Eternals (2021) Review

Eternals (2021)

Eternals follow the Eternals, a race of immortal beings with superpowers who were sent to Earth by the Celestial Arishem to protect the world from the Deviants, who after centuries, have reemerged to kill the Eternals. 

One of the hardest things about introducing a new IP to an established universe is having to build an entire world, while simultaneously crafting a story that fits and has a conflict that doesn’t clash with said world building. And that’s where Eternals misses the boat. Now, while it’s by no means the worst MCU movie, it’s certainly the most boring, finding itself dreadfully bogged down with so much soulless exposition that any betrayals or revelations that do come feel unearned or lacking in emotional impact. This is an Avengers level film that needed to built up over the course of years, not just thrown together (and only really to set up other properties) for the sake of possibly being the next Guardians. 

It also never helps that in it’s entirety, the Eternals never feel whole, never like a team. They’re like a moody bunch of teenagers who never learned to grow up (impressive considering they had 5000+ years), a facet that's only exacerbated by their outright refusal to put aside their differences and work together. 

Marvel has had issues with this in the past but I feel like now more than ever, this is a tragically dull and lifeless looking film that, if anything, is a complete eye-sore, trying to do a Zach Snyder type of thing that really feels like a disservice to the colorful explosion of visuals the Jack Kirby comics were. There’s no spectacle and while I appreciate the attempt at shooting at real world locations, it just doesn’t work here. 

We get a huge cast, though lacking in any real chemistry, starring Kit Harrington, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, Kumail Nanjani, Don Lee, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Brian Tyree Henry, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, and Gemma Chan. I really appreciated the smaller performances from Harrington, Lee, and Jolie the most, as while there wasn’t a ton of characterization, what was there felt natural and interesting. Chan was also a surprising favorite for me and I really enjoyed the intricacies of Sersi that she managed to bring to the table. 

Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao, offers the most diverse and represented grouping of superheroes to date but it isn’t enough to save this film from the exhaustingly boring and drawn out mess that it, landing as one of the most lackluster Marvel adaptations to date. 

6.5/10