Eternals (2021) Review - Did Chloe Zhao Marvel Debut Live Up To People's Expectations?
- Zebediah Oke
- Nov 22, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 21, 2021
The Eternals is inspired by the works of Jack Kirby, who first introduced the ‘Homo Immortalis’ supergroup back in 1976. Directed by Chloé Zhao (who’s fresh off an impressive Oscar win for Nomadland), the film follows a process that is typical for Marvel Cinematic Universe releases, allowing The Eternals to deviate from its comic book source material to create an entirely new origin for the eponymous team/family.
The film begins in the year 5000 BC, where the Celestial Arishem (Voiced by David Kaye) sends the Eternals, ten superpowered beings to Earth to exterminate the Deviants, a race of sinewy, quadrupedal monsters whose only desire is destruction and consumption of human life. Each with their own powers–Ajak (Salma Hayek), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Kingo (Kumail Nunjaini), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Druig (Barry Keoghan), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), and Thena (Angelina Jolie)—spend centuries slaying Deviants, bound by oath to not interfere for much else. By 1521, they manage to wipe out the last Deviant and the group fractures–unable to find a common consensus on their planetary purpose and their responsibilities and relationship with humankind. Over the next five hundred years, they mostly live apart from one another, each of them waiting patiently for Arishem's next directive. The Eternals is a fascinating film that focuses on 10 incredible characters, who all hold different motivations and desires, whilst spanning a historical timeline of thousands of years, ping-ponging between the past and the present in order to create a cohesive picture of who this team of super-powered, God-like beings truly are.
Flows
Ambition
Since the Avengers, I’ve wondered what would occur at the nexus between a Marvel blockbuster and an arthouse film (Dr. Strange scratched that itch, but only a little). In the advent of veteran filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott coming out with negative press about superhero movies, I can think of no better filmmaker than Chloé Zhao to bring a refreshing direction and a necessary, new perspective layer to the canon of superheroes who have become intertwined with our cultural fabric. She delivers a more tender, cinematic touch than the typically over-processed, CGI elements of Marvel’s more commercial successes. Zhao’s creative decisions (shooting on location rather than on blue-screened sets, the “golden hour” shots of natural light) ensure the film feels somewhat Malick-inspired in it’s skeleton but futuristically sleek and sci-fi in its delivery.
Fighting
As a director, Chloé Zhao is known for her delicate portrayals of rural life, relying on a sort of poetry in her work which, surprisingly, translates very well to the scenes of conflict.
I found something about choreography of the fight scenes more compelling and engaging than Marvel’s more recent release, Shang Chi and the Ten Rings (although, to give it some grace, that’s somewhat to be expected when Shang Chi was more reliant on hand-to-hand combat than The Eternals). Nevertheless, there was something attentive about how all the character’s moved, used their powers, and how they individually approached conflict.
Aesthetics
Despite the heavy reliance on CGI, Marvel is no stranger to delivering aesthetically pleasing films. The Eternals, however, is one of the most beautiful looking films of their entire rodter. Even the way the special effects are employed are thoughtful and visually stunning, from the energetic filigree of The Eternals’ cosmic weaponry to the foreboding appearance of Arishem’s communes–even in places where CGI is employed sparingly they are done so in an elegant fashion.
Philosophy
The Eternals thoughtfully considers the responsibilities that a pantheon of God-like beings has–to themselves, to the planet they’ve been served to protect, and to the Celestial who created and sent them. Each character has a different idea of what they should be doing and who they should be. The film illustrates these differences with great effect, which infinitely helps differentiate which character is which, adding a complexity and relatability to each. Furthermore, despite the film being quite conflict heavy, it doesn’t rely so much on brute force or heroic sacrifice in it’s climactic scenes, and instead chooses to make the victor of the film someone who doesn’t win because they’re the strongest combatively, but because they’re the most kind and caring. This is a rare and timely instance in the genre of the superhero movie where the lesson is something other than brute strength prevailing.
Ebbs
Phastos
Phastos’ divestment from humanity came after the nuclear bomb of Hiroshima. This being the moment where Phastos shies away feels off for what is obviously a Black man (Although, arguably a 7000 year old Eternal probably doesn’t identify as Black). Despite Phastos seeming personally responsible for the destruction of Hiroshima (it’s implied that Phastos granted humanity with an understanding of nuclear fission) there is something odd about that being the last straw given the holocaust(s) of Black death which had happened before. Narratively, I think Phastos’ disillusion makes sense but in a film about Gods who come to Earth and spanning 7000 years, there’s not a mention of slavery despite there being a Black person in the Eternals feels like a void left untouched.
Deviant enemy
The Deviant enemy is rendered nothing more than a conduit of annihilation despite having a very cool (and tragic) back story. The only thing more frustrating than having a mindless savage as a villain is bestowing a mindless savage with sentience only to treat them like their motivations, desires and existence are disposable. The Evolved Deviant is a tragedy of Arishem, just like The Eternals, and it has an extremely transformative journey from ignorance to self-awareness. Unfortunately, that journey is crushed flat under the monumental scope of this film.
Conclusion
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the overwhelmingly negative review that Eternals has received. However, I’m convinced that the critic’s disdain for The Eternals sprouts from the same reasoning that the film exists in the first place. Critics and filmmakers alike have arraigned Superhero movies for just about everything, to their oversaturation in media (one of the more valid critiques) to being called “boring as shit” (each to their own, but I believe that a 90+ minute suspension of belief in reality where heroic action and fantastical conflict are allowed to run wild with reckless abandon is the divine opposite of boring). Despite this, The Eternals tries to do something different, it tries to inject heart and tenderness and thoughtfulness into a genre which typically has a cosmetic performance of both and, unfortunately, it ends up alienating both the people who fervently hate Marvel films for being too formulaic and the people who can’t get enough of the Marvel formula. It wasn’t thoughtful enough for the die-hard arthouse cinema critics and it’s been received as overly-complicated for the average movie goer. But for those of us who live in the nexus between, it is what we’ve been waiting for. It's a gorgeous, canny, ambitious film that misses in some ways, but I trust will completely redefine our expectation of the Superhero experience in others.
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