26 – The Eternals
Ok, I’ll admit, this wasn’t the best of the MCU movies, but that being said, I still really enjoy watching it. I liked the characters, even though there wasn’t any real character development. But the movie tried to introduce ten new superheroes, not to mention side characters, villains, and side villains. But I really loved the stunning visuals. The MCU never fails to deliver on that point. I loved the fantastic and diverse cast of actors, the awesome costumes, the story, the little ways in which it tried to tie to the bit MCU tapestry, and the fantastic action sequences.
So let me just cover the things I didn’t like, and get them out of the way as quickly as possible. I didn’t like we were given too many shots of the Eternals lining up and posing dramatically, because that didn’t make any sense within the narrative. It was like she was trying to gratuitously give us a bunch of big money shots when they weren’t really necessary. Once at the beginning when they first appeared on the screen would have been sufficient. I don’t like that we had to have the first actual sex scene in the entire franchise. I think that felt gratuitous, too. I didn’t like the way we viewers were supposed to care about a hero when they get killed off, even though we weren’t given a chance to get to know them or become attached to them.
But what I loved far outweighed those few things. First, based on what little we are given in character development, I liked the new heroes. They had cool names, cool costumes, cool powers, and a cool purpose in the overall franchise. There was Ajak, Sersi, Ikaris, Kingo, Sprite, Phastos, Makkari, Druig, Gilgamesh, and Thena, played by Selma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, and Angelina Jolie. They all did a great job, though Hayek didn’t get enough screen time, if you ask me. Oh, and in one of the mid-credit scenes, we are introduced to Harry Styles, playing Starfox, who I really liked from the comics. Now that was perfect casting!
And I liked that they answered the big question everyone was asking before the movie premiered. We were told that these heroes had all been on Earth for centuries, guiding mankind in its growth as a species of varying civilizations. So why didn’t they help in the fight against Thanos? I felt the explanation was an acceptable one. They are basically servants of the god-like beings, the Celestials, and they were instructed not to interfere in the conflicts of humans, unless Deivants were involved. They were only instructed to keep the Deviants in check, a job which had been accomplished hundreds of years ago. Since then, they’ve just been waiting for more instructions and bending the rules once in a while by helping mankind to advance.
I also loved how one of the Eternals, Phastos, was gay. He was in a relationship with another man and they had a son together. It was handled respectfully and I thought it was great. Phastos also happened to be my favorite in terms of his powers. He was a craftsman/inventor of fantastical machines and technologies. Of all the Eternals, he was the only one who was able to subdue Ikaris when he turned against his teammates. Or course, Ikaris was just too powerful, and eventually freed himself. I also liked the little subp0lot with Thena and how she beat the big bad Devient. Jolie was pretty awesome in that scene.
But now a giant marble Celestial corpse is sticking out of the Indian Ocean. I understand that the comics make us of the anomaly, but this movie underperformed at the box office, so the planned sequel was cancelled and no other MCU movie has made reference to the massive head and hand that can supposedly be seen from space. Also, if the emerging Celestial was that giant, and had been coming from the Earth’s core, even emerging that much would have pretty much destroyed the planet, wouldn’t it? Or maybe it just wasn’t as big as the movie made it seem.
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- The Eternals save the villagers from attacking Deviants
- The fight with the Deviant in London
- Sersi tells Dane of the history and purpose of the Eternals, and why they didn’t help with Thanos.
- The meetings with Arishem, first with Ajak, and later with Sersi
- The meeting where Thena’s Mad Weary sickness is discussed.
- Meeting Gilgamesh and Thena in the desert. I really loved the character of Gilgamesh. The dinner party scene was great.
- The Fight with the Deviants in the Amazon
- Phastos and his family. He was also great in the Hiroshima scene.
- The Fight against Ikaris and Thena’s confrontation with Kro
- Sersi kills Tiamut by changing him to marble.