The Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (phases 1-3) can arguably be considered a masterclass in storytelling. Plot threads wove their way through multiple movies that eventually coalesced into Endgame which gave a satisfying, if bittersweet, ending to over a decade of moviemaking. Thus, Marvel has a lot of eyes on it as it steps into this new realm of films post-Thanos, and right now it seems as if they are kind of throwing spaghetti at plot points on a wall to see what sticks before putting scripts together, and that approach doesn’t work when building such epic tales. Eternals, specifically, suffers greatly from this and is a huge disappointment that feels like it never should have left the pages of the comic books it came from.
Eternals – superpowered creations of the Celestial Arishem have been sent to earth to protect it and its people from the monsters known as Deviants. The Eternals are forbidden from interacting directly with humans however and so spend the millenia torn between being both earth’s protectors as well as being forced to stand idly by as mankind unleashes the evils of their own machinations upon their fellow men. With the Deviants seemingly driven off, a rift is opened among them, and the 10 have scattered across the globe making their way among the mortals alone. In present day, the team is forced to reunite as the Deviants reemerge, but the trust and connection they once had together might be too torn and tattered to allow them to once again band together and save earth as they have countless times in the past.
Eternals has a big problem with not wanting to know what kind of story it wants to tell. Is it about family? Human connection? Good vs. Evil? I honestly couldn’t tell you as it tried to include all of that in its incredibly long run time but did none of them well. It didn’t help that the plot is essentially told with time hops and flashbacks for most of the film, which meant that for every few moments spent in the present, there was as much if not more exposition in the past explaining what was going on.
The characters themselves were also a weak point as most didn’t get to shine or really develop into anything more than a caricature of a superhero. Ikaris, especially, is guilty of this as he almost felt more like a cheap rip off of Homelander or Superman than anything unique or special. Obviously comic books borrow elements from each other, but he was just such a blatant clone of other and better heroes, that every second he was on screen was just distracting and annoying.
Which leads to my final complaint is that despite all the whiz-bang special effects and fight scenes, the film ultimately lacks heart and is boring. Since we don’t really care what happens to these people, there is no emotional investment in the telegraphed twists and turns that come, so it doesn’t matter who sides with whom and why. Minutes seemed to drag into hours before it finally ended, and it was a fight to want to sit there and even wait for the after credits scenes which were a lot more interesting than the movie that came before.
This should have been great. It should have been fun, but instead it comes across as an experiment gone wrong that hopefully will not be repeated any time soon. Yes, it does succeed at setting up where the MCU could be heading with future films, but at this point, it makes me wonder if I even care? If this is how phase four is going to play out, then we are all in for a world of pain since I’m not sure I want to sit through another decade plus of films if they use this as a blueprint. Let’s just hope that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes it cues from Shang Chi and not this mess of a film.