Eternals

Thanks for my beloved Pink Floyd in the opening, but otherwise, please disregard this God-knows-what episode of the cancer of the contemporary film industry. In the monstrously overblown runtime, it all emotionally passes you by in a big arc and deals with uninteresting things that have no continuity within the Marvel franchise. Kevin Feige may have made good on his promise to give space to unconventional directors, but I still wonder at the unconventional Chloé Zhao for going in as a mere disposable craftsperson. (01/29/2022)

An MCU-film coupled with the Oscar-winning director of the notable Nomadland immediately caught my attention, making a visit to the cinema almost urgent - despite the rather lukewarm trailer. At times, Eternals quite blatantly tries to be the most multi-cultural, tolerant and all-encompassing film from Marvel, which it manages to do in a universally unobtrusive manner for most of its running time. Technically, it's an audiovisual orgy, but that's what we're used to with films like this. I'd like to single out the appearance of the Deviants and Celestials. Aside from that, I enjoyed the various abilities and characteristics of the Eternals (Thena being most interesting to me), who were given ample space to be introduced where possible – hopefully we'll learn more in a possible sequel. I don't want to spoil anything here, but I appreciated the idea regarding the Eternals' main quest – it was similarly unsettling to Thanos's snap. Both post-credit scenes were a bit odd, but they served their purpose – curiosity is a bitch. (11/04/2021)

Marvel promised a slightly different comic book movie, and they delivered. But now, an hour after leaving the cinema, I don't know if that's a good thing. Eternals is a very ambitious film, but perhaps too much so, because it tries to tackle a lot of themes in a small space, and with a dozen heroes to boot. As a result, there's not much time to meditate on faith, fate, mythologies, religion and responsibility. Even at 160 minutes, it ends up feeling truncated in a way. On the other hand, the face of the new Marvel movie is indeed markedly different, with Eternals not even trying to reference other superheroes much (instead they make fun of DC) and confidently going its own way and in a rather different direction. I really don't know if that path is the right one right now. Chloé Zhao handles the action and all the attractions with aplomb, but she was clearly making a more ambitious film from that was supposed to be the start of something bigger. And at the same time, she had so many things to deal with in it that it just couldn't be done without compromises and shortcuts. So far, I'll say that Eternals is interesting rather than downright good. But it is very interesting. (11/03/2021)

I was completely indifferent to Eternals before its premiere, but in the end, it's surprisingly the first feature film from the MCU in a long time that I find at least interesting. For one thing, the motif of extraterrestrial beings overseeing the evolution of humankind for millennia and inscribing themselves in myths and legends is captivating, and I’d love to see something like that handled seriously outside the MCU. And secondly, I like the fact that the conflict underlying Eternals unfolds in morally quite ambivalent tones, which is not at all usual in this cinematic universe. I enjoyed it more when the characters solved these dilemmas, discussed them, than when they got into a fight with CGI creatures or with each other. But even the action scenes are among the best ones you can get. (11/06/2021)

Marvel is rolling out a new story, new characters and new adventures and it's not downright bad, but after the Avengers it seems to me that they are weakening and DC is getting stronger. Suicide Squad 2 is still one of the contenders for movie of the year, and next year I have no doubt that The Batman will be fighting for the top spot. The Eternals is a bit of an unusual Marvel movie, but the question is whether Marvel even heading in the right direction. The Eternals introduces a few heroes, but you can't remember the name of any of them after it's over. And I'm also tired of all the new characters having a different look and costume, but the same or similar abilities. In anime and games you have so many interesting options that here it feels poor in comparison. I didn't trust Chloe Zhao, because someone who’s never made a move I want to see in my life doesn't inspire much trust in me. In the end I expected it to be a bit worse. Occasionally, there was some humour, but by Marvel standards there is probably the least of it. There is not much action either, and it doesn't really stick out too much, it's an inoffensive standard in almost every aspect. The film doesn't outright offend, but at the same time it doesn't excel at anything and its pacing makes it feel literally eternal in places. If I had to single out something, it would definitely be the impressive historical flashbacks and the rather surprising body-count, but that's not enough for a higher rating for me, especially when after watching it I still have no idea who the main character actually was. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 3/5, Violence 0/5, Entertainment 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10. (11/08/2021)