ETERNALS Review
Not since GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was there a bigger cinematic risk for Disney and Marvel Studios to undertake more than bringing to life the spacey hijinks of the the ETERNALS. A creation of Jack Kirby in the 70’s, the Eternals took full advantage of the panels by throwing trippy characters and settings onto the page in vivid, almost psychedelic fashion and when compared to the grey colored latter day entries of the modern Marvel moneyhouse that is their ongoing film franchise, it would be wise to have apprehensions with just how these space gods would come to life in this new (and particularly arranged) comic movie universe. With the addition of filmmaker (and recent Oscar darling) Chloe Zhao holding the alleged reins to the film, ETERNALS seemed to be heading towards another worldwide sensation for Marvel like those other, much more goofy space pirates of theirs or fall into the depths of Marvel mediocrity. Despite its attempts to bring a sense of mournful humanity to bizarre space immortals, ETERNALS ends up feeling like a caped crusader in their daytime disguises: there, but almost forgettably so.
Once more undertaking the toils of acting as both a cinematic universe expander and a typical origin story, Zhao (who also had a hand in the screenplay with help from Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo) does a pretty admirable job of bringing a lot of new characters and ideas seamlessly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As it goes, the Eternals are another group of superheros, except this time, they’re completely of alien nature led by their gargantuan overseer, the Celestial Arishem (voiced by David Kaye). Essentially acting as both protectors and advancers for whatever planet they’re assigned to, Earth’s Eternals consist of *deeeeeppp breath*: group manager Ajak (Salma Hayek), conjurer Sersi (Gemma Chan), Superman but not legally Superman Ikaris (Richard Madden), warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie), finger laser boy Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), master of disguise Sprite (Lia McHugh), inventor Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), literal speedrunner Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), mind controller Druig (Barry Keoghan), and strongman Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok). Essentially ageless (but not quite immortal as we soon find out), ETERNALS follows this group through the ages of time as they, like a sort of superpowered group of Forrest Gumps, leave an unmistakable impact (both good and bad) on any civilization they come across while also occasionally having to deal with another extraterrestrial threat in the Deviants, another group of extraterrestrials that seem to exist to just eat humans.
While being in a group of all-powerful beings guiding humanity towards progress would sound like a grand old time, Zhao and her writers find the downsides to such as life as we soon see the complications of humanity at first, confuse, then ultimately jade most of the members, causing them to split off and do their own things. In the present day, set a few years after Thanos snapped half of the universe into dust, we find the Eternals formally doing their own things, which range from owning farms in South Dakota (Ajak), teaching students about history that they created (Sersi), or you know, becoming a long lasting Bollywood mega-star (Kingo). While more or less content to spend their lives doing their own thing, leave it to the threat of the Earth being destroyed being the final straw that brings these sad sack superheros back to working together.
As the gang gets back together and quips and snarks at one another in your typical Marvel fashion, Zhao attempts to shake up the typical mood of a Marvel popcorn film by adding a bit of haunted remorse to our heroes. In a way, it harkens a bit back to Zack Snyder’s interesting approach to Superman, where the filmmaker attempted to dig past an invincible glorious symbol of hope and find the self-doubts and ideological conflicts brewing within. Just as it went in those Supe films, so it goes with ETERNALS which can’t quite juggle the humor and moroseness it comes across. Indeed, when Zhao and her writers discover the difficult choices and consequences that our group of space gods deal with, the ideas are intriguing as the likes of Sersi, Phastos, and Druig in particular wonder just how much they’re actually helping mankind.
It also helps that these particular characters (with a special shout out to Mr. Madden’s interesting and genuinely effecting take on Marvel’s Superman, Ikaris) are brought to life through the performances of Ms. Chan, Mr. Henry, and Mr. Keoghan, respectively. As with most of his other stints, it’s Mr. Keoghan who steals the show as the moody and cynical Druig, a mind controller who’s found himself tired of drinking the Eternal kool-aid and deciding that the best way to save humanity is to control it. With effortless confidence that borders on recklessness, Keoghan turns what could’ve been a smarmy character into one who cradles a lot more emotional care for others and humanity itself. One of the mores somber outputs from the house of Marvel in recent memory, ETERNALS doesn’t always make for a fun time with these self-serious supes but I can give credit to Zhao for at least attempting to complicate these inherently psychedelic heroes, leading to a particular mid act switcheroo that genuinely took me by surprise. Additionally, it was nice to see a final battle not devolve into another “stop the beam in the sky” as the final showdown here instead revolves around a ticking time bomb emerging from the Earth itself, making for a nice and unique backdrop as each our heroes gets to have their own moment to shine with their unique powers.
Unlike most other Marvel outputs, ETERNALS also tries to bring a sense of realism to its own look, with Zhao and cinematographer Ben Davis famously putting an emphasis on filming on location, which, while a rather common technique in a lot of films, has become a sort of dying art in the green-screened reels of recent superhero releases. That being said, while the change is noticeable and appreciated (especially for a Marvel film) the overall look of the film never strays too far away from the MCU’s love of brutal greys and darkened blues, masking our extrasterials and their powers in a rather drab world. With the exception of one or two genuinely striking shots, ETERNALS doesn’t get much of Zhao’s previous talent for finding surprising beauty found in the natural settings of her worlds. As a whole, Zhao’s unique talent for discovering aching emotions in beautiful natural landscapes gets lost in the shuffle of a comic book movie that must, in the end, focus on expanding the bigger picture of the MCU once more.
For a relatively high risk project from Marvel Studios, ETERNALS succeeds by not blowing up in the face of its producers. Like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, there’s some interesting characters here to work with and build upon, and that’s not to speak of the larger potential found in these heroes’ own universe, but unlike James Gunn’s trailblazing success these band of heroes can’t quite stand out from the crowd of other recent MCU films as it only falls in line with the assembly. Not every risk fully connects here, but for the slightest of moments, it’s nice to see Marvel nudge a little towards new corners of their increasingly familiar IP’s.
3/5
