My Review of Eternals (2021)

 

Written by Chloe Zhao And Patrick Burleigh And  Ryan Firpo And Kaz Firpo

Directed by Chloe Zhao

Ikaris: "Eternals assemble."

For those who have too often proclaimed that they wanted the MCU to mix things up a bit, this movie might either the very thing you were hoping for or a classic example of being careful what you wish. For me, there's definitely elements of both here.

In the thirteen years since the MCU launched, we've had various solo and team up movies. The Avengers are a cinematic giant. The question this movie posed was whether or not these god like alien beings who have watched over humanity for 7000 years can match them? In terms of powers, definitely. In terms of impact, it's a bit harder to say.

For this movie introduced ten of these Eternals, along with the promise of more to come, should a sequel become a reality. The Eternals here are leader Ajak (Salma Hayek), second leader Sersi (Gemma Chan), the divisive Ikaris (Richard Madden), warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie) and her protector Gilgamesh (Don Lee). Completing the lineup would be speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), mind controlling Druig (Barry Keoghan), as well as Bollywood sensation Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), illusion casting Sprite (Lia McHugh) and inventor Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). 

It's admittedly a lot of characters to introduce at once and in news that wont be surprising to anyone, some of them are better utilised than others and not all of them make it out of the movie alive. The movie started with the title group coming to Earth on a mission by the Celestial Arishem (David Kaye). The Eternals believe it's their duty to protect the planet from the Deviants. The real mission however turned out to be somewhat darker instead. 

Dark enough for the team to splinter on whether or not to save the planet they've spent millennia becoming attached to or following the orders of a being who has constantly reset them and lied to them. Leading the sides of conflict are of course Sersi and Ikaris, who take the lovers to enemies to something far more complicated altogether. 

As a baddie, Ikaris probably worked better than the actual Deviants themselves. Even his other Eternals struggled to hold him back from allowing Tiamut to rise from the Earth. The use of a Uni-Mind might have put the main monster to sleep while Thena's own warrior skills dealt with the main Deviant, Kro (Bill Skarsgard) but Ikaris was the only villain to make an impact here. As for his final moment, given the nature of the Eternals, it's unlikely that he's gone for good.

While the villains are definitely the weaker part of the movie, most of the Eternals have their moments. There's a lovely rapport between Thena/Gilgamesh and Druig/Makkari while Sersi had an intriguing relationship with a civilian Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington), Kingo and his manager, Karun (Harish Patel) as well as Phastos's family life with husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman) and son Jack (Esai Daniel Cross). Diversity definitely is the  biggest strength of this movie.

- Mid credit scene introduced Eros/Starfox (Harry Styles) who offered to help Thena, Druig and Makkari to find Sersi, Kingo and Phastos.

- Post credit scene set up Dane Whitman to take on the mantle of Black Knight with a voice cameo from a future character getting their own solo movie.

-This movie not only featured a same sex kiss with Phastos and Ben but also a sex scene with Sersi and Ikaris. 

- Chronology: 2023 as well as various time periods and locations. 

Eternals has lofty ambitions, some of which are successful while others are not. It's a beautiful movie in some parts bit also too long for it's own good. The humour lands in some scenes and flatlines in others. The serious moments are good, as are the set ups for future MCU projects but the main monsters are poor. Saying that, I liked a lot of the movie and I definitely want to see Zhao tackle a sequel and learn from what didn't really work here. It's not the MCU at it's best but it's far from the worst as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10