Eternals movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Eternals

This superhero addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now available in theaters exclusively.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 36 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Receiving the worst Rotten Tomatoes scores of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, this new addition to the franchise is disappointing fans. Many are questioning the existence of the film at all and what it adds to the MCU.

The superhero film is written and directed by Chloe Zhao based on the Marvel comics by Jack Kirby. She won an Academy Award for directing Nomadland last year, so people were expecting big things from her with this movie.

THINGS I LIKED:

Who doesn’t love Richard Madden? Fans of Game of Thrones: Complete Series [Blu-ray] will be thrilled that Kit Harington is also in this movie.
Lauren Ridloff is a deaf actress who uses sign language in the movie and has some of the best speed VFX we’ve seen. She won Miss Deaf America in 2000!
The diverse cast looks great and also includes Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Kayek, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Ma Dong-Seok, Bill Skarsgard, and Harry Styles.
Kumail Nanjiani stuns everyone with his newly buff body, and he’s the one who provides the bulk of the comic relief in the story. His Bollywood dance number was funand his facial expressions were super entertaining. He has completely transformed how audiences will see him from now on.
The colorful film is beautiful to look at. What Chloe Zhao does very well is that she gives you plenty of moments of stillness when the movie slows down and you’re able to enjoy the landscapes.
Some humor.
I love twists. There are several twists.
Some of the action sequences and special effects are pretty cool.
People love superheroes who are vulnerable and have weaknesses. This group of Eternals is filled with flaws.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There is a lot of bouncing back and forth in time that could confuse viewers.
A lot of the action sequences look like they were designed for video games and look pretty fake.
Not all of the Eternals get equal screen time with fleshed-out backstories. There are too many characters to cover in the allotted time for a feature film. This could have been better developed as a Disney+ series.
There are some references to Superman and Batman that seem inappropriate and even disrespectful to DC Comics fans.
This is one of those movies you probably won’t want to watch again. In other words, once is enough.
Marvel fans are saying that it doesn’t seem to fit in the franchise, while other viewers think it’s refreshingly different. Refreshingly different can be a good thing since so many movie-goers currently have superhero burnout. Other than a brief mention of Thanos, you wouldn’t necessarily know this film is part of the MCU.
There is so much world-building and mythology that needs to be explained that you might either get confused or just not care anymore.
Not all of the one-liner quips are actually humorous.
We really don’t get to learn about or see much of the Deviants.
Because of so many characters and timelines, the movie’s story feels rushed, despite its long run time.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Lots of superhero violence.
The Deviants (monsters) could scare young children.
Sign language and other languages are spoken with subtitles.
People and creatures die violent deaths.
There’s an LGBTQ+ representation and kiss in the film.
This is the first time we actually have a sex scene in a Marvel movie, although it’s short and handled somewhat delicately without a lot of bedroom action.