I was not overly excited about Eternals as it didn't get great reviews, and didn't link clearly with the overall narrative of the MCU. With that said, although with flaws, Eternals is a fresh take with fresh characters that is a nice change from the other monotonous hack and bang MCU movies out there.
The story is strait from a History Channel documentary. Aliens (the Eternals) landed on Earth thousands of years ago to protect humans from deviants and to help them progress. Conveniently, they are sworn to secrecy, and therefore do not play into any other Marvel film to this point. Flash to the present, and danger is poking it's naughty head above water again. Will The Eternals be able to save Earth (as it must be August and all the are on vacation?).
There are a lot of characters, and yes, the cast is a United Colours of Benneton collection of very good actors. Rainbow, check, sexuality, check, mental health, check. But unlike other films, these are character traits that seem to flow naturally, and we are not constantly reminded of how 'woke' the movie is. The acting is strong, and the dynamic between the characters is the strength of the film. Just like any team, there are those that work well together, those that have a history, and a wide range of engagement levels. This is all done well, but with so many characters, and a pressure to get the story moving forward, these sometimes feel unexplored.
The action and special effects are on par, but often feels like a distraction from the interesting elements of Eternals. This feels like a major balance between director and studio trying to create an action film but include so many characters and script. I myself was way more interested in the story than the action.
Why not overly philosophical, I appreciate the each character is unique, and has a chance to share different perspectives on the events. This is not a united team of superheroes, but a group of supreme beings that has a rough history it must come to terms with.
Overall, Chloé Zhao does a great job juggling so many balls in the air; and yes, a few do fall to the ground, but those that stay up create a unique and overall interesting movie experience.
8/10.
The story is strait from a History Channel documentary. Aliens (the Eternals) landed on Earth thousands of years ago to protect humans from deviants and to help them progress. Conveniently, they are sworn to secrecy, and therefore do not play into any other Marvel film to this point. Flash to the present, and danger is poking it's naughty head above water again. Will The Eternals be able to save Earth (as it must be August and all the are on vacation?).
There are a lot of characters, and yes, the cast is a United Colours of Benneton collection of very good actors. Rainbow, check, sexuality, check, mental health, check. But unlike other films, these are character traits that seem to flow naturally, and we are not constantly reminded of how 'woke' the movie is. The acting is strong, and the dynamic between the characters is the strength of the film. Just like any team, there are those that work well together, those that have a history, and a wide range of engagement levels. This is all done well, but with so many characters, and a pressure to get the story moving forward, these sometimes feel unexplored.
The action and special effects are on par, but often feels like a distraction from the interesting elements of Eternals. This feels like a major balance between director and studio trying to create an action film but include so many characters and script. I myself was way more interested in the story than the action.
Why not overly philosophical, I appreciate the each character is unique, and has a chance to share different perspectives on the events. This is not a united team of superheroes, but a group of supreme beings that has a rough history it must come to terms with.
Overall, Chloé Zhao does a great job juggling so many balls in the air; and yes, a few do fall to the ground, but those that stay up create a unique and overall interesting movie experience.
8/10.