Ryan Shoots First: Eternals
The biggest Marvel movie since the end of the Infinity Saga is here in the form of Eternals. This is a movie of chances and while it isn’t outside the realm of possibility for Marvel Studios to take chances the fact they have gotten behind this film so much shows the new roads they are exploring in a post Thanos MCU. Eternals has gotten the tent pole treatment with product tie-ins from multiple brands and McDonald’s Happy Meal toys but did the movie itself continue the enduring legacy of the MCU or has the superhero bubble finally burst?
Well it will entirely depend on who you ask. I tend to follow this stuff pretty closely so as soon as Eternals announced such a visionary director like Chloe Zhao would helm the piece and actors like Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie jumped on I felt this may be the most art house of the Marvel films or at least would have a very different feel. To that I was correct, Eternals is the most performance heavy of MCU films really going for the heart with the characters. Things unfold somewhat slowly but all in the service of the characters. Where most MCU movies follow the formula of action and the timeline of events dictating the story with character moments injected to ground us to the film. Eternals focus on its robust cast of characters to move things along, this can make things seem slow at times but for me it was a nice change of pace and a welcome experiment in the MCU formula. For lack of a better analogy it feels a little more like a DC approach where the characters are the driver for better or for worse.
When it comes to the performances some are better than others Jolie and Hayek bring enormous weight and gravitas to the film but our heroes we are most invested in are Ikaris and Sersi who are played by King Rob himself Richard Madden and Gemma Chan. They manage to give a human feel to beings that are immensely powerful and have been around for centuries. The rest of the cast are some great actors but mainly serve as enhancement to the main players. The two I enjoyed the most are Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo and Bryan Tyree Henry’s Phastos. All of them manage to bring a unique take to how it would be having to sit on the sidelines and watch humanity develop. And that’s the hook of the Eternals. Beings stronger than Thanos himself but unable to step in when humanity needed them most only able to intervene if their rivals the Deviants are a threat.
Zhao was already working on the film when she took home an Oscar for her film Nomadland but that only raised the profile of the film more as she brought her flair and eye for the film to the blockbuster hero scape. And that’s maybe where Eternals shines most, it’s just a visually pleasing film to look at. The landscapes are beautiful and largely free of CGI per her desire. Couple that with her shot selection and framing and it’s evident Marvel Studios let her do her thing without stepping in the way too much. That may be where many miss the film as well. This doesn’t feel like a typical outing in the MCU that many are accustomed to. Droves of people flocking to theatres to see the next installment in the MCU and to keep up their timeline may be a bit shell shocked by the change in style. Given the heroes in question are also not largely known culturally in those circles and I am prepared for many to rate the film in a boring to just ok spectrum. I hope this likely reaction doesn’t deter Marvel from letting filmmakers have free reign to work out their vision or for them to take chances and break the mold every once in a while. Now is the time to take chances and seek to find the voice for the next leg in the Marvel story and while Eternals may not have audiences hooting and hollering as they did in Endgame it can open some new doors for exploration in an aging formula.
