05 Nov Nerdy for Thirty #27: Eternals

ETERNALS

dir. Chloe Zhao, starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, et al

Due to the events of Avengers: Endgame, the snap that brought about the return of half the universe’s population kick starts the emergence: the awakening of a new Celestial, the gods of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Eternals, an immortal race of beings created by the Celestials, unite to protect humanity from their longstanding foes, the Deviants.

Directed by Chloe Zhao, Eternals is easily the most mature film the in MCU catalog. Intercourse in a comic book movie aside, the theme of sacrifice versus duty is the main sticking point of the story. The plot stumbles a bit under its own weight, and while Zhao is free of any narrative restraints (with no other movies to set up or feed into besides its own sequel), the exposition is at times muddled and slightly confusing. The population of Earth has been threatened multiple times, either to be subjugated by the likes of Loki or the Red Skull, wiped off the map by Ultron, or just reduced 50% by Thanos. Eternals, however, is the first time in an MCU movie the Earth itself is at risk as our heroes work to thwart the Deviants. The Celestials, powerful beings who created the universe, promote an endless cycle of creating new life through death and with that brings the central conflict of the movie, which I’ll not spoil here.

While the Avengers managed to mostly get standalone films to introduce them to the universe before assembling them in the 2012 blockbuster, Eternals is forced to do all of its character introductions and development in one film, which is difficult considering the source material is relatively unknown to the general audience. While it’s unfortunate that some characters inevitably suffered for the development of others, the diverse cast of talented actors and actresses amassed makes for a nice reminder that heroes can come in all colors, ages, shapes, and sizes.

Starring an eclectic cast of actors and actresses, our main focus is placed on Gemma Chan and Richard Madden. Chan, known for this being her second role in the MCU (her first being a small role in Captain Marvel), easily shoulders the weight of being the lead actress, and she rises to the challenge. Charming, beautiful, and empathetical towards humans, Chan’s Sersi serves as the logical character for the audience to latch onto. Richard Madden, forever cemented as Robb Stark on HBO’s A Game of Thrones, plays Ikaris, the most powerful Superman-like Eternal. While Sersi has a firm connection with the people of Earth, Ikaris is more emotionally detached, and that difference between the two of them plays throughout the film’s runtime. The will-they-won’t-they story is bolstered by the fact that Chan and Madden have great chemistry on screen together.

Apart from them, the rest of the cast are more than up to the task of playing their near immortal characters. While Salma Hyek is intermittent throughout the film, her presence and impact reverberates throughout the rest of the characters and Hayek’s performance lends the right amount of depth and weight needed for the role. In the film for a hair’s breath of time, but still worthy of mentioning, is Harish Patel as Karun, Kingo’s manager. Karun is the only human the audience sees in constant contact with the Eternals and thanks to Patel’s charm and humor, the character serves as a reminder to the audience of what the team is fighting for.

The Academy Award winning Chloe Zhao is fairly restrained here, having to work under the Marvel Studios regime of filmmaking, but there’s still signs of brilliance in well composed shots and intriguing action sequences. While the technical work doesn’t reach the levels of her previous film Nomadland, Eternals is still visually interesting. Cinematographer Ben Davis (Guardians of the Galaxy, Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel) brings a different eye to this movie than in his previous MCU collaborations. The color palette is more muted here, as if the more adult themes presented necessitated the banishment of bright, bombastic colors. The movie is aided by composer Ramin Djawadi’s score, which soars at times, complimenting the emotional journey the principle cast embarks upon.

Overall, Eternals’ millennia-spanning ambition doesn’t quite reach its grasp. With its more somber tone and moral complexity, it’s a film that stands out like a sore thumb from the more bright and colorful MCU films we’ve seen to date. Solid performances from both Gemma Chan and Richard Madden anchors the movie, while Zhao’s direction is steady and competent. While it takes a bit to get the story rolling, its 157 minute runtime could use a bit of judicious editing to present a slimmer, more lean film. When it boils to steam, it comes down to this: Eternals is a good movie, but it’s rarely a fun movie.

Review by Darryl Mansel