Eternals Rate and Review the Eternals

[Comicbookguy339]

I honestly don't. Again, I like the Inhumans. I would watch an Inhumans film in a heartbeat. But as a concept, I think they are fairly niche. Not saying the movie would have flopped. I think it would have done lower end of a pre-pandemic MCU film. Closer to something like A&W.

I would imagine that if they had released the Inhumans movie in 2018 then they would have also played a bigger part in Endgame and their movie would have gotten the same kind of bump that Captain Marvel got. And I think the Inhumans are cooler that the Eternals in that they all have different abilities and visually they're also pretty distinct.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I would imagine that if they had released the Inhumans movie in 2018 then they would have also played a bigger part in Endgame and their movie would have gotten the same kind of bump that Captain Marvel got. And I think the Inhumans are cooler that the Eternals in that they all have different abilities and visually they're also pretty distinct.

Wasn't the rumor before that their homeworld was where the Soul Stone would be in IW? Either way, Ant-Man and the Wasp was after IW as well. I think Inhumans would have aligned more with that than Captain Marvel. That is just me

 

[Spider-Fan]

Well, I personally think the Inhumans is way more interesting and cooler as a concept than Eternals. I can more easily see how Marvel can make good movie out of Inhumans than Eternals. It’s actually kind of funny, a lot of the reviews I’ve skimmed over have said that Eternals would’ve worked better as a tv show than a feature film and to me, I really think Inhumans should’ve been the one to get a feature length film, and the Eternals should’ve gotten the television show.

Can't comment on Eternals being better as a show cause haven't seen it yet. Inhumans could only have been better in the movie form, I agree there. But the Inhumans are characters that have done well popping up in other things, but never really ever kept a series going long term. I think there is a reason for that.

 

[Detective Conan]

Can't comment on Eternals being better as a show cause haven't seen it yet. Inhumans could only have been better in the movie form, I agree there. But the Inhumans are characters that have done well popping up in other things, but never really ever kept a series going long term. I think there is a reason for that.

Sure, but I would also argue the Inhumans is simply a more captivating concept in terms of lore and characters. Black Bolt alone is so much more cooler than any character in Eternals, imo. Sure, Inhumans is a niche property but I don’t think it’s as niche and inside baseball as Eternals is. That doesn’t necessarily mean Marvel couldn’t make a Inhumans movie as poorly received as Eternals, but I’m just arguing Inhumans is just an all around much more interesting source material to draw upon for a movie than Eternals, and would likely work better as a film better than Eternals.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Sure, but I would also argue the Inhumans is simply a more captivating concept in terms of lore and characters. Black Bolt alone is so much more cooler than any character in Eternals, imo. Sure, Inhumans is a niche property but I don’t think it’s as niche and inside baseball as Eternals is. That doesn’t necessarily mean Marvel couldn’t make a Inhumans movie as poorly received as Eternals, but I’m just arguing Inhumans is just an all around much more interesting source material to draw upon for a movie than Eternals, and would likely work better as a film better than Eternals.

Eh. I guess we just disagree here.

 

[Detective Conan]

Eh. I guess we just disagree here.

Agree to disagree then.

 

[Mysteryman]

The Inhumans deserved it more.

Not at the quality level of that horrid TV Series.

 

[TheVileOne]

Not at the quality level of that horrid TV Series.

Exactly.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

What you guys didn't like the storyline of Karnak getting mixed up with shady weed dealers?

 

[Negrotigre]

Eternals was a mediocre movie at best. Too many exposition dumps. Character motivations were all over the place and didn't really make sense. The 3rd act is a mess. But I did like some of the action and how the characters' powers were displayed. I did not find Eternals that interesting, but I didn't find it terrible either.

6/10

 

[Ninjablade]

I feel pretty comfortable calling this their worst movie yet. This was really bad and really freaking boring. Zhao was completely wrong as a director choice. I don't mind the movie being more serious (the inserted MCU humor felt super out of place), but this movie lacked any kind of real energy.

Never have I felt before that one of these movies felt like it was written by a television crew. This movie doesn't have enough plot for the two hour length, nor does it have enough time for all the character work that is necessary to tell the story it wants to tell. As a result, the plot is nonsensical (if not a ripoff of Transformers 5) and the characters have very little character. Also someone needed to proof read the script/pay attention while editing because there are a lot of lines in there in regards to time that make no sense (especially during the flashbacks) because the characters talk as if they're always in the present.

The only stuff I really cared for was the Celestial stuff, but that's mainly because I liked it visually. It was neat.

 

[samsnee]

Ok this movie is in no way as horrible as the critics say. I actually really liked it.

I think people were expecting another quippy team movie and it just isn’t that. There are lighthearted moments in but they were clearly going for a more “serious” movie.

The good:
- Everyone was pretty well cast and there wasn’t a weak role. Angelina is a goddess as always
- The story felt more personal. Yes there’s another world-ending third act finale, but it wasn’t overly done, and still kept things personal

The not so good
- I enjoyed the cast but it did feel bloated. By the time they got to seeing Phastos again, it felt repetitive. I think the runtime should have been cut by a half hour
- I hated how in the flashbacks, they spoke with modern slang and mannerisms. Why is Phastos talking like a modern black person would? I’m not saying they needed accents but it would have even more effective to show they changed over time by being with humans if their mannerisms also changed

Spoiler

- The lead deviant felt shoehorned in. It’s like they realized they didn’t have a main villain they could actually kill so decided somehow a deviant had to become more human
- Kringo should have been in the final battle. Him just disappearing didn’t work. Was Kumail not available for filming?
- Angelina felt wasted. They dropped her whole “she goes psychotic” after Gilgamesh died. Or it wasn’t made clear why she no longer was having episodes
- The ending left me confused. I think this may be the first origin movie they’ve done where it wasn’t a conclusive ending
- The mid and after credit scenes didn’t do anything for me

Like I said, overall I enjoyed it and would watch again. It’s better than Spider-Man 3, WW84, and Thor 2. But I can also see how this movie definitely won’t be for everyone who are expecting the usual Marvel fare.

 

[BobJM]

I’d probably give this a 6/10. I’m not sure where it ranks amongst the other Marvel content. Certainly not a Russo Cap/Avengers-level good, but I wasn’t mad at it. Some pacing & editing issues, and nitpicks over casting. But this movie certainly isn’t a wash. Marvel fans will enjoy.

I just wish Marvel could get past itself and really embrace the different genres/tones they say they’re going for. Like this film could have been super epic if given the care & scale of Denis Villenvueve’s Dune or Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. Instead, it just feels like it scratches the surface.

I generally like the story and the characters’ connections to one another but a sharper rewrite of the script and more screen time for the story to breathe would have really served this film well. And the film utilizes flashbacks that are scattered throughout, typically reintroducing us to an Eternal or setting up/explaining a plot point for the next scene. It felt heavy-handed almost? I wonder if a more linear approach would have been better. But overall I liked the story, which makes the movie’s shortcomings all the more frustrating.

The cast I liked for the most part—the standouts for me being Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos and
Ma Dong-seok as Gilgamesh. Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek were good as expected but under-utilized. Jolie’s Thena, especially, I would have liked to see more of. And though I liked Madden as Ikaris, his performance sometimes read flat and it didn’t help that he and Chan had 0 chemistry. I didn’t like her as Sersi either; it didn’t feel like she could carry the whole plot & emotional arc in the way it seemed this film wanted her to. So that hampered things a bit but that may be a bit nitpicky—their performances certainly didn’t ruin anything.

Kingo was fun but ultimately I didn’t like where the character went. Totally surprised there. And Dane Whitman is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role. A glorified Easter Egg to set up [insert Marvel movie/Disney+ show here].

Deviants were bigger Chitauri, i.e. just gray CGI monsters to partake in an action scene every 20-30 odd minutes. The leader too, I felt, could have been differentiated more. He needed a bigger personality/ distinction from the over Deviants. A 2.5+ hour movie without a compelling central villain is a tough sell.

This movie suffered from boring visuals too. Alongside the Deviants, there wasn’t much variation amongst the Eternals either. Just golden Kirby-esque doodles around 10 different characters. Come on. I get they’re all Eternals, but we can manage some variation amongst the bunch. Even if it’s just some color along with their different colored costumes.

I really wish Marvel had just let Chloe Zhao release a 3 hour opus about the untold history of the Marvel universe. Sweeping visuals and lingering shots. Immense practical sets. Oscar bait. Don’t worry about sequels or franchising the Eternals—these characters can live in the MCU beyond that banner.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Making full reviews on my phone is annoying and I haven't tried in a long while, but I may give it a go tomorrow. I have a lot to say about this movie

 

[TeeKay]

Making full reviews on my phone is annoying and I haven't tried in a long while, but I may give it a go tomorrow. I have a lot to say about this movie

This is why I'm waiting to see it a second time before I review it. I missed a lot of things when I was watching it. Interested in reading your thoughts.

 

[Spider-Fan]

This is why I'm waiting to see it a second time before I review it. I missed a lot of things when I was watching it. Interested in reading your thoughts.

Yeah, I really feel like I have to watch this one again as well. When they say this movie is dense, they are not wrong

 

[CB Fan]

Umm yeah not sure how this is reviewed so negatively but whatever I liked it. And when my sister says she wants to see a marvel movie again I know they’ve done something unique. She’s only said that about two other mcu films. It’s not a perfect movie but it was a darn good time. Critics Reviews had it looking like it was a dull, humorless, piece of work. I found it to be very enjoyable.

My biggest issues with it was the script needed maybe a couple more rewrites to tighten things and Gemma Chan needed a jolt of electricity to give her performance some life. As the lead she just didn’t seem energized.

Loved Thena. Makkari is amazing! Kingo was funny.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Just getting back from the theater and my feelings about this movie are a little all over the place. There were things I liked and didn’t like. I can definitely understand a lot of the criticisms but also think that this movie is not as terrible as most critics made it to be. I’d give it a 6/10

I loved the opening scene and the flashbacks showing all the Eternal characters throughout Earth’s history, I wish they would have shown more of that. Liked the introduction to Sersei, Ikaris and Sprite in present day London and the Deviant attack. Also liked seeing them going around the world recruiting the rest of the Eternals gang.

I think the movie’s strongest parts are the first and final act, it’s around the middle that it kinda loses its luster.

Deviants were crappy villains and both Salma & Angelina were very under utilized.

Didn’t care for the after credits scene with Thanos’ brother. That just seemed really random.

I was more interested in the second after credits scene with Whitman about to pick up the sword setting up for Black Knight. As for the voice that called to Whitman, was that really Blade?

 

[Filmfan93]

Saw this yesterday.

Went in expecting an abomination, but it was actually decent.

It's more of a superhero drama than a typical MCU film. Action is very scarce, but very slick. Visuals were very good.

Ikaris, Thena, Kingo, Sersi and Phastos were standouts. Celestials were awesome and their scale was insane.

It was overly long, however, had incredibly boring generic CGI monsters as the villains (Deviants) and i absolutely hated the first mid-credit scene.

Spoiler

Thanos has a brother that looks like a normal human and is also Harry Styles?! Give me a break.

7/10

 

[samsnee]

Saw this yesterday.

Went in expecting an abomination, but it was actually decent.

It's more of a superhero drama than a typical MCU film. Action is very scarce, but very slick. Visuals were very good.

Ikaris, Thena, Kingo, Sersi and Phastos were standouts. Celestials were awesome and their scale was insane.

It was overly long, however, had incredibly boring generic CGI monsters as the villains (Deviants) and i absolutely hated the first mid-credit scene.

Spoiler

Thanos has a brother that looks like a normal human and is also Harry Styles?! Give me a break.

7/10

I didn’t care for it either.

Spoiler

The CGI was noticeably bad on Pip. It felt like 1990s effects. Plus I’ve grown to be annoyed by the sound of Patton Oswalt’s voice. Plus didn’t like they introduced a brand new character that I assume will be important in a credits scene rather than in the movie itself.

 

[Flint Marko]

I have a lot to say about this but in a nutshell this just wasn’t very good. Am ambitious but disappointing mess

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I enjoyed it but it feels like I never connected fully with the story and was kept at arm's length. I feel like I don't have a fully finished opinion of it and despite that I still found it pretty good I'm left thinking mostly about the negatives, and it feels pretty dumb to focus on that when the majority was still on the positive side.

It feels like I need to see it again, but at the same time I'm not counting down the days until I can.

 

[Spider-Fan]

My review below, did it on my phone, and I hope I have no major typos:

Spoiler

The path to Eternals has been an eventful one. First the film got a full 1 year delay due to the pandemic, we had Feige hyping this as a potential Oscar contender, the director won Best Director at the Oscars this year, and then the hype train came crashing down when the reviews came in and this became the first Marvel Studios film to ever be "rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes. Amongst all this, my only question has been "how is the movie?" After seeing the film, I walked away very happy. But I can see where the dissatisfaction comes from.

Like many have did, this is a dense film. There is a lot of exposition, philosophy, etc. This makes for a slower burn for a Marvel film. There is plenty of action, don't get me wrong. But it sometimes takes time to get there. This film is also largely more serious than an average Marvel Studios film, though that is not to say there isn't comedy. There is still a fair amount, and Kingo especially shines in the more comedic role.

Marvel also largely does a great job making things accessible for mass consumption, but the Eternals is one of the more out there and high end sci-fi concepts they attempted. The talking tree that can only say 1 sentence is silly, but maybe more accessible than giant Celestials crafting the universe. I also can see where the characters could be perceived as boring, but their portrayals fit their characters to me. We are dealing with gods among men who have been here for 7000 years, and I think the performances matched that.

But that said, having read Kirby's Eternals run fairly recently, I think this actually does a better job with the concept than the comic book did. There was little variety in the character personalities in the comic, the story was even more exposition heavy than the movie is, and while beautiful it lacked flair. The movie wisely changes up the core Eternals cast. Some have targeted the movie for being woke and all that crap, but the diversity here makes the characters stand out more. Makkari and Ikarus here are very different characters, while in the comics they were the same hot headed male character essentially. The movie also does a great job explaining the philosophical beliefs of the Eternals. This movie actually deals with the threat of the Celestials ending the Earth well. I like that not all the Eternals are not instantly team "Celestials suck" and there is nuance to the grander debate about the greater good and whether humanity is worth the potential births of billions across the universe. To me, this was fascinating and well done.

But there are a couple areas that can be improved. Beyond the 2 post-credits sequences, the film has a very cliffhanger ending. In the press, we keep seeing statements like this could be one and done from various people, but if this were the only Eternals film, then it doesn't work at all. So I hope this does well enough to justify continuing the story, whether that ends up on the big screen or on Disney+. The Deviants are also not great. However, the Deviants being just kind of there didn't bother me. Within the plot, the Deviants end up not being the main threats, so I walked away okay with their role in the film. I also think the big twist in the movie may serve divisive to some, but I really loved it.

This film is nowhere near the worst MCU film. Chloe Zhao makes a movie very different from other MCU films in many ways, and this film definitely has her fingerprints. This film is lush visually and one of the more well shot MCU films to date. This film has a grand vision for what it is trying to accomplish, but while it doesn't succeed in every area, it succeeds far more than it fails. We don't get a lot of true auteur films in the MCU, but give me something like this over the more standard MCU film that is cut and paste like Iron Man 2 or the Ant-Man films.

This is hard movie for me to rate right now. This movie really demands multiple viewings. It is really dense and has a lot going on.

My initial gut feeling - 4.5 out of 5

I loved this movie, and I think this is a movie I will like more and more overtime.

 

[metaphysician]

Meh. I like the Inhumans and all, but I honestly think they are fairly niche. I don't think Inhumans as a film would have been any more or less successful than Eternals

Eh, Inhumans has at least one significant theoretical advantage: a more specific concept. Its a weird concept ( "Super Game of Thrones in Jack Kirby Hidden City" ), but its not a *vague* one, unlike with Eternals ( where as near as I can tell their core story concept is at best loose and philosophical ).

Granted, it also has significant theoretical disadvantages, too. Good stories have appealing and sympathetic heroes, and "Attilan is a eugenic slave society" is built into the foundation of the Inhumans. However, I'd say its easier to work around a problematic story element, or leverage it is a strength, then it is to work around a vague story concept.

 

[samsnee]

Thought about it some more this morning and while I still enjoyed it, I felt the romance angle between Ikaris and Sersi just felt flat. Like when I compare to Gilgamesh’s feelings toward Thena, Gilgamesh’s feelings felt authentic. Richard Madden played Ikaris so stoic that it was hard to connect that he had deep feelings for Sersi.

Gemma Chan also didn’t give much layers in her performance. She started out fine when we see her with her boyfriend, but then once he’s out of the picture, she always seems like a deer in headlights. I get she’s not supposed to be a natural leader which is why she comes off as nervous, but wish she have a stronger performance.