The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, on the other hand, is a provincial backwater in comparison to the tremendous breadth of this newest addition, which spans such vast swaths of space and time that cramming it all into one film is a scientific discovery in and of itself. If we talk about Eternals, it is excellent as it is both strength and a weakness.
If you look at its visual spectacle, it gives us an astronomical view. From Mesopotamia to modern London, the Australian outback to historic Babylon, the structure covers the entirety of the world and human civilization, with various CGI-heavy set-pieces. Sitting through the endless credits gives the impression that every VFX artist on the planet is in production. Some of his works are amusingly extraordinary; others, it should be noted, are downright awful.
An equally wide and joyous cast of characters including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kumail Nanjiani brings tremendous scope. Even before a syllable of speech is said, three thick paragraphs of textual content explain how our 10 Eternals came to earth to guard it against the predatory Deviants (a form of skinless, sinewy animals with prehensile tentacles) on the command of Arishem, “the Prime Celestial.”
If you’ve already gotten lost, you’re in luck: there’s a lot more to come, which will necessitate some planet-sized chunks of exposition. It looks like you’re watching a very subtle PowerLevel presentation at times.
The casts are not your typical Marvel superheroes, though; they’re eternal, invincible gods who have been living among us in secret for the past 7,000 years. “Why didn’t you help battle Thanos?” ponders one weird human. They claim that Eternals can only interfere when Deviants are involved. The Eternals, like the Wakandans in Black Panther, are split on how to use their superiority.
Overarching themes include power, duty, devotion, and unity. However, these immortals only contact people for a few moments at a time, making their plight feel even more ad hoc. It’s only when the Eternals’ fates are in jeopardy that they become interested in protecting us mere mortals.
Zhao’s earlier work was known for its sensitivity and realism. Eternals are a massive, un-realism train. Zhao not only manages to floor the story with some intimate drama, but he also gets to floor the story with some public drama. There’s an un-Marvel-like intercourse scene involving two naked people, and a homosexual character kisses their same-sex partner — however, both of these scenes are brief.
As Eternal-turned-Bollywood film star Kingo, Kumail Nanjiani provides some much-needed comic relief (though Harish Patel as his documentary-shooting “valet” appears to be a blunder). Unfortunately, the fake persona disorder of Jolie’s character detracts significantly from her real-life star power. And a few of the lesser Eternals rarely get a chance to shine.
That’s the problem: there’s too much going on, and it’s all leading to yet another “race against time to prevent the truly horrible thing from happening” finale. It’s not precisely dull – there’s always something new to see – but it’s also not very exhilarating, and it lacks the breezy humor of Marvel’s best flicks.
One of the MCU’s successes thus far has been how it has taken the time to flesh out each character individually and build out the overarching narratives over multiple films, creating a sense of momentum. Everything is flung upon us all at once here. It’s the equivalent of going into Avengers: Endgame cold, having not seen any of the prior installments. The majority of mortals will find it excessive. Bigger does not always imply higher.
Eternals will be released on November 4 in Australia and November 5 in the United States and the United Kingdom.
