eternals movie review reddit

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

Director Chloé Zhao applies her distinctive aesthetic imprint to “Eternals,” but she can only do so much to bend the Marvel Cinematic Universe to her will. The result is a blockbuster of unusual gentle beauty that also strains to fulfill the gargantuan requirements of a massive action spectacle.

It is, in short, a bit of a mess. It is also—and I cannot stress this enough—2 hours and 37 minutes long. And yet because the talented, eclectic cast is so enormous and so much world-building must occur, “Eternals” ultimately feels rushed and unsatisfying. The mythology here is both dense and frequently silly, with the movie grinding to a halt around the one-hour mark for an extensive information dump. By the end, you may still be unclear as to what’s going on, but you also may not care.

Zhao, the newly minted Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Director for the spare and intimate “ Nomadland ,” does offer a great deal of her signature style, though. For those of you who found the choice of Zhao a fascinating one and wondered what her version of the MCU might look like, you’ll be happy to learn she manages to find magic hour wherever she goes, from a breezy sunset on the shores of ancient Babylon to ominous storm clouds gathering on the plains of present-day South Dakota. Working with cinematographer Ben Davis , who also shot “ Guardians of the Galaxy ,” “ Doctor Strange ,” and “ Captain Marvel ,” she consistently provides opportunities to let us slow down, take a breath, and enjoy a moment of naturalism and stillness. You can feel the sunbaked heat of the windy Australian outback. An action scene set in a torch-lit forest at night is especially stunning.

Unfortunately, they don’t last long. Because there is a big, noisy comic book beast to feed.

Zhao and her fellow screenwriters Patrick Burleigh and Ryan Firpo & Kaz Firpo lurch around in time in an ungainly fashion to tell the story of a group of immortal beings living secretly on Earth. Each has his or her own specific abilities but, collectively, they share the quippy humor that’s become so typical in Marvel movies. The casting and characteristics on display here are revolutionary and, at first, cause for inspiration that we might be in for something totally different. There’s a natural diversity at work in ways we haven’t seen from the Avengers, for example. From the leadership of Salma Hayek ’s Ajak and Gemma Chan ’s Sersi to Brian Tyree Henry and Haaz Sleiman as a gay couple with a young son to Lauren Ridloff ’s Makkari, whose hearing impairment is her superpower—the inclusive nature of “Eternals” feels both exciting and effortless. Angelina Jolie ’s Thena is a ferocious warrior who also suffers from mental illness, which the film handles sensitively. Conversely, Lia McHugh livens things up as the androgynous, forever-young Sprite.

Perhaps most striking of all, two characters have actual sex, which is unprecedented and long overdue in a cinematic world where everyone is super-hot and muscular and dressed in form-fitting costumes. The scene is brief, but it accomplishes so much to indicate a deeper and more vulnerable sense of humanity in these comic book figures. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts probably did it. Clint Barton definitely did because he had kids. But most other romantic relationships have featured benign flirting at most, so to see these characters behaving like grown people in this manner is yet another example of the potential lurking within “Eternals.”

There is also a plot, however, which will escape your mind as quickly as it entered. Briefly, the Eternals have scattered across the globe in the centuries since they arrived on Earth in a spaceship that resembles a behemoth, black marble Dorito. All along, they’ve been stealthily guiding humanity and fighting ravenous, sinewy monsters known as Deviants. But a potentially cataclysmic event forces them to leave the comfortable lives they’ve forged for themselves, reassemble (if you’ll forgive the word choice) and use their combined superpowers to stop what is essentially the apocalypse. Again! You don’t need to be deeply steeped in Marvel lore in general or Jack Kirby ’s trippy comic series specifically to follow “Eternals”; aside from a brief reference to Thanos, and why these heroes didn’t step in to stop the events of “ Avengers: Infinity War ,” this feels more like a standalone film than most in the MCU. Having said that, of course you’ll get more out of the movie if you’re a fan, and the obligatory end-credit sequences will mean more to you, too.

Chan’s Sersi, with her transmutational abilities, and Richard Madden ’s Ikaris, a versatile, Superman-type figure prominently as centuries-old, on-and-off-again lovers. Charismatic as Madden is, though, Chan enjoys greater sparks with Kit Harington as her mortal, London-based boyfriend, Dane Whitman, who shares Sersi’s interest in archaeology. Whatever emotional stakes may exist between any of these characters eventually take a back seat to flying around and zapping monsters with eye lasers. You can feel the struggle in trying to juggle it all. And the climactic action extravaganza is so glossy and cacophonous, it could have been plucked out of any number of soulless, sci-fi spectacles over the past decade, smothering all the smaller charms we’d enjoyed along the way.

A newly buff Kumail Nanjiani offers some laughs as a pompous Bollywood star, Don Lee provides a kind presence despite his hulking power, and Barry Keoghan merely has to show up to make us feel his unnerving vibe. All of these actors prove they’re up for the challenge of trying to establish complicated characters within the frenzy of the MCU machinery. Frustratingly, they—and Zhao—can only serve as cogs.

Only in theaters on November 5th.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

The Strangers: Chapter 1

Brian tallerico.

The Dead Don't Hurt

Matt zoller seitz.

Star Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Roger ebert.

Taking Venice

Terrestrial Verses

Godfrey cheshire.

Film Credits

Eternals (2021)

Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality.

157 minutes

Gemma Chan as Sersi

Richard Madden as Ikaris

Angelina Jolie as Thena

Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo

Lia McHugh as Sprite

Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos

Lauren Ridloff as Makkari

Barry Keoghan as Druig

Ma Dong-Seok as Gilgamesh

Salma Hayek as Ajak

Kit Harington as Dane Whitman

Bill Skarsgård as Kro (voice)

Harish Patel as Karun

Writer (based on the Marvel comics by)

Writer (story by).

Patrick Burleigh

Cinematographer

Dylan Tichenor
Rawin Djawadi

Latest blog posts

Cannes 2024: Ghost Trail, Block Pass

At the Movies, It’s Hard Out There for a Hit Man

Far, Far Away: How to Get People Going to Movies Again

Cannes 2024: Christmas Eve in Miller's Point, Eephus, To A Land Unknown

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Link to Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Young Woman and the Sea Link to Young Woman and the Sea
In A Violent Nature Link to In A Violent Nature

New TV Tonight

We Are Lady Parts: Season 2
Eric: Season 1
Geek Girl: Season 1
The Outlaws: Season 3
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted: Season 4
America's Got Talent: Season 19
Fiennes: Return to the Wild: Season 1
The Famous Five: Season 1
Couples Therapy: Season 4
Celebrity Family Food Battle: Season 1

Where to Watch

Watch Eternals with a subscription on Disney+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

An ambitious superhero epic that soars as often as it strains, Eternals takes the MCU in intriguing -- and occasionally confounding -- new directions.

It's a different kind of Marvel movie, but Eternals still contains all the action, humor, and heart that fans are looking for.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Angelina Jolie

Salma Hayek

Kit Harington

Dane Whitman

Richard Madden

Movie Clips

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

Chloe zhao’s ‘eternals’: film review.

Jack Kirby’s 1976 comic about humanoid defenders of Earth births a new chapter for the MCU, with an ensemble featuring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Send an Email
Show additional share options
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Reddit
Share on Tumblr
Share on Whats App
Print the Article
Post a Comment

Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersi (Gemma Chan) in Marvel Studios' ETERNALS.

It was probably unrealistic to expect Chloé Zhao, independent film’s foremost spiritual chronicler of the American West and an Oscar winner for Nomadland , to completely reinvent the superhero movie. Nevertheless, Eternals does bend the ubiquitous fantasy genre to some degree to fit the director’s customary vein of humanistic intimacy measured against an expansive natural-world canvas. The attention to character, group dynamics and emotional texture makes the film often feel more alive in its quieter moments than its fairly routine CG action clashes. But the depth of feeling helps counter the choppy storytelling in this new tangent in the MCU narrative.

Full credits

Production company: Marvel Studios Distribution: Disney Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Harish Patel, Haaz Sleiman, Esai Daniel Cross. David Kaye Director: Chloé Zhao Screenwriters: Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo; screen story by Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo, based on the Marvel Comics by Jack Kirby Producers: Kevin Feige, Nate Moore Executive producers: Louis D’ Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Kevin de la Noy Director of photography: Ben Davis Production designer: Eve Stewart Costume designer: Sammy Sheldon Differ Music: Ramin Djawadi Editors: Craig Wood, Dylan Tichenor Visual effects supervisor: Stephane Ceretti Visual effects producer: Susan Pickett Special effects supervisor: Neil Corbould Casting: Sarah Halley Finn

THR Newsletters

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Gaby hoffmann is “annoyed” when nudity on screen is “such a big topic” but violence isn’t, mitchell block, oscar-nominated documentarian, dies at 73, martin starger, ‘nashville’ and ‘mask’ producer, dies at 92, box office: ‘garfield’ beating ‘furiosa’ with $13m-$14m in clawless weekend, paul walter hauser admits past ‘fantastic four’ missteps weighed on him before joining new movie, kristen bell on why she initially didn’t want her daughters to become actors.

Tickets & Showtimes
Trending on RT

Eternals First Reviews: Marvel's Most Unconventional Film Yet

Critics say director chloé zhao applies her unique sensibilities to the marvel formula to deliver an epic story with big implications for the mcu going forward, even if it doesn't reach the top tier of the franchise..

Could Eternals actually be one of the lesser installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ? It’s surely one of the most unique and ambitious of the franchise, helmed by recent Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao ( Nomadland ), and it features as diverse a cast of characters as can be, as well as arguably a more epic scope than even the last two Avengers movies.

Yet the first reviews for Eternals put its Tomatometer score in the bottom four of the 26 MCU features, alongside Iron Man 2 , Thor: The Dark World , and The Incredible Hulk . That’s still on the fresh side, but the takes are generally more mixed than usual. Perhaps this will change later as more reviews come through, but it’s indeed a surprising twist for now.

Here’s what critics are saying about Eternals :

How does it compare to other MCU movies?

“Ranks among the better entries of the MCU… In terms of raw ambition and scope, Eternals belongs in the same camp as Black Panther .” – Brandon Zachary, CBR

“This critic finds it easily landing in her top 10 MCU films, and perhaps even in the top 5.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“Among the more interesting and original entries in the ever-expanding canon.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“More conceptually interesting than most MCU entries.” – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

“It refreshingly bucks convention by not following the studio’s typical story and aesthetic formulas.” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

“ Eternals is by far Marvel’s bleakest film.” – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm

“As much as it pains me to say it, Zhao presents one of the weakest MCU offerings yet.” – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)

Will Marvel fans still love it?

“There’s no doubt that Marvel devotees will once again lap it up and might even forgive the rather shambolic nature of this offering.” – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

“It’s still very much a Marvel movie.” – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

“It doesn’t have to be perfect to be good, and it doesn’t necessarily need to shy away from the stuff people like about the MCU to be unique.” – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

“This is still business as usual for Marvel — a continuation, rather than a great leap.” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

“That Eternals feigns at such freedom only makes it harder to stomach when it falls back on the same old song.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

What about fans of Zhao’s films?

“It’s the work of a singular director… the likes of which has never been seen in Marvel before.” – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm

“ Eternals does bend the ubiquitous fantasy genre to some degree to fit the director’s customary vein of humanistic intimacy measured against an expansive natural-world canvas.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“In many ways, this looks and feels nothing like any Chloé Zhao film we’ve seen before… Anyone anticipating the first ‘arthouse Marvel’ should temper their expectations.’” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

“This truly isn’t the film any of us were expecting from this hugely accomplished filmmaker.’” – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

“It’s clear that Zhao, in signing up for this project, made a decision to put her highly expressive and idiosyncratic style on the shelf, and to embrace the straight-up expository conventionality of Marvel filmmaking. That’s something of a disappointment.’” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“Effectively illustrates why even the most independent-minded of filmmakers are powerless to evolve an apex predator franchise that doesn’t have any Darwinian impetus to adapt.’” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Richard Madden and Chloe Zhao on the set of Eternals

Is it actually the best of both worlds?

“ Eternals is not exactly the arthouse fare we’ve seen before from Zhao but it isn’t a typical superhero tentpole either. When it finds the sweet spot between both is when it works the best.” – Don Kaye, Den of Geek

“Both a Marvel superhero epic, as massively conceived as they come, and unquestionably Zhao’s version of one, as attentive to beauty and intimacy as it is to the expected fate-of-all-life concerns.” – Robert Abele, The Wrap

“Her fingerprints are all over every frame and yet her distinct, grounded, character-driven style doesn’t clash with what’s expected from the genre, only magnifies the greatness lying in its underpinnings.” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

“At times, it does find issues with knowing how to balance the aspects an audience has come to expect with an MCU film and Zhao’s instincts.” – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

“What makes Eternals feel special is that, for once, the director genuinely cares as much about the character within that spectacle, as the spectacle itself.” – Robert Abele, The Wrap

Will it remind us of any other movies?

“Marvel has made a Dune -sized, Dune -length, and almost Dune -portentous superhero movie.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“[It] has a purposefulness and gravitas that feels strikingly akin in places to Denis Villeneuve’s recent Dune .” – Neil Smith, Total Film

“ Eternals plays like an extravagant blockbuster riff on The Tree of Life .” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

How is the script?

“The writing team of Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo weave these stories together through masterful uses of vignettes that tie together the past and the present.” – Josephine L., Geeks of Color

“Seven thousand years is a lot to cover in just over two and a half hours, but Eternals pulls it off perfectly.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“What keeps Eternals from elevating to the top tier of the franchise is that its massive scope can sometimes play against the story.” – Brandon Zachary, CBR

“ Eternals tried to do too much… Sadly, there were too many cooks in the kitchen.” – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

Is there any levity?

“Yes, there is fun; plenty of stunts, jokes, combat, visuals, twists and, for the romantics, more than one love story, and not all of them straight, thank god.” – Robert Abele, The Wrap

“ Eternals has humor in spades thanks to both Kingo and Sprite. While much of the comedy is fun and entertaining like most Marvel movies, there are other times when a joke undercuts an important emotional moment.” – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

“When the screenplay — by Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo — does try to wink at the rest of the MCU with jokey asides, the dialogue is jarringly out of place.” – Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist

(Photo by Sophie Mutevelian/©Marvel Studios)

How does the movie look?

“Zhao’s work with cinematographer Ben Davis makes it a sight to behold.” – Brandon Zachary, CBR

“Ben Davis’ cinematography earns top marks. His eye for naturalism shines a spotlight on the characters’ humanity, providing an interesting, beguiling sense of wonder and joy witnessing extraordinary beings and creatures placed in ordinary locations.” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

“The cinematography here is a amazing…It is absolutely gorgeous to watch. Nearly every scene is breathtaking — and when the action is brought into it — WOW!” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“Ben Davis’ sweeping naturalistic cinematography… gives a less synthetic look than the average MCU joint.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Compared to the diarrheal computer goop of the Endgame finale, this might as well be Dogme 95.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“Breathtaking but otherwise time-consuming nature shots can start to feel like a bit of a chore.” – Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies

What about the visual effects?

“Some of the bigger special effects are so monumental they circle past realism and all the way back around until they achieve a sense of awe that’s been sorely absent from the MCU.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“The special effects team killed it… The style and aesthetic are so ethereal, futuristic, and cosmic all at the same time that I was in awe every time I saw it on screen.” – Josephine L., Geeks of Color

“The Eternals’ ability to generate gold geometrical force fields and weaponry delivers some cool effects work, at times suggesting the intricate beauty of art nouveau draftsmanship with hints of M.C. Escher.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

And the action?

“The clashes are efficiently choreographed but somewhat rote, even if it’s a thrill to see relative elders like Jolie and Lee busting serious moves.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“The action of Eternals is, for the most part, grounded in reality largely because Zhao films the fight scenes in daylight and on location… This makes the movie feel more immersive and the action more thrilling as a result.” – Molly Freeman, Screen Rant

“Arguably the least adrenaline-pumping Marvel escapade to date.” – Damon Smith, PA Media

“What action we get is mostly the same ‘superpowered heroes shoot effects out of their hands or throw punches to defeat CGI-created monsters.’” – Scott Mendelson, Forbes

Is the diversity of the ensemble appreciated?

“It’s to the credit of Zhao and her appealing ensemble that this mix actually feels organic to the story and not merely like woke pandering.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“The movie presents [it] with a no-big-deal effrontery that makes them a winning prototype of a more dynamically inclusive superhero world.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“I truly believe everyone will find someone that they resonate with on screen.” – Josephine L., Geeks of Color

“Touted as Marvel’s first deaf superhero, Lauren Ridloff is underutilized and feels like a mere check of the diversity box.” – Kirsten Acuna, Insider

Kumail Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, and Lia McHugh in Eternals

Who stands out?

“It’s [Don] Lee’s grasp of nuanced facets that genuinely wows, combining humor, heart and physical acumen, making him the picture’s MVP.” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

“Best is Nanjiani, who takes his usual comic persona in a dramatic direction as he wrestles with a painful existential conflict and blasts energy bolts from his hands.” – Don Kaye, Den of Geek

“The definite standouts are Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo… his ‘valet’ Karun, played by Harish Patel… and Angelina Jolie’s Thena, effortlessly regal and classically aloof.” – John Nugent, Empire Magazine

Does it have a villain problem?

“Watching super-powered immortals go at it with powerful monsters or even each other only provides so much in terms of stakes.” – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

“The Big Bad being battled isn’t a traditional villain… [This] blunts the audience’s collective cathartic release, as they may yearn to see invincible heroes overcoming an uncontrollable evil mastermind.” – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction

Will we want to watch it multiple times?

“There is a lot going on here, so seeing this movie more than once is something that is highly recommended.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“On the whole there isn’t much here in a way of plot to make anyone want to sit through this more than once.” – Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle

Will it make us hopeful for the future of the MCU?

“I can only hope we see more MCU entries daring to ask existential questions about existence that don’t have easy answers.” – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment

“Bodes well for a franchise that looks eminently capable of developing in more than one direction.” – Neil Smith, Total Film

“If this is what the future of Marvel looks like, sign me up!” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

Eternals is in theaters on November 5, 2021.

On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News .

Related News

All Upcoming Disney Movies: New Disney Live-Action, Animation, Pixar, Marvel, 20th Century, And Searchlight

“Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong” About… Eternals

Weekend Box Office Results: Eternals Scores Fourth Best Opening of the Year

9 LGBTQIA+ Icons You Didn’t Know Were Critics

Renewed and Cancelled TV Shows 2024

10 Post-Apocalyptic Worlds That Won’t Depress You

Movie & TV News

Featured on rt.

How to Watch Godzilla Movies In Order

May 31, 2024

All Godzilla Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time

Top Headlines

How to Watch Godzilla Movies In Order –
All Godzilla Movies Ranked by Tomatometer –
200 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of All Time –
Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now –
25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming –
30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming –

The Celestial Arishem towers in the void of space in Marvel’s Eternals.

Filed under:

Marvel’s Eternals dreams big and falls hard

Confusing comics characters make for a very messy movie

Share this story

Share this on Facebook
Share this on Reddit
Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Marvel’s Eternals dreams big and falls hard

Chloé Zhao’s 2020 film Nomadland begins with sparse lines of text that set up an entire world of loss. A sheetrock plant in the real-life town of Empire, Nevada, shuts down in January 2011. In six months’ time, Empire’s ZIP code is discontinued. It’s a ghost town. A stable-seeming environment is revealed to be constantly in flux, sometimes with frightening and destabilizing speed.

Eternals , Zhao’s follow-up to her acclaimed Academy Award-winning film, also begins with explanatory text. This time however, it’s more lore than story, about beings from another planet brought to ours for a purpose the audience won’t fully grasp until the end of the film. It is withholding and not inviting, as if, from the very start, there are two forces at war for the kind of film Eternals should be.

The latest film from Marvel Studios is equal parts puzzle piece and experiment. Eternals expands the frontiers of the MCU providing hints about what its future may hold while also being a project of formal ambition. Zhao deliberately breaks from the well-established Marvel formula to tell a more sweeping and mature story — the sort of story the filmmaker is known for. The script takes the sort of seismic shifts that can happen around us in six brief months and blows them up on a geologic scale across thousands of years, through the eyes of the most consciously diverse cast in a superhero blockbuster. Eternals , however, is ultimately haunted by that formula, continually yielding to the familiar whenever it tries to show us something new.

The Eternals are assembled on a beach in a scene from Marvel’s Eternals.

Eternals is also saddled with one of the densest premises in Marvel Comics history, a relative anomaly in the large stable of memorable characters created by comics legend Jack Kirby. Even the considerably streamlined film version can’t lay the groundwork without heaps of exposition: The Eternals, the film’s opening text describes, are superhuman champions from a world called Olympia, dispatched to Earth by a cosmic god named Arimesh, a Celestial, in order to defend humankind from the monstrous Deviants. Throughout history, the Eternals have been here, helping humanity by fighting off Deviants and slowly providing technological advancement — to a certain point. Because the Eternals have another mandate: They cannot interfere in Earthly conflicts that don’t involve the Deviants.

This is the reason the film gives — in an actual conversation, between characters — for The Eternals taking a raincheck on Thanos’ genocidal rampage or any of the horrors and atrocities of the past. It’s a bit hard to swallow, especially when the film goes to great special-effects lengths to depict historical moments of mass destruction. To the film’s credit, part of Eternals narrative arc is its characters wrestling with the morality of this mandate. The misfortune of putting this dilemma to characters who live for thousands of years is pretty simple: The longer the characters take to let awful stuff happen before they do something about it, the more they seem like chumps.

In the present day, however, it’s pretty easy for the Eternals to follow this mandate. All of the Deviants on Earth have been wiped out, but instead of being offered a ticket to their home, Olympia, they’ve been effectively abandoned by their god and gone their separate ways, living in secret among the people of Earth. The exposition pauses and the action begins when Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Sprite (Lia McHugh), who live in London as a teacher and an (eternal) 12-year-old, respectively, are attacked by a not-so-extinct Deviant who also seems strong enough to kill Eternals. When the Superman-esque Ikaris (Richard Madden) arrives to help fend the Deviant off, a mini Eternals reunion becomes a full-blown road trip to get the family back together and figure out what’s going on with the Deviants.

Kingo fires a laser into a Deviant’s gaping maw in Marvel’s Eternals

From here, Eternals becomes a hybrid travelogue and historical epic. As Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite reunite with their seven other “siblings” across the globe, the film flashes back to pivotal moments of their time on Earth, reflecting on their relationships with each other and humanity. They’re in Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C. kickstarting the Bronze Age; then they’re in Babylon in 575 B.C. seeding the wonders of the Hanging Gardens; then they’re in 1575 Mexico watching in shock as genocidal Spanish colonists murder the people of Tenochtitlan. In cross cutting from one era to another, Zhao begins to emphasize place more than anything else — even action scenes seem to fade to take a backseat, a momentary interruption to the interpersonal drama of the Eternals as they question their role in the places around them. They fall in and out of love with each other, and humanity. They meet and are rebuffed by their god, Arishem the Celestial. They spend most of the film in doubt, unsure of what to do or believe.

But Eternals is contemplative to a fault. Every time a new character is introduced, the ones we’ve previously met re-explain the story, and the same agreements and disagreements play out. In the best moments, Zhao allows the film to breathe around its most well-realized characters, like Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) who has settled into life as a Bollywood star and joins up because he wants to turn the adventure into a documentary about him saving the world with his ridiculously powerful finger guns. Less bombastic but equally compelling is Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), the Eternal inventor who, out of guilt for accelerating human technology to atomic war is possible, has retreated into a quiet domestic life with his human husband and son in the suburbs.

The film’s cast is too big to give every character a fulfilling arc, but the film’s script by Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo devotes most of the film’s runtime to its least compelling characters. Sersi, with her vague power to transmute inanimate matter from one form to another, most effectively shown off when she turns a speeding bus into rose petals, is the de facto protagonist, but also a listless one: She is torn between her life pretending to be mortal and dating her historian boyfriend Dane (Kit Harington) and her grander purpose, which she starts to question, but only when forced to. It’s almost like the Eternals take their vow of nonintervention so seriously that they also refuse to drive the film’s plot.

Sersi (Gemma Chan) stands on a beach in Marvel’s Eternals

Much has been made about what Chloé Zhao brings to the MCU as a filmmaker, largely stemming from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gushing over her insistence that Eternals be filmed on real locations , and not largely on green-screened soundstages, as many Marvel films are. The result is distinctive, but also strangely hollow. It’s as if, in order to accommodate the needs of a Marvel blockbuster, Eternals could only stage its action in the most barren of natural environments: a beach, a forest, a desert. Places big and open enough that a soundstage could be approximated, however begrudgingly. When it’s time for the naturalism of the film to give way to artificial action, the result is surprisingly demure — with one spectacular exception at the very end, Eternals’ action is quite small; a strange contrast to its grand scope. When the heroes “suit up” for their final fight, it almost feels wrong, or reluctant.

The pat descriptors Marvel executives like Kevin Feige append to MCU films don’t hang so neatly on Eternals . Genre shorthand does a poor job of conveying what a viewer should expect. There are no heists, no spycraft, no strange new worlds nor hidden fantasy realms. Eternals is a meandering film about being estranged from your family, and how difficult it is to get the stones up to finally see them again. It’s two and a half hours full of people many thousands of years old going from place to place and talking about the good old days.

After over a decade of the MCU formula’s dominance, it’s easy to mistake Eternals ’ deviance for profundity. Films that wrestle with difficult experiences can often be difficult to watch, and intentionally so. Unfortunately, Eternals isn’t bold, merely incongruous. The simpler explanation is truer: Eternals is a mess.

Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Sprite (Lia McHugh) stand in the forest in civilian clothes in Marvel’s Eternals.

It’s a movie concerned with conveying scale, about big ideas and forces that move on a geologic timetable beyond any one life. It wrestles with a morality that stretches beyond the considerations of one person or one planet, with purpose when time and distance have next to no meaning. The Marvel output bucks and protests under these conditions. The company’s plot-driven blockbusters are overwhelmingly concerned with the present, and to an arguably greater extent, what’s next.

Eternals considers where we are, where we’ve been, and how much it’s changed us, if at all. These are largely internal ideas that are not easily translated to superhuman brawls in dim environs, where the beauty of the natural world is just a blank canvas for lasers and punching. Every fight is like a tether pulling Eternals back to the ground when it would rather fly. Each scene expounding on the cosmology of the MCU does more for movies we haven’t seen yet than it does for the one we’re watching.

Movies can be big enough for ideas like this: difficult conversations of cosmic import with no clear answer, angry confrontations with an uncaring god, and whether or not our moral compass should shift as our perspective and reach grows. But a film must create a world where those questions matter, to its characters and to its audience. In a few short lines, Zhao did that with Nomadland . Eternals , however, just isn’t big enough. Or perhaps the Marvel Cinematic Universe is just too small.

Eternals is out now in theaters.

Marvel Rivals is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X

X-men legends greg capullo and jonathan hickman team up for wolverine: revenge, x-men ’97 wasn’t about superheroes, it was about people.

an image, when javascript is unavailable

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘Eternals’ Review: The MCU Confronts God Itself in Chloé Zhao’s Huge but Overly Familiar Superhero Epic

David ehrlich.

Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Share on LinkedIn
Show more sharing options
Submit to Reddit
Post to Tumblr
Print This Page
Share on WhatsApp

Alexander the Great may have wept when he found himself with no more worlds to conquer, but super-producer Kevin Feige — having usurped every screen on Earth and reshaped the global entertainment landscape in his own image — merely straightened his baseball cap and announced that it was time to begin the next phase of his crusade. He knew there were more planets to rule, more parallel dimensions to explore, and more revenue streams for Disney shareholders to tap dry.

Most of all, Feige knew that it wasn’t enough to dominate the creative arts; if the Marvel brand were to achieve its rightful place in the hearts and minds of all humanity, it would have to unseat the Creator themselves. A major step towards achieving a kind of singularity between the Marvel Cinematic Universe (lucrative and popular) and the Actual Physical Universe (prestigious but full of fading stars), “ Eternals ” starts by papering over every origin story that science and religion have ever invented.

“In the beginning…,” reads the text on screen, a supergiant Celestial named Arishem created the heavens and the Earth out of space dust. It created us, too — for reasons that will later be explained at great length during one of modern filmdom’s most explosive info dumps — along with a race of sinewy monsters called “Deviants” and an immortal alien task force known as “Eternals” that was eventually dispatched to protect our species after the beasts evolved beyond Arishem’s control. Oops.

The idea that our planet and everyone on it was designed by such a sloppy cosmic builder makes a lot of sense, and some of the more ass-kissing Eternals are quick to defend Arishem by arguing that humanity’s greatest threats have always spurred its greatest strides. But the fact remains that Arishem is a fallible being, and the cataclysmic “emergence” triggered by the sudden return of half the world’s population will force the Eternals to question their maker for the first time in the 7,000 years since they landed on Earth.

In other words, Marvel has made a “Dune”-sized, “Dune”-length, and almost “Dune”-portentous superhero movie about literally confronting God.

On paper, that should be enough to make “Eternals” a radical departure from the rest of the MCU, as well as a sharp escalation from the previous two installments of the mega-franchise’s current phase (the no-stakes prequel “Black Widow” and the relatively self-contained origin story “Shang-Chi”). In practice, it still amounts to several hours of watching good actors save the world from bad CGI, as philosophical differences erupt into a weightless battle royale while civilization itself hangs in the balance. By making such an unadventurous movie about how crisis breeds creativity, Marvel effectively illustrates why even the most independent-minded of filmmakers are powerless to evolve an apex predator franchise that doesn’t have any Darwinian impetus to adapt.

Which isn’t to say that “Eternals” fails to score any points for its scope and relative sense of gravity, or to overlook the subtle — and not so subtle — ways that it pushes back against the plastic-ness of a franchise that often looks as if it had been filmed against a Zoom background. Chloé Zhao , who shot her Oscar-winning “Nomadland” during pre-production on this movie, isn’t the first auteur to faintly put their stamp on one of the assembly-line spectacles manufactured by Feige’s money factory.

Nevertheless, there’s a galaxy of difference between hiring a populist like Shane Black to gift “Iron Man 3” with a bitter dose of Christmas spirit, and handing the reins of a $200 million blockbuster to an arthouse darling who’d never shot on a set, cast most of her roles with non-professional actors, and boasted a body of work that consisted of two micro-budget indie dramas (both inextricable from the rugged naturalism with which they were filmed).

Giving Zhao this job is simply the most interesting decision that Marvel has made behind the camera since Edgar Wright’s departure from “Ant-Man” suggested the studio wasn’t interested in making any. Nobody is going to mistake “Eternals” for “Songs My Brother Taught Me” — and Feige’s justifiably mocked enthusiasm over Zhao’s use of real-world locations is a helpful reminder of how low the bar has been set for this stuff — but compared to the diarrheal computer goop of the “Endgame” finale, this might as well be Dogme 95. Exterior scenes are desaturated for seriousness but shot with natural light, dialogue is often exchanged without a bombastic underscore, and many of the Eternals introduced by Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, and Ryan and Kaz Firpo’s script look and behave like real people (even if they’re actually deathless aliens who are stuck in the same bodies for all time).

Some of the bigger special effects are so monumental they circle past realism and all the way back around until they achieve a sense of awe that’s been sorely absent from the MCU. In a refreshing change of pace for these movies, the climactic orgy of 1s and 0s is rendered with a tact that feels more ominous than numbing (“Shadow of the Colossus” comes to mind). But there are other moments of digital majesty along the way. The prologue, in which star-crossed Eternals Sersi ( Gemma Chan ) and Ikaris ( Richard Madden ) first meet each other aboard their crew’s Earthbound spaceship, is kissed with some of the stately grandeur that Stanley Kubrick brought to “2001.”

In the “Everyone is hot but no one is horny” era of Marvel films, kissing is as far as things would ever go; by contrast, it’s only a few scenes after the Eternals endear themselves to the people of ancient Babylon and begin their protective watch over our species that two of them consecrate our planet with some old-fashioned shimmying under the sheets. Silly as it may sound, even that very PG tryst helps contribute to the earthiness of Zhao’s approach.

And Sersi and Ikaris aren’t the only Eternals with a pulse, even if these one-dimensional characters (she empathetic, he duty-bound to a fault) are largely humanized by their mutual attraction. After 25 adventures populated by sexless action figures, the basic fact of physical intimacy — whether expressed through allure or absence — makes a big difference across the board. No relationship in the MCU has exuded the sheer warmth shared between techno wizard Phastos (a sweet but out of his element Brian Tyree Henry) and his husband. The forever prepubescent Sprite (Lia McHugh) is agonized by the knowledge she’ll never be an adult. The mind-controlling Druig (a compellingly aloof Barry Keoghan) is isolated from humans by the control he wields over them, just as the softhearted Gilgamesh (a gloriously robust Don Lee) is cut off from his platonic life partner because her deadly alien dementia keeps them at an arm’s length (Thena is played by Angelina Jolie , whose immense star power unbalances such a minor role).

Sersi and Ikaris may be flattened by the sheer weight of their moral positions, but the rest of this film’s uncommonly human supporting characters help anchor “Eternals” to reality while its scale grows large enough to make the entire Avengers saga feel like a blip in comparison. Even Kumail Nanjiani ’s Kingo, who injects some much-needed levity into Marvel’s least comic movie and has more fun with the whole immortality thing than any of his fellow alien friends, is given the space to make a bizarre yet supremely relatable choice in the build-up to the final battle. The dramatic heft of Zhao’s film stems from the sense that it’s telling the story that underwrites all of the other stories in the MCU, and when the Eternals are inevitably fractured into rival groups, their fighting words are grounded with the weight of shared millennia.

If only those words weren’t so frequently at odds with the movie around them. Much of the endless yammering in “Eternals” focuses on the vital role that death plays in rebirth, and yet it’s the ever-evolving Deviants who represent the natural order of things. The majority of Zhao’s heroes, on the other hand, decide to reject the wisdom they’ve gleaned from 7,000 years on Earth and side against the circle of life. It’s hard to blame them — even immortal space creatures are willing to die for love — but watching the Eternals reject the infinite churn of the universe and fight to protect the status quo is as touching a metaphor for The Movies at large as it is a damning self-critique of these ones in particular.

“Eternals” was uniquely poised to push the MCU in new directions, and Feige’s decision to entrust it to such a fiercely individualistic filmmaker would seem to suggest a willingness to make good on that potential. The story may cut to the core of series mythology, but aside from the Emergence it’s almost completely divorced from the rest of the saga. That’s also true enough of the movie’s style and tone, at least in the context of a franchise that previously just rotated between different flavors of the same basic dish. The Eternals are told not to interfere with the workings of our world, and so it stands to reason that their adventure exists a half-step outside of the MCU — if the previous 25 installments could be thought of as the attractions of a theme park, “Eternals” takes place behind the doors marked “employees only.”

Alas, this elastic mega-franchise only allows itself to be stretched so far before it snaps back to its default shape. For all of the incidental choices that set “Eternals” apart and seem to promise that Marvel has found the chutzpah required to break — or even bend — the vibranium blockbuster mold it so boldly forged in the first place, Zhao’s film is still just adhering to a template.

Its idea of conflict is still characters barking platitudes at each other (here rehashing an intergalactic version of the same trolley problem that antagonized Iron Man against Captain America in “Civil War”). Its idea of resolution is still having those characters fly around and shoot finger lights at stuff in a way that never fools your brain into believing the physical reality of what you’re watching. And while the Deviants serve a curiously different purpose here than previous MCU baddies might lead you to expect, it’s one that underlines why people fighting computer-generated monsters is the biggest waste of time in the world.

Yes, all of these are superhero tropes writ large, and comic book fans might see them as features instead of bugs. But can’t these movies do anything else? Is it too much to ask the most dominant kind of cinema on the planet to shake things up and challenge itself in a more significant way?

That “Eternals” feigns at such freedom only makes it harder to stomach when it falls back on the same old song, even if Zhao sings it in a slightly different key than we’ve heard before. Superhero movies are often defended as the Westerns of their day, but Westerns are a genre — the MCU is just a stencil, and Zhao’s ability to paint with a different brush ultimately highlights how even she had to color inside the lines. The Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue to expand for the foreseeable future, but it may need to be threatened with extinction before it can actually grow.

Disney will release “Eternals” in theaters on Friday, November 5.

The Real Problem With Eternals

The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter.

In every possible way, Chloé Zhao’s Eternals is unprecedented. It’s the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to feature a deaf hero (Lauren Ridloff’s Mikkari). Also the first to feature a gay one (Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos). It’s bathed in natural light (Zhao’s signature), and teeming with saviors—and villains—previously unseen in the MCU. It also has the rare distinction of being the first Marvel film to be certified rotten on Rotten Tomatoes .

To be sure, Rotten Tomatoes scores aren’t everything—and in an era where everyone’s a critic (hello, Twitter), they only give a sliver of the full public perception of any film. But for a Marvel movie, a venture literally designed to be crowd-pleasing, its (currently) 53 percent score is low. It’s also a sign of what happens when a movie, any movie, is asked to be everything to everyone. Moreover, Eternals is an indicator of the growing pains inherent in moving the MCU forward.

People often associate conversations around pushing things forward with diversity and shifting the canon. Eternals does that, but the film's hiccups aren't linked to its cast and crew. Or even its style , which doesn’t have the hypercolor sheen of many of its predecessors. Really, it’s about the story it's trying to tell—and how much story it had to fit into its 2-hour-37-minute runtime.

The thing is, Eternals has no runway. Now in its fourth phase, the MCU is less reliant on big team-up movies that build on every story that’s come before them. Tony Stark doesn’t just get to waltz into Spider-Man: Homecoming and have everyone know who he is. There aren’t heaping handfuls of origin story movies leading up to superhero slugfests like The Avengers . In a lot of ways, this works to Zhao’s benefit: She was free to make her own film and not get bogged down in having it “fit” with every other movie in the MCU. There are no big cameos in Eternals , and the Avengers and Thanos are mentioned only in passing. But it also means she had to do the narrative equivalent of 10 standalone movies and Avengers: Endgame —all with heroes far less recognizable than Spidey. Her movie also needed some in-group drama, so it spends a chunk of time in the middle playing out what is essentially the entire arc of Captain America: Civil War . It’s too much.

Oddly, it’s in these Earth-bound narrative beats where the movie is its best. Zhao relishes crafting interpersonal moments. But at times those moments feel disconnected from Eternals’ many action scenes. It also means her film has to do a lot of emotional work in small chunks of time; something that, perhaps, led to moments like Phastos weeping over his a-historical involvement in the bombing of Hiroshima, a scene that’s drawn some criticism . If even two or three of the film’s heroes had been given standalone films previous to this one, it’s easy to imagine Zhao’s Eternals being the thoughtful, poignant journey it almost is. Instead, it’s a story too heavy for anyone’s shoulders.

How a Samsung Washing Machine Chime Triggered a YouTube Copyright Fiasco

By Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica

The Best Bookshelf Speakers to Blast Your Tunes

By Ryan Waniata

HMD’s First Self-Branded Phone in the US Isn’t Much of a Vibe

By Julian Chokkattu

The Ticketmaster Data Breach May Be Just the Beginning

By Matt Burgess

While watching Eternals I couldn’t stop thinking about something Marvel chief Kevin Feige mentioned to me a few weeks before the film was released. During production, Feige says, he told Zhao that it wasn’t until he saw her vision for Eternals that he thought that “post- Endgame the MCU could survive.” That’s maybe more than one should expect from any single film, but I don’t think his intuition was wrong. Zhao—who, in the time it took to film Eternals and release it, became an Oscar-winner for Nomadland —had the right idea; she just maybe had too many of them. And, as Dana Stevens pointed out in her smart review for Slate, “a filmmaker of Zhao’s gifts … has earned the right to make a bad movie, shrug it off, and move on.” Marvel should be able to do that too.

📩 The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters !
Greg LeMond and the amazing candy-colored dream bike
What can convince people to just get vaccinated already?
Facebook failed the people who tried to improve it
Dune is an exercise in delayed gratification
11 key security settings in Windows 11
👁️ Explore AI like never before with our new database
📱 Torn between the latest phones? Never fear—check out our iPhone buying guide and favorite Android phones

Marah Eakin

Scarlett Johansson’s OpenAI Feud Makes Her an Uncanny Folk Hero

Jennifer M. Wood

Brian Barrett

Eternals Review: Why Marvel's Most Epic Movie Is Worth Watching

eternals marvel studios angelina jolie richard madden

On July 20, 2019, Marvel President Kevin Feige took the San Diego Comic-Con stage to announce the latest phase of Marvel Studios projects. Sequels, spin-offs, and shows for established IPs like Doctor Strange, Loki, and Falcon overran Twitter's trending topics as fans feverishly speculated what subtitles like Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder meant for their favorite heroes.

Among those announced projects were two new properties: Shang-Chi and The Eternals . The former had a somewhat familiar pitch (powerful title character estranged from their criminal family), but the latter promised to be unlike anything Marvel Cinematic Universe audiences had ever seen before.

While details surrounding Chloé Zhao's MCU directorial debut were kept close to the vest at SDCC 2019, fans were reassured by the film's impressive ensemble. A-List talent like Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, and Salma Hayek highlighted a squad of Marvel rookies that brought a century of acting experience into the ever-expansive universe.

27 months, two release date delays , and a slight title change later: Eternals has arrived.

Eternals is a Cinematic Experience

Above all else, Eternals is a cinematic experience that only comes around every so often. Not every film needs to be seen on the big screen, but Eternals was made for it.

Director Chloé Zhao spares no expense when it comes to showcasing this sensationally stunning world. Prioritizing the visuals emphasizes the scope of this story, which consequently sets it apart from anything the MCU has ever done before.

The Influence on the MCU

With a story that spans centuries and characters so powerful they are mandated "not to interfere" in most human conflicts, many will walk into Eternals expecting the MCU's DNA to be rewired. Despite everything this film accomplishes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe retains its identity.

Bringing in an all-powerful ensemble that is linked to the very creation of the universe is precarious. If done wrong, Eternals risks rendering everything that preceded it obsolete. Rather than redefine the MCU, Eternals offers a new point of view on everything, which is a massive win.

Similar to how religion and science offer different perspectives on the universe, Eternals brings a fresh viewpoint to what the MCU is on a cellular level.

The Century-Long Story

As confirmed by the film's press release, Eternals splits its narrative into two separate timelines . MCU movies have utilized flashbacks before, but never to this scale.

The storytelling structure should be confusing, but Zhao weaves in and out of time periods effortlessly. The present-day plot is enhanced by narratives told in the past. For all the good the storytelling structure does for Eternals , it does require significant brain power to fully appreciate.

Eternals can be a popcorn blockbuster, but the true value of the film lies in its intricacies. Approaching it with a laser-focus similar to an Interstellar or Inception will yield the best possible experience.

As the film jumps around, it does run into some pacing issues. There is plenty of action to satisfy the Marvel movie viewer, but those high-energy sequences are usually bookended by slower, dialogue-heavy scenes.

Eternals Assemble

Eternals has the strongest ensemble the MCU has ever delivered.

While the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy have a hierarchy to them, the Eternals balance ten characters that all operate on a fairly even playing field. Richard Madden's Ikaris and Gemma Chan's Sersi stand out among the group in terms of leadership, but not a single remaining Eternal feels like a background player.

Come November 5, each individual Eternal will have a significant fanbase. Lia McHugh's Sprite , Brian Tyree Henry's Phastos, and Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo all stole every scene they were in while each bringing a different niche to the table. Sprite is the carefree spirit. Phastos is the soulful heart. Kingo is the charismatic rock star.

That's not to discredit any of the remaining cast either.

Angelina Jolie's Thena fits into this ensemble seamlessly. As one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, it would've been easy for Jolie to stand out among her peers simply because of how massive her star power is. Instead, she operates as a true team player.

Lauren Ridloff's Makkari's unique speedster powers allow her to have some of the most memorable action sequences in the film. Despite being the muscle, Don Lee's Gilgamesh is at his strongest when he's having heart-to-heart conversations with his various teammates. The same goes for Salma Hayek's Ajak, who has some of the best dialogue throughout the two hours and 37 minutes.

Many will walk away talking most about Ikaris or Sersi, but Barry Keoghan's Druig sneaks atop the leaderboard for most memorable Eternal. Keoghan brings this subtle and borderline silent charm to Druig, making every scene he speaks in completely captivating.

While he's not a member of the team, Kit Harington's Dane Whitman is a welcome addition to this star-studded cast. His role is minimal, but he makes the most of it. Similar to how Thena is her own character and not just the movie star Angelina Jolie, Harington sheds any elements of Game of Thrones ' Jon Snow in his performance.

Despite being introduced in Phase 4 of a 13-year franchise, Eternals elects to create its own world within the already established MCU.

Marvel buzzwords like "Avengers" and "Doctor Strange" are dropped occasionally, but Zhao builds this film around its unique characters, locations, concepts, and terminology, not unlike September's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings . While Shang-Chi occasionally made the extra effort to remind viewers that it's set in the MCU, Eternals barely feels bothered to incorporate MCU familiarities.

While this might be jarring for fans of Marvel Studios, this is a genius play long-term. Going all-in on this Eternals IP allows it to grow on its own so that when the time does come for an Avengers crossover, these characters will be able to hold their own opposite Marvel's poster ensemble.

Game-Changing Victory

Even though Eternals is more of a perspective shift rather than a universe-altering project, Eternals is a game-changing victory for Marvel Studios.

Box office numbers will dictate how Disney approaches making more movies like this, but Eternals proves the MCU can create rich stories outside the traditional formula. Eternals opens the door for future ensembles like Fantastic Four and X-Men to stand on their own while simultaneously existing within the MCU.

For anyone who fears the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting tired, Eternals is a surge of stamina. Not every audience will embrace its boldness right out of the theater. Like all great thinker's films, Eternals requires viewers to let it settle before truly appreciating it. In a genre that is becoming more and more populated by forgettable flicks, Eternals has a shelf life that will stand the test of time.

Eternals hits theaters on November 5.

Marvel's Eternals: Angelina Jolie Reveals How Her Own Family Prepared Her For MCU Movie

MCU Writer, Editor, Podcaster

LATEST NEWS

Is a Cyberpunk 2077 Movie Releasing Soon? Johnny Silverhand Film Speculation Explained

Cast & crew
User reviews

Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, and Lia McHugh in Eternals (2021)

The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations. The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations. The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.

Patrick Burleigh
Richard Madden
Angelina Jolie
3.7K User reviews
363 Critic reviews
52 Metascore
7 wins & 18 nominations

Dane Whitman

(as Don Lee)

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Did you know

Trivia Lauren Ridloff had difficulty in reacting in scenes where she is required to interact with a digital character or in action scenes due to her deafness. She credited Angelina Jolie who helped her by using a laser pointer pen to guide her in the direction she would be required to look at.
Goofs (at around 2 mins) One scene shows Earth from space, 7000 years ago. The view shows Northern Africa with the Sahara desert. However, 7000 years ago the Sahara was not a desert but covered in grass, trees, and lakes. The "African humid period" ended 6000-5000 years ago.

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.

Crazy credits SPOILER: There is a scene at the end of the closing credits: Dane Whitman opens a box containing the Ebony Blade, the weapon wielded by the Black Knight superhero. He attempts to touch it but the vampire hunter Blade halts him.
Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: D23 Expo 2019 Extravaganza (2019)
Soundtracks Time Written by Roger Waters , David Gilmour , Richard Wright , and Nick Mason (as Nicholas Mason) Performed by Pink Floyd Courtesy of Pink Floyd Records by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User reviews 3.7K

Coolmade2000
Nov 9, 2021
How long is Eternals? Powered by Alexa
Has Marvel Studios made any plans for a 'Moon Knight' film?
Will it be based on primarily the original Jack Kirby comics or the Neil Gaiman comics from the 90s?
November 5, 2021 (United States)
United States
Official Disney+ Hotstar
Official Disney+ Hotstar Indonesia
American Sign Language
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Greek, Ancient (to 1453)
Chủng Tộc Bất Tử
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain (scenes set in Australia)
Marvel Studios
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$200,000,000 (estimated)
$164,870,234
$71,297,219
Nov 7, 2021
$402,064,899

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 36 minutes
Dolby Atmos
IMAX 6-Track
Dolby Digital

More to explore

More From Decider

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: 'Eric' on Netflix + More

Netflix's Huge Jake Paul Vs. Mike Tyson Fight Postponed After Tyson...

Jax Taylor Admits His "Delivery Is Awful" In 'The Valley': "That's One Of...

What Happened to Regé-Jean Page? Did the Duke Bomb His Movie Star Career...

'9-1-1's Malcolm-Jamal Warner On Amir And Bobby, Working With Peter...

'Unfrosted' Has Everyone Wondering "What's The Deal With Jerry Seinfeld?"

Chrissy Teigen Stuns John Legend On 'The Drew Barrymore Show' With Reveal...

Brooke Shields Flashed Her ‘Mother of the Bride’ Co-Star Benjamin...

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Eternals’ on Disney+, a Big, Epic, Overlong Marvel Outing That’s a Rare Franchise Misfire

Where to stream:.

Fresh on Disney+ , Eternals brings some NAMES to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Angelina Jolie. Salma Hayek. And perhaps most compellingly, director Chloe Zhao, who just won an Oscar for Nomadland , and wowed us before that with an even teensier drama, The Rider . Zhao’s transition from art films to assimilation into a goliath blockbuster franchise puts her under broad scrutiny (and surely gives her quite the payday), but also is a gamble for Marvel, which rarely tinkers with its lucrative formula (and surely can afford to ante up). Based on one of the two-thirds nutty creations of comics king Jack Kirby (you should see the full-on nutty stuff!), Eternals was a modest box office draw (ASTERISK: during a pandemic), which tells us doodledy-squat about whether it’s a creative success or stumble; good thing we’re here to mull over such things for you, right? Right.

ETERNALS : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: SCROLLING TEXT: There’s too much of it. Great way to start a movie! Be thankful I’m here to condense it: Once upon a time, there were some outer space godlike beings with a proper-noun title – Kloggdraktks or something – OK, they’re just Celestials, yawn – who employed some immortal outer space superheroes called Eternals to protect non-outer space Earthlings from outer space monsters dubbed Deviants. MESOPOTAMIA, 5000 B.C.: The Eternals vanquish some Deviants and stand dashingly and majestically in symmetric formation for the first of too many times in this movie. They do like to pose. They pose, therefore they are; they are, therefore they pose.

While the Eternals stand in a symmetrical wedge shape, let’s take roll. Ajak (Hayak) leads the group, and is their official go-between with the Celestials. Some Eternals are powerful badasses, like Sersi (Gemma Chan), who can turn things into different things (Wikipedia calls it a “psionic ability to rearrange the molecular structure of objects”); Ikaris (Richard Madden), who, with his destructive eye beams and ability to fly, is basically Superman; or Thena, who’s just Angelina Jolie playing herself, a stunning warrior goddess. Others kinda got dicked when they were handing out powers, e.g., Gilgamesh (Ma Dong-seok), a basic strongman with glowing ethereal outer space fist-gloves; Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), a science-guy inventor of technology; or Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), who shoots laser zaps from his fingers. Three more Eternals (yes, three, gasp, pant) have powers of a more nebulous, potentially dangerous sort: Sprite (Lia McHugh) can create illusions, Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) can run very fast like the Flash and Druig (Barry Keoghan) can mass-control minds.

Now we’re tasked with keeping track of all these characters within multiple settings as the movie jumps from one far-flung locale to another, and from past to present to far-past to near-present like a heavily Skittled first grader. Hopefully we’ll give half a crap! In the present day, they’re scattered hither and yon, immortal folk trying to live normal human mortal lives. Sersi is sort of the main character, living in London, working as a history prof, creating Kamala/Doug Emhoff vibes with her boyfriend Dane Whitman (Kit Harington), who we’ll soon learn has replaced her previous beau, Ikaris, which means in an an alt-reality, House Stark was rendered quite asunder. Kingo is a Bollywood star making superhero musicals, Phastos has settled into family life with his husband and son, Thena struggles with an unstable outer space mental health condition under Gilgamesh’s care, and of course Ajak lives in solitude in South Dakota, because a Chloe Zhao movie without quiet scenes in South Dakota is not a Chloe Zhao movie at all.

Very long story made short: The Eternals broke up and now have to get the band back together, when “global earthquakes” and the reemergence of the Deviants, once thought vanquished, signal a disturbance of cosmic proportions. What follows is a process of apocalypse so convoluted, if every Bond villain formed one massive conglomerate mind in a single body, its jaw would fall slack with awe and wonder. Who, you might ask, will pose heroically in wedge formation as dramatic music swells, and save the world? NO SPOILERS.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Eternals is the Villeneuve’s Dune of the MCU: Ambitious, sprawling, visually inspired, mega-talented cast and director, stiff as a board. The story has hints of Watchmen , the book and movie, less so the HBO series; it also centers on a Guardians of the Galaxy -type conglomerate of misfits, but instead of being funny and full of heart, the Eternals are squashed flat by quasi-Shakespearean gravitas.

Performance Worth Watching: Being part of an ensemble that’s mostly just poker-facing its way through stilted exposition is fairly thankless work. But I will say that Gemma Chan – so excellent in Crazy Rich Asians – carries enough screen presence to deserve a Sersi solo series on Disney+.

Memorable Dialogue: Phastos punctuates the movie’s climactic finale with this humdinger: “I always wondered how we survived the destruction of other planets we were on!”

Sex and Skin: In the first-ever MCU sex scene, Sersi and Ikaris briefly shtoink in a desert canyon – in chaste, romantic PG-13 style.

Our Take: Eternals proves that no conflict between selfless heroes and evil forces bent on Earth’s destruction, between free will and the irrepressible destinies of nature, can be solved without a whole lotta punching and stabbing. There’s more to it than rudimentary violence, of course, since the movie takes a small eternity to work through each Eternal’s opportunity to contribute to the collective art of world-saving, but what I remember most is all the punching and the stabbing. I felt bad for the antagonists, who went through so much trouble, millennia of preparing and scheming, sending the monsters and waiting for them to evolve into sentience, just for a good chunk of the conflict to be resolved with the usual punching and stabbing. I guess they’re the ones who sent the usual ugly, gnashing monsters, which absolutely deserve to be punched and stabbed.

At least the Eternals are well-versed in teamwork, so their story doesn’t repeat a lot of the Avengers fodder; they’re evolved well beyond the art of assembling, so all the posing in formation is second nature to them. It frees them to wrestle with grandiose philosophical fodder – what it means to be human, life-and-death yin-yang stuff, etc. – in a most stultifying and dull manner. Zhao introduces piles of big ideas, crafts an excuse to deploy battle sequences and flashy, grandiose camera maneuvers, then mires everything in exposition and plot developments parched for a drop of dramatic consequence. The characters, made of the finest artisanal cardboard, are mostly empty vessels reciting blither-blather dialogue, and find themselves in the exquisitely unenviable position of looking great but having not a damn thing interesting to say. Once in a while, the script pops with Marvel-style bits of quippy comedy, but none of it lands impactfully.

It’s admirable to see Zhao try to stretch the boundaries of what an MCU film can be, especially with such a broadly diverse cast. But Eternals has more in common with a dour DC exercise or clunky, forgettable epics like Jupiter Ascending or John Carter . Jack Kirby was an innovator with boundless imagination, and one can sense Zhao trying to do justice to his creations (AND please Marvel fans AND do something outside the contextual norm, which adds up to too much). But the final product leaves one thinking that they’re not at all congruous to live-action movie adaptations. You could never take Kirby’s work seriously, but I’ll be damned if the movie doesn’t demand just the opposite. More crucially, it’s simply not much fun.

Our Call: SKIP IT. In the MCU, even the not-great movies are reasonably entertaining, and worth a watch. Eternals is the rare franchise entry that’s a major misfire.

Will you stream or skip Chloe Zhao's star-studded #MCU outing #Eternals on @disneyplus ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) January 13, 2022

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com .

Stream Eternals on Disney+

Stream It Or Skip It

Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? 'Yellowstone's Season 5 Return Date, Kevin Costner Updates, And More

Sunny Hostin Leaves Her Seat On 'The View' To Advise Whoopi Goldberg About What She Can And Can't Say On TV

Patricia Richardson Says 'Home Improvement' Ended Because ABC Wouldn't Give Her Equal Pay to Tim Allen

It’s A 'Yellowstone' Wedding: Co-Star Couple Ryan Bingham And Hassie Harrison Marry In A "Cowboy Black Tie" Ceremony

Whoopi Goldberg Suggests That Trump Would "Jail" 'The View' Co-Hosts For Speaking Out Against Him

Tyler James Williams Admits To "Lying" About His 'Abbott Elementary' Romantic Arc In Past Interviews

Marvel’s Eternals movie review: Why Eternals is one of the best Marvel movies ever

By ricky valero | oct 26, 2021.

(L-R): Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), Gilgamesh (Don Lee), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Ajak (Salma Hayek), Sersi (Gemma Chan), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) and Druig (Barry Keoghan) in Marvel Studios' ETERNALS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

I had the opportunity of seeing the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eternals. My expectations were tempered for this, but I had faith in Marvel Studios to deliver once again.

"Without their flaws, they wouldn’t be human"

The team of writers, led by Chloe Zhao, delivered the most grounded movie in the MCU to date. The story highlights the idea of what it is like to make big decisions that have the opportunity to change the world. The movie felt very relatable to what has transpired over the last few years within society.

One of my more significant concerns was how we will get introduced to all these new characters we have never met and it not feel rushed or too packed into one film, and well, each of these new characters has their moment to shine and takes advantage of their chance to thrive.

Marvel’s Eternals is full of heart, laughter, and features a fun ensemble

Zhao is known for making beautiful films and she did not disappoint with her work with cinematographer Ben Davis. This is easily the most beautiful Marvel film to date.

Let’s talk about the action. Shang-Chi really set the bar high with its next-level action and Eternals held its own in this regard. Each of the heroes in the film has their unique powers and we see them all on display, but when they come together, the action stands out.

There were several instances I said, ‘Wow, that was so cool.’ The entire final sequence of the film was uniquely shot and amazing to watch.

Overall, this is hands down one of the best Marvel films to date. It’s full of heart, laughter and a fun ensemble. You always hear about how comic book movies can be copy and paste and sometimes the criticism is warranted, but Eternals stands out on its own in a way that feels like it’s breathing fresh air in this entire universe.

Marvel’s Eternals hits theaters on Nov. 5, 2021.

Next. The Harder They Fall movie review: An ensemble cast to die for…literally. dark

Screen Rant

Mcu phase 4’s most wasted villain was almost marvel’s most terrifying.

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Eternals’ Massive Celestial Plot Hole Finally Addressed By Marvel

Harry styles' marvel character returns in new mcu multiverse project played by a different actor, scarlet witch returns from the dead for vision’s new mcu series in stunning marvel art.

Eternals villain Kro has potential, but he ended up feeling underwhelming in the final MCU film.
Early concept art shows Kro as a horror movie monster, different from his final look, hinting at a missed opportunity for a more impactful character.
The decision to tone down Kro's appearance for Eternals may have been to appeal to a wider audience, but a scarier design could have made him more memorable.

When Kro appeared in Phase 4 via 2021's Eternals , he proved to be underwhelming but he was very nearly a terrifying villain more fearsome to behold than anything else in the MCU. There was no question that when he first did battle with Eternals' cast of superheroes, he seemed to combine immense power with a menacing appearance . He was also framed as a major antagonist for the film, and it almost looked at one point as if he could become a serious bad guy in the MCU as the story went into phases 5 and 6.

There was solid evidence that Kro would be a big bad when he succeeded in killing some important characters throughout the film, but then by Eternals' ending he is neutralized by Thena and, in actuality, his apparent powers and fierce appearance weren’t enough to ensure his staying power. This led to him feeling like he was a wasted opportunity in Phase 4 and, instead of becoming a major player in the vein of Thanos or Kang, he was just one more generic baddie dispatched to move Eternals story forward. But things could have been very different.

Eternals' ending created a massive MCU plot hole with Tiamut's emergence, but Marvel has finally addressed the Celestial frozen in the ocean.

MCU's Unused Kro Design Looks Like A Horror Movie Monster

Early designs for the character could feel like they're from a different universe.

A series of Eternals concept art illustrations shared by character artist Jerad S. Marantz showed a startling early design for Kro and the difference is so striking that the villain seems better suited to a horror movie than fighting superheroes in Eternals . Even the clay renders for the design have an eerie feel to them, and it’s very likely that if the creative team had gone with this rendition for Kro’s final look then it would have left a much bigger impression on audiences and given the film a unique identity that could have helped it stand out.

Compared to his final form, Kro almost seems to be in the wrong film entirely.

The addition of a more skeleton-like look and menacing eyes is embellished even further by horns and gruesome tendrils that lend him a monstrous aura. Kro’s first iteration looks less like an MCU baddie and more like something from an HP Lovecraft horror story, which is entirely fitting for a cosmic being who wields extraordinary power. Compared to his final form, Kro almost seems to be in the wrong film entirely. Rather than doing battle in Eternals , he could well have been a better fit in the more horror-themed Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness.

Was Kro's Original Character Design Too Much For The MCU?

Playing to the masses means sometimes creators have to tone it down.

It isn't known exactly why the creative team behind Eternals decided not to use Kro’s final design, but one possible explanation is that his appearance was too scary for a family-friendly superhero film consistent with the look and feel of the MCU. Kro’s appearance in the early prototype is literally the stuff of nightmares so it would have felt somewhat out of place in a film that placed more emphasis on science fiction and fantastical beings. His final design in the film definitely feels like something that packs a punch without being too over the top.

Eternals isn't the only MCU movie in which earlier character designs were jettisoned in favor of something more toned down in the end product. A look at some unused MCU concept art reveals a host of horror-adjacent designs, including a demonic Wanda Maximoff, an extra-disfigured Red Skull and a vision of Gorr The God Butcher so ghoulish that it could have been designed by HR Giger. As with these designs, while they look great as illustrations, bringing them to life onscreen may have been more challenging, thus it was decided to leave them on the drawing board.

Kro's Final MCU Appearance Makes Sense (But The Unused Design Could've Worked Better)

Decisions over kro’s final look reveal a wasted opportunity.

Cool alternate design aside, Kro’s presence in Eternals presents a threat and his character design does makes sense. His look is consistent with the rest of the film, and he manages to be intimidating, but not in a way that could cause issues for younger audience members. At the same time, it's hard not to feel like he also represents a wasted opportunity in Phase 4 . With Eternals score of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes , it remains a divisive film and a scarier Kro could have mitigated this.

The bait-and-switch towards Eternals climax makes narrative sense in the context of the film, but there is also a strong case for arguing that the twist could have hit much harder if Kro looked like his original horror-inspired design . His horrifying appearance would have given the character a more memorable screen presence so that when he was finally killed, the death would have felt like more of an event. As it is, his first and only appearance in MCU's Phase 4 became a wasted opportunity, that felt like a safer play.

Eternals memorably finished on a cliffhanger ending, so there is still potential in continuing the character's journeys, with an opportunity for a new villain who could unite the powerful team again. There are some significant potential villains for a possible Eternals sequel who could land heavier punches than Kro managed, and the maximalist approach inherent to most sequels could include beefed-up character designs. With that in mind, the team behind a potential Eternals sequel have a real opportunity to outdo Kro.

*Availability in US

Not available

Eternals is the 25th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is part of its fourth phase. Over 500 years ago, when the ten Eternals complete the task given to them by the Celestial Arishem to wipe out the invasive alien species known as Deviants that roam the earth, the group decides to go their separate ways as they find themselves at odds with how to continue their interactions with humanity as they grow and learn. Blending into society, the Eternals continue to live their lives in the modern day until the Deviants emerge again. When one of the Eternals is supposedly slain by a deviant, events are set in motion that will reunite them once again to discover why the Deviants have returned and what the true intentions of the Celestial have been for all these millennia.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Disturbing but Poignant ‘Eric’ Is About Much More Than a Missing Boy: TV Review

By Aramide Tinubu

Aramide Tinubu

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Disturbing but Poignant ‘Eric’ Is About Much More Than a Missing Boy: TV Review 2 days ago
Jake Gyllenhaal Sings Boyz II Men in ‘SNL’ Season 49 Finale Opening Monologue 2 weeks ago
André Holland Is Stellar as Huey P. Newton, but ‘The Big Cigar’ Never Ignites: TV Review 2 weeks ago

Gaby Hoffman as Cassie and Benedict Cumberbatch as Vincent in "Eric"

Popular on Variety

When Edgar fails to arrive at school, Ledroit is put on the case. Still haunted by a lost Black teen, Ledroit is driven to get the Andersons a different outcome. This is no easy feat in a city determined to discard what is deemed unsavory, and everyone involved with the case is hiding something. As Ledroit chases down leads, slowed by inadequate technology, red tape and his own pain, the horrors of NYC’s government policies come to light. It becomes clear that misconduct and violence at the highest levels are complicit in harming the city’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

Ultimately, “Eric” is about much more than a missing boy. The series revolves around corruption and inhumanity, topics that will thunder in the viewer’s mind long after the final episode. Disturbing but profound, the show asks why only certain people are allowed happy endings and what that means for those who won’t ever see justice.

“Eric” premieres May 30 on Netflix .

More From Our Brands

Lululemon releases clear version of viral ‘everywhere belt bag’ for stadiums and festivals, garrison brothers just dropped 4 new ultra-limited bourbons, nl west dominates mlb attendance as al central lags, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, outlander’s jamie and claire greet the revolution in first teaser — watch, verify it's you, please log in.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review

Nearly ten years on from the stunning fury road, legendary filmmaker george miller returns for his latest entry in the long-running series..

From humble beginnings with the micro-budgeted Mad Max way back in 1979, Australian paramedic turned director George Miller quickly came to the attention of Hollywood, where his keen visual eye and lofty ambitions gave him carte blanche for his next project. Turning down multiple offers (including Stallone's First Blood ), Miller returned to the dystopian world in The Road Warrior , where Warner Brothers stumped up a much higher budget to unleash his creative forces to great effect.

His follow-up Beyond Thunderdome generally scored decent reviews. It proved culturally relevant, but diminishing returns laid the franchise to rest for thirty years until the long-delayed Fury Road blew audiences' minds and re-defined the action genre once again. So how exactly does the now 79-year-old Miller top that? Well, he wisely chooses not to.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review 01

Following several civilization-ending conflicts, Australia (and presumably, the world) has become a collapsed society in an irradiated desert. In one of the last vestiges of greenery, young Furiosa (Alyla Browne/ Anya Taylor-Joy) is kidnapped by a scouting party of the ambitious (but slightly inept) warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) who jealous regards the last remaining pillars of production but may have what it takes to leave an impact on the final vestiges of semi-functioning society.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review 02

Despite its somewhat confusing name, Furiosa serves as a direct prequel to Fury Road (a Mad Max 3.5, if you will), taking viewers right up to the events portrayed in that film, but keeping the focus squarely on the titular hero, rather than the enigmatic Max. Given the difference in narrative time (not least the 12 years since cameras rolled), the role initially played by Charlize Theron has been recast with Anya Taylor-Joy and newcomer Alyla Browne, who prove to be fine choices indeed, even if Taylor-Joy lacks a little of the grit and intensity that Theron brought.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review 03

Sadly, Chris Hemsworth is not as convincing as the lead villain, Dementus, who shifts uneasily between intensity and buffoonery. Of course, that is his character to a degree, but the addition of a ridiculously Bane-like voice and prosthetic nose makes the whole package hard to take seriously. He's a fine and reliable actor, but I remained keenly aware that I was watching Chris Hemsworth throughout, which made it a little harder to immerse myself fully in the proceedings.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review 04

While Furiosa remains far more consistent with the visual look established in Fury Road than with any of its predecessors, it is narratively and tonally quite a different beast altogether - a good choice since it would be virtually impossible to top that film, nor would audiences welcome a warmed up re-make of that film. Nonetheless, Furiosa does seem much less structured (perhaps reinforced by the elongated timeframe) and doesn't offer the same propulsive drive nor the same laser-focused editing style. It feels churlish, even unfair, to directly compare Furiosa to the stunningly inspired Fury Road - yet it is practically impossible not to, and unfortunately, it does suffer as a result.

Isolated, Furiosa is a highly enjoyable action film with engaging characters, stunning visuals, and solid action beats. But just like The Hobbit is to The Lord of the Rings , the same elements don't always coalesce quite the same way again. Worse, it would seem that for the sake of production efficiency, there hasn't been quite the same emphasis on practical effects, leading to a few examples of sub-standard CG effects that occasionally take you out of the film.

Disappointingly, audiences worldwide haven't taken to Furiosa with the fervor expected by the studio to support such a mammoth production, so it's possible that the franchise may need to take a breath - almost certainly necessitating a new director and a new vision for the future. Again, it'll be an incredibly hard act to follow, but we all know Hollywood can't resist the trappings of a tried-and-true franchise for long.

Mad Max Fury Road Furiosa #1 Comic Book

Ben Gourlay

Ben joined the TweakTown team in 2008 and has since reviewed 100s of movies. Ben is based in Australia and has covered entertainment news and reviews since 2002. A student of film, Ben brings a wide understanding of the medium to the latest happenings in entertainment circles and the latest blockbuster theatrical reviews.

IMAGES

Eternals Review: Unlike Anything Else In The MCU
Eternals review: Marvel delivers a more thoughtful, somber action epic
Eternals In-Depth Review
Marvel Studos Eternals movie review
Movie Review
Eternals first reviews: Marvel film dubbed 'most disappointing' MCU

VIDEO

Eternals Movie Trailer
eternals movie three things liked #marvel
Eternals Movie
Eternals
Eternals
We Watched *ETERNALS* For The First Time

COMMENTS

Official Discussion
The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations. Director: Chloé Zhao. Writers: Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo, Jack Kirby (characters by) Cast: Gemma Chan as Sersi. Richard Madden as Ikaris.
Eternals is FAR better than the critics say; Go See It.
It is not the best MCU movie, but it is FAR from the worst. Thor: The Dark World, Incredible Hulk, hell, even Black Widow are all worse than this movie. This movie may have some issues with pacing, but it is still entertaining and fun. And tonality, it is different (or last least trying to be) from other MCU movies.
What is your opinion on the eternals movie of you have seen it ...
I loved it, it was different from other MCU movies, in the sense that it breaks the "formula" that many people complain about. It builds lore in the universe and we get a bunch of cool new characters. The visuals of the movie were stunning in my opinion. I would put it in my top 10 MCU movies, possibly even top 5.
Eternals movie review & film summary (2021)
Eternals. Director Chloé Zhao applies her distinctive aesthetic imprint to "Eternals," but she can only do so much to bend the Marvel Cinematic Universe to her will. The result is a blockbuster of unusual gentle beauty that also strains to fulfill the gargantuan requirements of a massive action spectacle. It is, in short, a bit of a mess.
Eternals
Feb 27, 2024 Full Review Jackson Weaver CBC News Eternals the movie suffers from the same thing The Eternals comic did — it focuses more on a concept than it does on characters.
Eternals Review
This is an advance, spoiler-free review of Marvel's Eternals. The film premieres Nov. 5, 2021. Eternals is sprawling — across scenery, across centuries, you name it. Director Chloé Zhao's ...
'Eternals' Review: Chloé Zhao's Marvel Movie Is Finely Crafted but
The film presents the Eternals, who have spent 7,000 years saving life on Earth, as an organically unified army of noble warrior souls. Unlike, say, the X-Men, who are boldly demarcated in their ...
Chloé Zhao's 'Eternals': Film Review
Eternals. The Bottom Line A soulful variation on a familiar template. Rated PG-13, 2 hours 37 minutes. Two post-credits teaser scenes reportedly hinting at the direction of future installments ...
Eternals First Reviews: Marvel's Most Unconventional Film Yet
Yet the first reviews for Eternals put its Tomatometer score in the bottom four of the 26 MCU features, alongside Iron Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, and The Incredible Hulk. That's still on the fresh side, but the takes are generally more mixed than usual. Perhaps this will change later as more reviews come through, but it's indeed a ...
Eternals review: The Marvel universe hits its limits
Chloé Zhao's 2020 film Nomadland begins with sparse lines of text that set up an entire world of loss. A sheetrock plant in the real-life town of Empire, Nevada, shuts down in January 2011. In ...
'Eternals' Review: Chloé Zhao's Huge but Familiar Superhero Epic
The Eternals are told not to interfere with the workings of our world, and so it stands to reason that their adventure exists a half-step outside of the MCU — if the previous 25 installments ...
Eternals Review: Marvel's Phase 4 Experiment Is A Mostly Unique MCU Movie
The 26th movie in the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe and third of Phase 4, Eternals introduces an entirely new team of superheroes to Marvel Studios' franchise world. The film is directed by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) from a script she co-wrote with Patrick Burleigh (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Ryan Firpo (Bet Raise Fold) and Kaz Firpo (Refuge), and based on a story by the Firpos.
The Real Problem With 'Eternals'
Nov 5, 2021 9:00 AM. The Real Problem With Eternals. Director Chloé Zhao's foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was simply asked to do too much. Courtesy of Marvel Studios. The Monitor is ...
Eternals Review: Why Marvel's Most Epic Movie Is Worth Watching
Eternals can be a popcorn blockbuster, but the true value of the film lies in its intricacies.Approaching it with a laser-focus similar to an Interstellar or Inception will yield the best possible experience. As the film jumps around, it does run into some pacing issues. There is plenty of action to satisfy the Marvel movie viewer, but those high-energy sequences are usually bookended by ...
Eternals (2021)
Eternals: Directed by Chloé Zhao. With Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek. The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations.
'Eternals' Disney+ Review: Stream It or Skip It?
Eternals is the Villeneuve's Dune of the MCU: Ambitious, sprawling, visually inspired, mega-talented cast and director, stiff as a board. The story has hints of Watchmen, the book and movie ...
Marvel's Eternals movie review: Should you watch the movie in theaters?
It's full of heart, laughter and a fun ensemble. You always hear about how comic book movies can be copy and paste and sometimes the criticism is warranted, but Eternals stands out on its own in ...
What made you get this feeling? : r/moviecritic
A cartoon rabbit that makes you vaguely uncomfortable in a racial way." -George Lucas in 1999, probably. I agree but my face wasnt this at the end of the movie. It was from the moment 5 minutes in when Trinity does the freeze frame jump kick and the camera pans around her.
Eternals Cliffhanger Ending Explained
Directed by Chloé Zhao, Eternals is the third film to arrive in Phase 4 and the most ambitious of the bunch so far. The movie focuses on 10 superhuman beings created by Celestials known as the Eternals, with Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Ikaris (Richard Madden) taking the main roles in the story. After showing the Eternals' arrival on Earth over ...
Eternals 4K Blu-ray Review
Eternals 4K Audio. Eternals' 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray delivers 3D High Definition object-based immersive audio in the form of Dolby Atmos. It's a solid track, and it is a step up from the Atmos accompaniment available on Disney+, but the gap is again not sizeable enough to prove definitive for all, particularly with the moderately lacking LFE ...
Is the ending of Eternal Sunshine happy or sad? : r/movies
The point of life is to live. Not necessarily have certain outcomes. I find the endings of movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to be realistic. And to me it's positive. Maybe the relationship doesn't work out or it is not all smooth sailing but the journey of living it is a worthwhile choice.
r/movies on Reddit: Mahershala Ali is set to join the cast of Gareth
Mahershala Ali is set to join the cast of Gareth Edwards' 'Jurassic Park 7'. Assuming no delays, this will release four months before his Blade movie. this just makes me think he's either leaving the role or the rumors of an umpteenth rewrite (and delay) are true.
Official Discussion
The origin story of renegade warrior Furiosa before her encounter and teamup with Mad Max. Director: George Miller. Writers: George Miller, Nick Lathouris. Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa. Chris Hemsworth as Dr. Dementus. Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack.
MCU Phase 4's Most Wasted Villain Was Almost Marvel's Most Terrifying
A series of Eternals concept art illustrations shared by character artist Jerad S. Marantz showed a startling early design for Kro and the difference is so striking that the villain seems better suited to a horror movie than fighting superheroes in Eternals.Even the clay renders for the design have an eerie feel to them, and it's very likely that if the creative team had gone with this ...
'Eric' TV Series Review: Benedict Cumberbatch Stuns In Netflix Show
Benedict Cumberbatch's Disturbing but Poignant 'Eric' Is About Much More Than a Missing Boy: TV Review. In Netflix 's limited series "Eric," from screenwriter Abi Morgan ("Shame ...
Furiosa: A Mad Max Story Cinema Review
TP-Link BE9300 Archer BE550 Wi-Fi 7 Router Review; Dell XPS 16 (9640) Laptop Review; ASRock 4x4BOX 8840U Mini PC Review; PNY XLR8 CS3150-XHS 1TB SSD Review - Cool, Flashy and Powerful; View More ...