Marvel and Disney have always had a way of making movie magic together when it comes to Marvel and the Cinematic Universe that they have created due to the countless blockbuster hits they have made over the years. I have watched every marvel movie ever made since the MCU was created and all the earths mightiest heroes stories started to intertwine with each other once marvel started producing the Avengers. Usually, Marvel doesn’t miss but this time I believe they completely dropped the ball.
After watching this movie, I start to remember that it was supposed to be different, wasn’t it? The latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals, was supposed to be positioned as the stronghold of the next phase, with the goal of pushing the whole complex universe further than it has ever been but all you really left with in the end is a bunch of uneasy questions because you could still be unsure of what’s going on by the end of the movie, but at that point you may not even care because you are just so happy that the movie is finally over and I truly cannot emphasize this enough: the film is 2 hours and 37 minutes long!! In simple terms, “Eternals” is really just a mess because the diverse cast is so large and there is so much story building to do that it felt forced and disappointing. However, there is a plot that you will probably forget about as quick as you started to understand it. I wouldn’t try to beat the movie up so much for the length, but the film’s general drowsiness deprives from the actual pleasant parts of the film, as it takes an awful lot of time to deliver almost nothing. It would have made way more sense to just make this movie into a Disney plus series so that they could have taken their time developing the many main characters and their stories.
In the centuries since they came on Earth in a huge marble-like starship, the Eternals have dispersed all over the planet. They’ve been quietly guiding humanity and battling bloodthirsty beasts known as Deviants all along. However, a potentially apocalyptic situation forces them to abandon their peaceful lives, reassemble (pun intended), and use their combined skills to avoid what is effectively the apocalypse. That description may sound like it will make for an entertaining trip to the cinema, but don’t expect constant action as in Avengers: Infinity War. This is a movie that takes its time, switching back and forth in between past and present to teach you about the characters’ backstories so that you care about the ramifications as the plot progresses. Eternals has many Protagonist which is way more than they needed because you barely really got to know any of these characters but I guess this won’t be the last time we see these characters due to the movie ending. It would have made a much better episode series if given the chance to learn the diverse cast. Phastos, the first gay superhero in the MCU, appears in Eternals. His backstory is indicative of humanity as a whole, as he becomes skeptical after assisting society’s technological advancement. He is played by Brian Tyree Henry and I can’t help but to think about how much money they had to pay him play that part. Much different character than he has ever played in any of his other movies especially if you first knew him as Paper boy in the hit series Atlanta on FOX. He was probably the most notable character for me just because of the sexuality they chose for him.
As huge as this film seemed, I believe it barely scratched the surface when it came to introducing Marvel’s next era of films. As far as this movie as a standalone film, which is exactly what if felt like, I would give it a C rating. It wasn’t just a extremely bad movie but definitely could have been better put together if produced differently. It’s far from flawless, yet even with its shortcomings, this film has the potential to inspire many more excellent films in the future from Marvel.