As far as superhero movies go, Marvel Studios has an effective formula working for them. Consistently producing multiple blockbusters a year, Marvel knows how to make a movie that its audience will be captivated by. Impressive special effects, an engaging plot that stays relevant throughout multiple movies, and plentiful action sequences make up some of the biggest box office hits. It’s somewhat rare for a Marvel movie to get less-than-raving reviews from its fanbase, so what is it about the newest edition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that is leaving fans underwhelmed and disappointed?
The movie follows the Eternals, a group of immortal individuals with specialized superpowers, as they fight to rid Earth of evil beings called Deviants. The Eternals have been on Earth together for centuries, assigned to live in secret while they kill all of the Deviants, but they fall out of touch after believing that they completed their mission. Upon realizing that there is an even larger threat looming over Earth’s existence, the Eternals must reunite to reconcile their existence and save the Earth from imminent danger.
As far as Marvel movies go, Eternals works quite well as a stand alone film. It is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but that storyline exists in the distant background of the film. The typical audience member doesn’t need to watch every previous movie or have an extensive knowledge of the characters of the MCU to understand this particular story, but a die-hard Marvel fan will be able to pick up on conversations with an added knowledge of the underlying meaning.
Directed by Chloé Zhao, an Academy Award winning director for her work on Nomadland, Eternals both feels and looks quite different from its counterparts. One particularly noteworthy element to her approach was her insistence on filming on-location for as much of the movie as possible. The majority of Marvel movies, due to their scale and otherworldly settings, are filmed largely on a soundstage with a green screen creating the setting. However, it was important to Zhao to allow the characters to connect to nature and create a sense of common humanity. While this should have added a layer of authenticity, it falls flat to an extent because the nature of the film is so removed from humanity. The Eternals, while they were sent to protect Earth and care about it deeply, are not human. Their powers do not suggest humanity, and neither do the supernatural Deviants. Not to mention the fact that in order to stage so much of a high action film on-location, the locations that were used offer little depth to the scenes. Barren fields and seascapes seem to dominate the setting, rather than a rich demonstration of Earth’s beauty and grandeur. It was a thoughtful effort on Zhao’s part, and certainly made the film stand out from the majority of the MCU, but it was not entirely successful.
Zhao has a distinctly human touch to her work. She brings a level of intimacy to the film that Marvel movies typically fail to reach as she strives to emphasize the complexity of individual relationships alongside the larger than life superhero battles. There are moments when this feels quite refreshing from a franchise that spends little time exploring characters’ internal conflicts or interpersonal relationships in favor of a more complex plot. As much as Zhao is focused on conveying the lore of a Marvel story, she is also focused on painting a picture of a dysfunctional family finding their footing together again. This is effective to an extent in terms of creating characters that are relatable and conflict that is familiar, but no matter how much Zhao injects her personal style and mission into the film, it is still beholden to the same formula as the rest of the MCU.
There is so much plot to cover in this movie and so many big ideas that need to be explained regarding vengeful gods and timelines that humans could never comprehend. As a result, Zhao’s conversation surrounding complex relationships and moral dilemmas doesn’t seem to get the space it needs to feel truly meaningful. The potential for Eternals to become a movie that discusses issues like a shifting moral compass in the face of a seismic threat is ultimately weighed down with every classic Marvel fight scene or subpar joke. Zhao brings so much to the table with her directing in terms of developing an emotional, vulnerable story, but the unspoken guidelines of every MCU film holds it down on the ground when it has the potential to fly.