The CineFiles
The Eternals
Abby Denne
On November 5th, the 4th phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (also known as the MCU) was expanded with the theatrical release of the film The Eternals. In this film, director Chloe Zhao, tells the tale of a group of immortal beings called The Eternals (hence, the eponymous movie title) with varying superpowers, sent to Earth roughly 7,000 years ago to protect humans from creatures out to feed on human life called Deviants. Our main family of Eternals goes as follows: Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikarus (Richard Madden), Ajak (Salma Hayek), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Druig (Barry Koeghan), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), and Sprite (Lia McHugh). So far, the film itself has collected a $281.4 million global total at the box office after only two weekends of viewings. However, despite the 86% audience score, it has still received a 51% critic score from sources such as Rotten Tomatoes. This places it as the lowest-scoring Marvel film in history. It has the largest gap between the audience and critic ratings in Marvel history too, with a whopping 35% difference. So the question is raised: what earned it such a negative rating from critics when it landed well with general audiences?
There are multiple components to answering this question, all of which can be explained by this review. Before diving in though, it is worth noting that this movie is still in theatres and, therefore, all content here will contain spoilers. Read at your own risk!
As with any Marvel movie, one of the most important aspects to look at in this film is the visual effects. Now, because Marvel spends roughly $350 million on CGI for movies with ensemble casts (such as this one), it is to be expected that the VFX in any Marvel movie will be fairly decent. That being said, the effects in this film were especially well done and the visuals in general were absolutely stunning. Since the movie is very reliant on CGI, it was a massive relief to see from the get-go that the visuals felt realistic and enticing. From settings such as ancient Mesopotamia to the digital effects behind all of The Eternals and their powers, to even the outer space setting where Ajak (Hayek) speaks with the celestial being, Arishem, who created them. It was made clear very quickly that there would be no shortage of mystical visuals and general ethera. (There’s a particular moment that sticks out to me in the beginning where Chan’s character turns a London tourist bus into a downpour of rose petals and, sitting there in the theatre, my jaw actually dropped). This does not just refer to the digital effects either. It extends to the costume department, the set designers, and the makeup department. All of these forces work together to create these beautiful scenes with costumes tailored perfectly to the personalities of each character. Thena’s white bodysuit to further the Greek goddess theme given by her name, the vibrant suit matched with the pixie cut to further highlight the youthful look of Sprite (McHugh), the darker tones to Druig’s costume (Koeghan) pairing well with his sullen personality. These are just a few of many examples. So, in general, the visuals of the film were arguably one of its strongest aspects and delivered all across the board.
The next thing to look at is the relationships and dynamics between the team of Eternals. Director Chloe Zhao was faced with quite a challenge, needing to establish the complicated dynamics between a 10-person team, each with individual backgrounds and characteristics, in only 2 hours and 37 minutes. Yet, somehow, Zhao does it really well. There are Eternals who end up getting more screen time than others, with Sersi, Ikaris, and Thena taking the top spots, but even those who did not get as much screen time still managed to worm their way into the hearts of fans. This is most notably seen through Druig (who was the unexpected heartthrob of the film), Makkari, Thena, and Phastos. Thena had a very isolated storyline from the others, but it’s still a very admirable one, exploring her journey through regaining bodily autonomy and a mind that she can trust. For Phastos, his journey is a bit different, starting from the heart wrenching scene of him looking out on the damage Hiroshima did back in the 40s and progressing all the way to a place where he can have faith in humanity again. But, in spite of the chemistry between pairs of characters-- the fan-favourite flirty banter of Druig and Makkari, the intense and destructive relationship between Ikaris and Sersi, the intimate and healing platonic bond between Thena and Gilgamesh-- the shining star is the dynamic between the 10 characters as a whole. Their family dynamic is enjoyable through lighthearted moments and even through fighting sequences where they very clearly look out for each other and work flawlessly as a singular unit. This ensemble cast has really great, effortless chemistry that transfers easily onto the screen. Ajak (Salma Hayek) acts as the mother of the group, with each character falling under different tropes, yet still maintaining complexity and nuance. Even as the conflict between them comes to a peak and Ikaris betrays the team, it is not portrayed as Ikaris being some irredeemable monster. He is simply someone who’s more subservient to Arishem, the Celestial entity who created them, and sticks to his opinion. He goes about it in all the wrong ways, but Kingo does the right thing by abstaining from fighting the rest of his family even though he agrees with Ikaris. The main problem in this film happens when The Eternals learn that in order for new Celestials to be born and create planets and galaxies, everyone currently living on Earth has to die too. This struggle of whether to sacrifice the lives of a few for the potential success of millions of other planets and galaxies can be seen as an allegory for the abortion debate as well -- or even an exaggerated version of the classic philosophical question of the trolley problem (whether to sacrifice a few for the greater good or to save the few and ignore it). In showing that disagreement between the ten Eternals, Marvel throws the standard “Good vs. Bad” conflict trope out the window and replaces it by posing the question: what happens when powerful people disagree about a major philosophical question? The maturity behind their conflict is one that isn’t seen in The Avengers, where you’d seldom, if ever, see an Avenger not supporting an idea, but still walking away without a fight. It's why Captain America: Civil War came to fruition: because they all stuck their heads in the sand and went to war with each other immediately. Seeing a final fight like that play out in The Eternals, then, was extremely refreshing.
Director Chloe Zhao
Eternals character Phastos
The pitfalls of this movie are found in the structural and pacing issues. There are a lot of really great components to the film, ranging from happy and comedic family moments to intense betrayals or action sequences. That being said, those moments are so vastly different in atmosphere, and yet, the transitions between the two components are often abrupt and rocky. This can be only partially attributed to the vast amount of character backstory introduction needed and the setup. There’s a little too much time spent just uniting all the characters and developing their stories and they don’t seem to do it in any particular order which makes the beginning feel more aimless and confusing. One thing in particular about the camerawork that critics seemed to notice as well was that there are a vast amount of close-up shots (camera shots that were from the shoulders up) as opposed to wide shots (also known as long shots) that are full-body shots you usually see in action movies. Another thing that contributed to this was the delayed time and location stamps for all of the flashbacks and flashes back to the present. In many scenes they fail to make it clear for the first minute or two of where the characters are or what time period it is. It is safe to say that the second half of the movie is much more compelling than the first for these reasons. The famous end credit scene featuring Harry Styles also came under some scrutiny, with some saying that the casting for Eros was too unrealistic compared to the CGI done on Josh Brolin for Thanos.
Essentially, in layman's terms, Thanos was an ugly purple villain and then his very attractive, normal-looking brother appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Despite the bizarre nature of that scene and the lack of connection it has with the other components of the film, that specific end credit scene is a huge easter egg for Marvel comic fans seeing as how Thanos’ brother, Eros, becomes a superhero known as Starfox in the comic books. This, along with the film’s general focus on the theme of free will, sets up an endless amount of possibilities for what the unifying battle will be for this new wave of heroes. Potentially, thanks to the end scene (before the end credit scenes) where Arishem finds out The Eternals thwarted the birth of another Celestial, fans could expect for the climax of this 4th phase to be an intergalactic war with The Eternals and the new wave of Avengers against the Celestials and other beings determined to limit free will, such as the TVA and Kang the Conqueror (as seen in the Disney+ series Loki). To me, that makes this a movie that will probably become a lot better once the 4th phase of the MCU is developed more extensively. Not all of the pieces of this movie make sense and, for now, maybe it is intended to be that way.
Throughout all of this analysis, however, the question is still raised: why is The Eternals getting such a bad critic score yet such a positive fan response? There are multiple elements to this answer. First, this is one of the first Marvel movies with completely new characters. These new heroes are acting as a stepping stone to the 4th phase of the Marvel cinematic universe, with the expansion of worlds and the opening of the multiverse. So naturally, starting with a blank slate is an uphill battle when the original Avengers were so beloved. It means maybe Chloe Zhao overcompensated by spending too much time setting things up because she saw the importance of getting the audience to empathize and relate to these characters. However, the second and more prominent reason I believe this movie is earning such a bad reputation with movie critics is because of that dreaded D word: diversity. The Eternals featured Marvel’s first ever canonically gay superhero, with the innovative Phastos (played by Brian Tyree Henry, a black man) marrying another man and starting a family in an attempt to restore his faith in humanity. There’s also Lauren Ridloff, an Afro-Latin actress who stole the spotlight as Marvel’s first ever deaf superhero. In fact, out of the ten Eternals, six of them are people of colour and 5 of them are women. Only two of The Eternals are white men.
Even the director herself, Chloe Zhao, is Chinese-American. Now believe me, this is not about to become a bashing party on white men. Druig and Ikaris are powerful and compelling characters, with actors Richard Madden and Barry Koeghan going above and beyond in their performances. However, it is worth noting that the number of white and male critics far outweigh the number of non-white and female movie critics. Again, this is not an attempt to drive white men out of Hollywood, but the point is raised: a pool of critics who are predominantly white men might not be able to offer the best insights for a superhero movie that wasn’t necessarily designed for them-- the first one to ever do that, for Marvel. So, although there are valid criticisms of this movie, it is safe to say that the audience score for it is far more accurate than the critic score.
In general, The Eternals is a mystical, powerful, and refreshing Marvel film that opens endless possibilities for the 4th phase of the MCU. It comes with its flaws, but then again, what movie doesn’t? Overall, I’d say the audience rating of 86% is much more accurate than the critic rating. A score of 86% solidifies the movie’s worth while also leaving room for improvement. If you are interested, you can view it in theatres today or watch it on Disney Plus starting January 12th, 2022.
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