Written by Chloe Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo & Kaz Firpo.
Directed by Chloe Zhao.
★★½
This is the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and some of the seams are showing in keeping such a franchise together. How many more new superhumans can be introduced without it feeling like we're going through the motions of the usual superhero origin story?
The Eternals are a group of ten immortal beings (though they can be killed) who were sent to Earth in 5000 BC to watch over it by Arishem, the leader of a gigantic god-like race called the Celestials. The Eternals are led by Ajak (Salma Hayek), and only she can communicate with Arishem. They have been told not to interfere with human conflict, as conflicts are what help a race of sentient creatures evolve. We see them throughout history and get to know their personalities a little. Ajak is the wise one who can heal. Ikaris (Richard Madden) closely resembles Superman in his abilities of flight, super-strength, and the ability to shoot fire-beams from his eyes. Sersi (Gemma Chan) can transform elements, such as turning solid rock into water. Druig (Barry Keoghan) can control minds. Thena (Angelina Jolie) was the inspiration for Athena, the goddess of war in ancient Greece. She is a master fighter and can generate weapons from energy. Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) can focus energy and fire it in blasts. Sprite (Lia McHugh) appears eternally 12 years old and can create illusions. Gilgamesh (Don Lee) has super-human punching power than puts Iron Fist to shame. Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is the intelligent inventor who can perform telekinesis. Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) has superspeed, and the MCU's first deaf superhero.
Game of Thrones' Kit Harington? Oh he's Dane Whitman, the regular human boyfriend of Sersi. I was amused when Ikaris and Dane meet, as if they weren't brothers from a fantasy world.
The Eternals' main task is to rid the world of the Deviants, mutant magical creatures that seek constant destruction on Earth. We eventually learn that 1521 AD is when the last of the Deviants was killed, and that point the Eternals parted ways and lived amongst the humans, waiting for Arishem to let them know their job was done and they can return to their home planet.
But 500 years later, in "Present Day", a Deviant appears in London and attacks Sersi while she is hanging out with Dane and Sprite. She decides they need to find the other Eternals and figure out why the Deviants are back.
This massive ensemble - ten Eternals - means that few of the characters really get to stand out. It did have a couple plot twists I wasn't expecting, so that was nice. I'm not spoiling much by saying one of them dies within the first hour. But there's a lot of wheel-spinning as this character or that gives exposition and flashes back to different points in time. It does ultimately answer the questions of "Why didn't the Eternals help the Avengers? Or stop slavery or genocide?"
The fight scenes are fine, but where Shang-Chi found ways to make them feel original and exciting until the final CGI-heavy battle, this one is nothing but CGI-heavy battles. They feel like battles we've seen a hundred times before.
The best part of the movie for me is the last twenty minutes or so and the post-credits scenes, with its implications for the rest of the MCU. And I think it'd be fun to see these characters pop up in the next Avengers movie. I love the MCU. But if I'm ranking all 26 movies, this one would be closer to the bottom of the list than the middle.
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