Eternals (2021)

Rewatched for the Once Upon a Franchise podcast. Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TRxCOr2GppebXdlkerytu?si=6f1c14f6a95b4efb

Rating: A-

ETERNALS just jumped a lot in my consideration. Time has only sharpened what already worked: this is, without exaggeration, *the* most beautiful film the MCU has ever produced, with Chloé Zhao's naturalistic, on-location filmmaking style giving the action a physical weight and the VFX a rare consistency where nothing ever looks jarring or synthetic. It's a genuinely intimate character study dressed up as a seven-thousand-year cosmic epic — one unafraid to sit with existential dread, questions of faith, and a found family fracturing under the weight of its own secrets — and it does so with a diverse, inclusive ensemble whose representation never once feels forced or performative. It still has its issues regarding the antagonist(s) and the heavy exposition, but damn, do I love this movie now...

**1ST TIME: "Fun, Albeit A Bit TOO Revisionist.... { & _FANTASTICAL_ }". 2ND VIEWING: I Was Utterly -{ " D A Z Z L E D " }- By Chloé Zhao's VISUAL "MAGIC" ....& Her { _ENTIRE_ } Cast & Crew 🌠**

A **-{ _B I G_ }-** Screen Review ; Film Watched **TWICE** .

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Druig : " I've watched humans destroy each other when I could stop it all in a heartbeat. Do you know what that does to someone after centuries...??? Could our mission have been a mistake..?! Are we really helping these people build a better world..?! We're just like the soldiers down there: pawns to their leaders... BLINDED BY LOYALTY!!! ".

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**A " HIGH POINTS " :** 1- Just to "Keep Things Fresh", I'm going to shake it up a bit, & start with the Musical side of things, this time around. Ergo : " So -{ Completely }- Enchanting, Engrossing, & just downright 'On-Point  was the -entire- soundtrack for "Eternals" ; with its -Utterly- captivating blend of Soft Rock, Celestial Choirists, 'Heavenly-Ethereal', Soprano Soloists & even a plain good old-fashioned 'silky smooth guitar-synth-vocal ensemble' from Pink Floyd . . . . . that I simply couldn't help but have the -Nagging- feeling that this goliath movie's veteran Music Director, ( Ramin Djawadi ), took an 'Inspirational' page out of Tom Holkenborg's sheerly -Fantastic- 'Musical Playbook' for 'GVK' ( 2021 ), & just ran with it, in the 'best way possible' ". 2- Visually, the picture is nothing short of -{ MESMERIZING 🌌 }- , comfortably living up to the "Super"-high standards set by -{ ALL }- of the past 25 MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) Creations, starting with the "Fabulous" And Indeed, -Groundbreaking- 'Ironman', all those years ago in '08 ( with Ramin -Also- doing the whole score for -that- particular Marvel film, incidentally ! ). The Art Direction, Fight Choreography, Stuntwork, Post-Production Digital Effects -and- the Live 'On-Set' - Physical- Special Effects are -all- 'Par Excellence', & well and -{ Truly }- leave little to be desired.

3- Eternals's cinematography, entirely -Unsurprisingly- , is for the most part 'Lavish, Pristine, & often just outright Gorgeous' ; as is only be -expected- , I suppose, of a movie shot by the likes of -Veteran- lensman Ben Davis . . . . who clearly worked 'Hand-In-Glove' with its "Frightfully" Talented Directress, the one & only Chloé Zhao 🔥. At a 'diminutive' 5 feet 4 inches, the ever 'decorous', some might even say 'demure' "Miz" Zhao is fast becoming a veritable 'come-from-behind' " CINEMATIC POWDER KEG", in the world of all things Hollywood. When Marvel undertook its -{ "Massive }- gamble by hiring the -Relatively- unknown ( at -that- point ) filmmaker to direct Eternals in Sept.'18 . . . . little did they know that she would not only go on to direct what was to later become the "Best Picture" Oscar Winner 2021 ( "Nomadland" - 2020 - Indie ) ; but that she would -Also- take home "Best Director" ; with the picture having been nominated in -YET ANOTHER FOUR- categories ; and having gone on to -Win- one more Oscar Award -Still- 👏❗ So in a nutshell, if you saw Nomadland and thoroughly appreciated its wide, expansive, & breathtakingly lovely shots, then Eternals -Is- likely to be immensely gratifying to you in -that- respect, without a question . . . with the latter -Not Only- 'generously' providing many, many -{ S P R A W L I N G L Y }- Beautiful Vistas for the eyes to 'feast' on . . . but -Also- giving you a few Mind Numbingly Stellar SPACE shots, as well.

**B " DRAW BACKS " :** 1- I suppose I would be -Well- advised to say, at this point, 'Right-off-the-bat' , that Eternals is well and truly a -Genuinely- difficult film to fully, well . . . . -{ " U N P A C K " }- . . . . what with its myriad "Revisions" of not only Earth's natural history, but of that of the -Entire- Cosmos 🤷‍♂️❗, as well ; not to mention some -OUTRIGHT- "Dichotomies", -{ And }- a truly 'Massive' -Gaping- Hole in the story, towards the end of said movie. The 'gaff' in question is quite -literally- ...{ "COLOSSAL" }... as it pertains to a pointedly "Spatial" aspect relating to the Celestial 'Tiamut'-s "Emergence" ...( hinted at in multiple -Official- previews for the Eternals )... and occurs within the picture's grand finale. I won't reveal any more details about said mistake, because I'm trying very hard to keep this a -NON- spoiler review, ( and what's more, I am confident that if you pay close enough attention to said finale, you are -Very- unlikely, to miss it ). 2- Also, the 'Deviants', ( a.k.a alien ' Apex Predators 👾 ', one of whom is prominently seen fighting Angelina Jolie's 'Thena' on a beach in the aforementioned trailers ), appear a bit too "Wire Fram-ey" ....for lack of a better phrase.... for at least the -Entire- first half of the film. In other words: the WIRE-FRAME look that they embody hurts that whole proverbial 'Suspension-Of-Disbelief' thing . . . . to a small, albeit -{ Significant }- . . . . degree. Other than that, as I'm -Immensely- pleased to report, the film boasts nothing less than a -{ "Stunning" }- level of CGI prowess, all the way through.

**C " FINAL SUMMARY " :** This is EASILY Marvel s -{ Most }- "Thought-Provoking" movie, Although 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame', ( with all of their -Own- varied and multitudinous complexities ), are not necessarily -All- that far behind. The fact is, this veritable cinematic collosus boasts not only -Several- Intensely { HUMAN } moments . . . . but also a level of -Philosophical- , ( and I'm going to be -Very- honest here ), 'straightup', you guessed it, -{ EXISTENTIALIST }- mind fodder, as well . . . which most certainly makes it 'the exception and -Not- the rule', in the world of modern day, massive-scale, 'Contemporary Popular Entertainment'. What's more, the absolute- totality of the -Principal- actresses and actors, bar -NONE- .....( it's a sheer 'Who's Who' ensemble cast of about 13, hence too many to mention here )..... do an undeniably -Wonderful- job bringing these 'super-Exotic' characters to life ( almost ) -directly- out of the late great Jack Kirby's ( Rest In Love ! ) comic-book pages. If I just -Had- to pick the performance that stood out for me though, it would unquestionably be Miz. Chan's ( 'Sersi'-s ) truly august & dignified, um, " Gemma 💎 👏❗Of A Performance" ( sorry peeps, -Just- couldn't resist that one ! ) . . . on account of the Deeply Beautiful "HUMANITY-AND-EMPATHY" that she so effortlessly appears to bring to her -Leader's- role, in Eternals. **Thus, it's going to be : A " Solid, Whole Hearted . . . . And Indeed, -{ "Super" }- Appreciative 8.75 Marks Out Of 10 Marks ", From Yours Truly.**

Large to its own deficit. Enjoyable to its own demise.
Emotion is lost in the density of the film much too much is crammed into the time, the viewer cannot feel 10 different emotion for 10 different people in 2h30 it isnt possible the film is structure well and cinematically (no one doubted) beautiful visuals. For the casual viewer this film is entertaining with no excitment or attachement. The marvel enthusiast will find this film exciting but numb: full but empty.

One could say this film is ambitious, it is, but now it is purely a wallpaper cinematic event.

I found Eternals to be entertaining in the way I often do with superhero movies: the plot and dialogue were sharp enough to keep me interested enough to watch the whole movie, but it did not hold me in thrall so much that I will be watching it again. Let’s face it: unless we are very intelligent or very beautiful, if a Marvel film actually came to life around us, our roles would be as helpless victims either saved or killed as collateral damage. So we are talking vicarious involvement here. The only Marvel film I would keep watching any time it comes on is Ant Man and the Wasp, as I find its wit and humor irresistible.

As I watched Eternals, I absorbed what I felt were a couple of plot holes large enough for an eternal to fly through. And I am not talking about the science; I give a lot of leeway to scence fiction and similar genres in order to serve the plot. I mean, they went to the trouble of explaining why the Eternals weren’t around to help out with our boy Thanos, but considering the origin story of the Eternals, I did wonder why there didn’t all have every superpower rather than one each.

Anyway, I will not do a deep dive into how this entry serves the overarching Marvel story arc, because I am not a Marvel fan, per se. (After all, I was a DC comic reader as a young lad!) Suffice to say Eternals did not insult my intelligence as a movie viewer but rather, as mentioned at the outset, it held me all the way through it.

When I started watching this picture, I did not expect anything supernatural or something new, and as usual with films from the Marvel film studio, it turned out to be right.

the authors of the script decided not to break the tradition and, as usual, took the path of least resistance, there are heroes, there are villains, they are fighting each other for the fate of all mankind. The plot revolves around the fact that a certain deity sends detachments of superheroes endowed with superpowers to protect intelligent life on different planets from evil predatory creatures remotely resembling ancient lizards, which they almost successfully cope with, but it turns out that the main characters fought absolutely the wrong evil and the main battle they are ahead. The first hour of the film is mostly banal chatter and shots telling about previous events, but towards the end there is an increase in the intensity of events up to an epic massacre of good and evil. The plot does not carry a global mystery and everything is clear from the very beginning, and small plot twists are guessed even before the viewer sees them. And judging by the finale, the audience will be fed one more, and maybe several films on the topic.