REVIEW #107 Eternals (2021)

Eternals is the latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic universe and is directed by Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao. It follows a group of immortals created by celestial beings to protect humans from deviants. Blessed with a range of superhuman abilities they have protected and influenced the human race for thousands of years.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Wow, what an unbelievable cast Salma Hayek plays the Eternals leader Ajak, whilst Richard Madden plays the most powerful eternal Ikaris, Gemma Chan is Serci, Angelina Jolie is Thena, Kumail Nanjiani is Kingo, Lauren Ridloff is Makkari, Barry Keoghan is Druig, Don Lee is Gilgamesh, Brian Tyree Henry is Phastos and finally Lia McHugh is the final eternal Sprite. What I enjoyed the most about this stellar cast was that it was the perfect blend of talent, with comedic actors and actors known for more dramatic roles. This combination meant that we got the best of both worlds, performances that could get us emotional and make us laugh. Meanwhile it portrayed an authentic family dynamic that would allow us to relate to such superhuman characters. I enjoyed every performance from all ten of the actors playing an eternal but the three I was impressed most with was Kumail Nanjiani, who you can always rely on to make you laugh but he also delivered in the more intimate scenes too. Angelina Jolie was also superb, she really hasn’t lost it! Her portrayal of the eternal that had a ‘cosmic’ version of dementia was very unique and thoughtful and her chemistry with Don Li was really nice to watch. The third would have to be Lauren Lidloff, I was already a fan of hers from the Walking Dead and seeing her smash it in the MCU is great! Makkari is such a powerful character and that’s a credit to her performance. I’ll finish up with Kit Harrington, who had a small role but has built up so much excitement for his Black Knight character, I can’t wait to see more of him! 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

After reading some pretty poor reviews which mentioned that there wasn’t enough character exploration I was so pleasantly surprised to see that wasn’t the case. Despite there being 10 eternals to delve into, I feel that we actually did get to see a lot of each character. We got to see how being on earth for over 7000 years has effective each of them and what I liked most was the family dynamic that Zhao managed to emphasise so brilliantly. The bickering, the fighting and the love, everything a family goes through we got a taste of and it’s one of the best elements of the film. I’m glad we got our first look at Celestials and for such powerful beings I think they were handled well. The film explores a number of different time periods and climates but it was all really clear for the audience. I think I’m getting rather slow with predicting twists lately because I didn’t see the big one coming at all! Eternals made sure that the audience were aware of key bits of information such as why they didn’t get involved with human warfare or Thanos’ attack, they handled that nice and subtly but it was still clear. There are also so many projects that I expect will follow this film, from Black Knight and Namor to the characters in the end credit scenes, this film is filled with Easter Eggs! So I thought the storyline was great, yes it’s a long one so if you’re not a fan of long films then I could see why you’d think it could have been shortened. However I love a long film so it was perfect for me. One criticism I would have is the fate of some characters, without giving too much away, I didn’t like the ending for one character in particular (at the end of the film).

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I think Eternals had some of the best cinematography in the MCU to date, they dive into a number of time periods and terrains which created some fantastic visuals. The musical score is without a doubt the best in the MCU, it’s exactly what marvel films have been lacking, so full credit Ramin Djawadi who was responsible for that. As you would the special effects were fantastic, they looked realistic and even the Celestials had a really epic design that were convincing too. Zhao has mentioned Zack Snyder’s influence on the film, specifically Man of Steel and you could see that influence in Ikaris. His power was showcased brilliantly and the special effects assisted with that. One of the more subtle elements of the film I really appreciated was the gold almost symbolic energy fields that were frequent throughout the film. Whether it was Thena’s weapons, Phastos’ tech or even when the eternals put their suits/armour on. That design looked so elegant and fitted the mythology type theme that Zhao was aiming for. 

OVERALL (9/10)

Another great addition for the MCU! I read the bad critic reviews and to be honest I went in not expecting much as a result of that. However I absolutely loved the film, for heroes with such cosmic power the film focuses on family and the personality of these characters. The cast is fantastic, the acting is too and we were introduced to such complex relationships showing these eternals were just as human as the beings they were created to protect! Yes it’s a long film and I can see why people wouldn’t like that but I love long films so it was great for me. The storyline is dipped in mythology and introduces us to the cosmic phase of the MCU, upping the stakes. Chloe Zhao brings her cinematic prowess to create an elegant Marvel film that we haven’t seen before. So don’t listen to the critics and please go and see the film, I’ll definitely be going to see it again for sure! 

Thanks for reading.

Callan