'Eternals' Review: The Best Mistake in the MCU
Testing the limits of the arthouse blockbuster, Chloe Zhao’s ‘Eternals’ hosts one of the most complex battles in the MCU- and it’s not what you think.
From the beginning and regardless of director or studio interference, ‘Eternals’ was doomed to be messy. There was almost no way around it. With a timeline for the Marvel characters that spans from the big bang to any given point in the future, a smorgasbord of characters to focus on, and cosmic, world-ending plots that trivialize other superheroes' premises, a film adaptation involving The Eternals, always had the potential to be a little scattered, at best. The strong possibility of any Eternals film garnering a lukewarm response, was foreshadowed by the reception of the original comic, coming out with mixed reviews compared to its Avenger-centric counterparts. So yes, concerning The Eternals, untidiness was inevitable. The question never concerned the potential for a messy film, but rather what kind of mess we were going to find ourselves in; and this rendition of MCU’s Eternals is an expansive, bountiful, and downright cluttered island of misfit toys.
A concoction of superhero action, family drama, and college reunion road trip, Eternals, directed by Chloe Zhao of recent ‘Nomadland’ acclaim, is a dusty toy box of spectacle, mood, and genre. Of course, in the right amounts, any combination of ingredients has the ability to create something fresh, but the actual execution in combination of these elements feels half-baked. The diagnosis: a case of too many cooks. Audiences are led into the world of The Eternals by way of our protagonist, Sersi (Gemma Chan), whose simple niceties overpower any deeper complexity within the character. To the filmmakers’ credit, it’s a risky move to have a shyer, more passive character as the keystone of a superhero film, let alone Marvel film, known for their boisterous and snarky heroes, but its payoff is a tad underwhelming, especially after Sersi steps into a more powerful role within the rest of The Eternals following the obligatory doomsday announcement.
Unfortunately for Sersi, she has to compete for screen time between some of her teammates including, Druig (Barry Keoghan), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), who paradoxically steal the spotlight while needing way more scenes. As Ikaris, the Alphamale of the group, Richard Madden deeply portrays a tortured by-the-book workaholic who, with the admiration of Sprite (Lia McHugh), provides necessary sources of strain within the team. The strongest character by far is Angelina Jolie’s Thena, in a role commenting on this purgatorial phase of her acting career. Unfortunately, at the bottom tier, lies Kumail Najiani, as Kingo, who not only has the absolute worst power, but may be the most pointless and inconsequential MCU character to date. But hey… at least he’s funny… ish.
As an artist, Chloe Zhao has a preoccupation with the idea of “the outsider”, with both ‘The Rider’ and ‘Nomadland’ intrinsically being about humans on the fringes of society. With that in mind, it’s funny that with an oeuvre as specifically tailored to characters on the outskirts, many Marvel fans were hesitant of her abilities in tackling the superhero genre, a genre which deals with types of characters who are part of a vast minority. Yes, ‘Eternals’ is a superhero movie, but it also contains character studies of unearthly beings finally experiencing the weight of their displacement. It’s that weight, that feeling of heaviness, that defines Zhao’s approach to her film. Generally speaking, our protagonists in the film are unknown entities within the MCU, not relying on the zeitgeist nor prior films, really only visually defined by the colors of their outfits and the actors that play them. More than their personal wants, goals, and histories, they are a group of characters defined by their relationship to humans as well as their own humanity.
While other Marvel films may be riddled with world conquerors and star eaters, the conflict of Eternals, while another doomsday scenario, is a conflict specific to the human beings of Earth. And on the flip side, The Eternals don’t (and technically can’t) care about tiny conflicts or wars. They serve a very specific purpose--- protect humanity. Not the planets, not individuals, but humankind. It’s this kind of objective existentialism that usually works well with Zhao’s sensibilities as a director. At points it feels so separated from the existence of the MCU, that when buzzwords like “The Avengers” or “Thanos” are uttered, it feels a bit shoehorned into a story that would otherwise stand on its own, far away from the MCU. Characters touting philosophies at one another, engaging in debates over a human worth, the lengths they go in order to feel or even be human, this is where the film shines, in its heaviness. However, in many ways, it is this same gravity that becomes the downfall of the film.
There is a gruelling tug-of-war that casts an unfortunate shadow on what otherwise could have been a complex observation of humanity. Its two perpetrators? Zhao, the film’s commander in chief, and Marvel’s overlord Kevin Feige, both of whose influence is inherently plastered all over the film. Regardless of which side represents “good” and “evil”, their collaboration with each other feels like a custody battle between the film. Of course, every director under the MCU fights similar battles in terms of creative control, but Eternals is an odd case. Often, Marvel’s house style of snappy hyper-vibrance overshadows the presence of any given director, but this is not the case with their latest film.
Marvel has given Zhao a battleground in which she gets to fight back, retaining some trademarks of her own. And while in most circumstances, this kind of meshing would be a tremendous achievement, ‘Eternals’ feels less like a conversation between two artists and more like a screaming match. This disjointedness is a constant current throughout the film, jumping in tone like a hot potato being thrown around. It results in a film that, similar to certain giant purple glove-loving alien, is inevitable and overconfident to the point of self-prophesying destruction.
However, it's this failure of the film that makes it one of the most interesting watch experiences of the new year. Zhao’s crack at the MCU is all in all a great thing for the industry; one they may never try again. Its messiness is not representative of the intrigue that it sparks, and alongside the most diverse cast in Marvel and a director swinging for the fences (as much as she could) ‘Eternals’ may become the most important film in the studio’s body of work concerning the studio’s future. And if not the most important, then certainly one of the most interesting. The underlying battle between the creators of Eternals is the most riveting aspect of the film, and in many ways eclipses the movie itself. Moreover it begs the question… where does this universe and this cinematic juggernaut go from here?