It has been more than a decade when the Marvel Cinematic Universe started and when it was promised that Eternals is nothing like any other MCU film, they were not kidding at all. While the movie faces a lot of criticisms even before it premiered, the audience loved it; putting a partition between fans and viewers whether to love it or brush it off. Is it worth watching?
Warning! This article contains spoilers for Eternals! Read at your own risk!
Is Marvel's Eternals Worth Watching?
Eternals is as promised, it is really unlike any other MCU movie. Why would it even be, right? It introduced ten titular characters in one sitting, even having potential others who could lead their own like Dane Whitman, and its cinematography is beyond anything knowing that most are real scenic places. However, there is something quite lackluster.
To start, there were too many heroes that others were not given the same attention. Some had more screen time, and some were lacking depth. Some major issues were brushed off like why Ikaris left Sersi, the Deviants’ creation was not much looked into, and it is as if it is a movie pitting all of them against each other when the real villain, the Celestial Arishem, in this case, only appeared for a few minutes.
The way it was written makes if different from other MCU films. Unlike any other Marvel movie packed with so much action, Eternals delved more into the story and almost half of it was talk. Some appreciates that, some don’t. Also, there were too many jumps from past to present to another point in time that it could have been simplified to have all laid down or just a straight cut in between.
Related: Eternals: Who Lives, Who Dies?
While there were some low points, the cinematography is highly commendable. Scenic views are stunning and the settings are really different for each character with Sersi and Sprite in London, Ajak in the Midwest, Druig in the forest, Kingo in Bollywood, Gilgamesh and Thena in the desert, Makkari in the Domo, and Phastos in the suburbs. The set for each of them is so well thought, it fits their personalities.
Also, it was a wise use of characters to have Ajak lead instead of Ikaris like in the comics. The impact of Ajak being like a mother to them adds so much to the drama. The Mahd Wy’ry of Thena was a great one as well, such a contrasting character for her to be the strongest and the weakest at the same time that while she could bring down a whole village, she knows nothing of it.
More importantly, Sersi being the lead character changes the game. It is no surprise that Marvel gave Gemma Chan another role and this time, the lead. She delivered her character so well that you’d think to underestimate her as well but later on, she turns out to be one of the most overlooked Eternal in the team as the attention in fighting is always on Ikaris or Thena. Chan showed subtleness as the same time, you feel for Sersi as she buds into their confident leader in the end.
The callbacks on literature, myths, and legends are also a highlight of the film. With Thena being the Goddess of War, Gilgamesh and his epic, Ikaris flying to the sun like Icarus, Sprite like Puck on Sprite from the work of Shakespeare, and Sersi like Circe in the work of Homer, all these were all thought of and delivered in the film.
Eternals introduced each of them having a distinct ability: Ikarus shoots lasers from his eyes and can fly, Ajak can heal, Thena can make any weapon from her cosmic energy, Sersi can manipulate matter, Sprite could create illusions, Druig could control minds, Makkari is the fastest runner, Phastos could create any technology, Kingo shoots lasers from his hands, and Gilgamesh has the power punch.
Of all these abilities, I am torn whether my favorite power would be that of Phastos’ or Sersi’s. As for Sersi, the practicability of her matter manipulation proves that she could do more than what she thinks she could. Phastos’ ability is beyond cosmic energy, it requires a vast imagination to create technology from nothing.
Chloe Zhao definitely made the movie hers. It is no question that she watermarked the film with her amazing style in using natural scenic places as the setting, and the whole story itself, while there were lapses, still ended up to be as moving as other MCU films. She made sure that diversity and inclusion were taken carefully and seamlessly added into the mix.
Speaking of which, what makes Eternals really different from others is how it is full of representation, diversification, and inclusion. Each of the Eternals comes from various races as if each of them was picked out from different countries. It is definitely opening up to a lot of possibilities in the future of having interracial characters all together in one movie.
Makkari’s first deaf superhero makes my heart leap in happiness as finally, those who are deaf now have a hero they could understand and relate to. The use of sign language, in the perspective of a deaf person, would really make them feel as if they could be their own heroes, too.
A controversial point, if not the most, is Phastos representing the LGBTQ+ community. Having such represented carefully and as accurately as possible makes it a win to have such in the MCU. His husband was extremely supportive of him saving the world for the future of their child, that scene was extremely heartfelt. How Phastos tucks his child at night shows that LGBTQ+ families are full of love, just like any other regular family, and they, too, deserve acceptance.
All in all, the Eternals sets a wider stage for everyone involved. It is open-ended for almost everyone and how they would turn up in future MCU movies is definitely something to look out for.
So, is Eternals worth watching? Absolutely!