Review of Eternals (2021) by Marvelous — 05 Nov 2021

Frankly, I'm shocked.

Perhaps its because I had my expectations set so low, or maybe I'm just a sucker for a universe-building movie, but I can honestly say that I absolutely adore this film. After seeing the mass criticism of "Eternals," I did expect to enjoy the film from an audience standpoint, just not a critical one. But, ever since I left the theater, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out why this film has been so bombarded with negative reviews.

For starters, the film dives into some remarkably deep topics that I haven't seen in many movies, especially nothing from the MCU. Most deep conversations and emotional connections in cinema deal with love, death or discrimination. Eternals manages to pull in the audience's attention by showing us the beauty of life as we know it, something director Chloé Zhao does amazingly. The film doesn't feel like an MCU episode, and I'm honestly glad it didn't. THIS is where Marvel begins branching out to create beautiful new ideas.

Something that really stood out to me was Thena's arc. Yes, it was well written, but we mainly have Angelina Jolie to thank for Thena's emotional rollercoaster. Jolie proves once again just how well she can put on a preformance, and thus Thena's journey ends up being one of the most beautiful parts of the film. Likewise, you could make a case for almost any of the Eternals to end up as your favorite.

Perhaps the film's one flaw, being a little more humor than necessary, holds it back from being a perfect addition to Marvel, but even those humorous moments add a lively atmosphere to the scenes.

There isn't much more I can say without spoiling any major plot points, but as of my first viewing, I'm quite shocked at how beautiful, tragic and well done this film is. I'm disappointed to see the negative reception it's received.