Ikaris, and this story isn’t even properly set up, it’s just told to us in a line of dialogue. What’s even worse is that this plot point then ends up being quite important in the final act of the film, but it’s never given the love and care that it should’ve been given.
This happens a lot in the film and that’s just one example, unfortunately it seems Zhao is the master of her own destruction as she presents us with wildly interesting characters but never gets the time to fully flesh them all out. Not only does this problem arise in the characters but also the larger themes the film tries to deal with. There’s not many MCU movies you can point to that are clearly trying to convey a deeper message underneath their character dynamics. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but this film feels like a true attempt to try and say numerous things about creationism, humanism, what makes someone a conscious being and authoritarianism… but it just never sticks the landing on any of them. That’s the most frustrating thing about this film is that it could be AMAZING but instead it’s just good, not bad, just good. There’s a part in particular that as the Deviants become stronger and more conscious that the Eternals realise that nothing is really setting them apart, they’re the same, what makes them different? And this line of questioning is simply brought up in a line of dialogue and never touched upon again.
Also, a small thing that annoyed me is how wasted Ramin Djawadi’s (one of my favourite composers) score is. The tracks themselves are great but the film doesn’t utilise the score well enough, many of the grand moments have the booming score behind them but when you have a score as good as it is, the film should be trying to incorporate it into the film more and in turn this would’ve elevated the grandeur and scale of the film.
Eternals is a frustrating film. Don’t go in expecting this brand-new take on what an MCU movie is because this isn’t that different from what the MCU has been putting out. The characters are great, the cinematography is the best it’s ever been in the MCU and the story and third act, unlike other recent Marvel projects, are brilliant. This is a good MCU movie, just a disappointment that it isn’t something more.
★★★1/2
