Eternals

Thanks for my beloved Pink Floyd in the opening, but otherwise, please disregard this God-knows-what episode of the cancer of the contemporary film industry. In the monstrously overblown runtime, it all emotionally passes you by in a big arc and deals with uninteresting things that have no continuity within the Marvel franchise. Kevin Feige may have made good on his promise to give space to unconventional directors, but I still wonder at the unconventional Chloé Zhao for going in as a mere disposable craftsperson. (29.01.2022)

I was completely indifferent to Eternals before its premiere, but in the end, it's surprisingly the first feature film from the MCU in a long time that I find at least interesting. For one thing, the motif of extraterrestrial beings overseeing the evolution of humankind for millennia and inscribing themselves in myths and legends is captivating, and I’d love to see something like that handled seriously outside the MCU. And secondly, I like the fact that the conflict underlying Eternals unfolds in morally quite ambivalent tones, which is not at all usual in this cinematic universe. I enjoyed it more when the characters solved these dilemmas, discussed them, than when they got into a fight with CGI creatures or with each other. But even the action scenes are among the best ones you can get. (06.11.2021)

Marvel promised a slightly different comic book movie, and they delivered. But now, an hour after leaving the cinema, I don't know if that's a good thing. Eternals is a very ambitious film, but perhaps too much so, because it tries to tackle a lot of themes in a small space, and with a dozen heroes to boot. As a result, there's not much time to meditate on faith, fate, mythologies, religion and responsibility. Even at 160 minutes, it ends up feeling truncated in a way. On the other hand, the face of the new Marvel movie is indeed markedly different, with Eternals not even trying to reference other superheroes much (instead they make fun of DC) and confidently going its own way and in a rather different direction. I really don't know if that path is the right one right now. Chloé Zhao handles the action and all the attractions with aplomb, but she was clearly making a more ambitious film from that was supposed to be the start of something bigger. And at the same time, she had so many things to deal with in it that it just couldn't be done without compromises and shortcuts. So far, I'll say that Eternals is interesting rather than downright good. But it is very interesting. (03.11.2021)

Marvel is rolling out a new story, new characters and new adventures and it's not downright bad, but after the Avengers it seems to me that they are weakening and DC is getting stronger. Suicide Squad 2 is still one of the contenders for movie of the year, and next year I have no doubt that The Batman will be fighting for the top spot. The Eternals is a bit of an unusual Marvel movie, but the question is whether Marvel even heading in the right direction. The Eternals introduces a few heroes, but you can't remember the name of any of them after it's over. And I'm also tired of all the new characters having a different look and costume, but the same or similar abilities. In anime and games you have so many interesting options that here it feels poor in comparison. I didn't trust Chloe Zhao, because someone who’s never made a move I want to see in my life doesn't inspire much trust in me. In the end I expected it to be a bit worse. Occasionally, there was some humour, but by Marvel standards there is probably the least of it. There is not much action either, and it doesn't really stick out too much, it's an inoffensive standard in almost every aspect. The film doesn't outright offend, but at the same time it doesn't excel at anything and its pacing makes it feel literally eternal in places. If I had to single out something, it would definitely be the impressive historical flashbacks and the rather surprising body-count, but that's not enough for a higher rating for me, especially when after watching it I still have no idea who the main character actually was. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 3/5, Violence 0/5, Entertainment 3/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 2/5, Suspense 2/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 6/10. (08.11.2021)

The most surprising comic book movie, at least within the MCU. Not only because of the whole range of stimulating themes it addresses, but unfortunately also because of how polarizing it is. Personally, I appreciate it for the amount of audacity and alluring elements it contains. I have seen the silent, contemplative, and in a way, adorable Eternals twice already, and each time the seemingly modest duration felt painfully too short for me. No joke, I would like a four-hour film or a slow-paced series because I am so drawn to this world, and it saddens me that due to obscure marketing it remained a mystery to the fan base before and after the premiere. Every time, after watching, I ponder for hours and days about the choices of the powerful, about predestination for great things, about fate and its variability, about the beauty of ordinary life, about love that can last a few days or centuries, and last but not least, about the inevitability of gaining and losing your closest friends. Only after all of that comes the pleasant wink in the form of the transmission of cultural values across eras, and I was okay even with those, but I still shake my head as to why this very small detail is such a red rag to the public. Such a peaceful film with a perfectly understandable and necessary message, and still it provokes such absurdly strong negative passions. (27.06.2022)

They say Eternals didn't pull in the audience in Czechia, and in the end there are a grand total seven of us in the theater. The timing of the premiere was sadly not ideal, and the competition had nothing to do with it. But I don't want to talk about that, let's get to the film. I don't think I've ever been this bored and disappointed by Marvel. I don't understand the need to make a movie into something that the typical viewer definitely isn’t looking for. Why try for depth when the characters are so simplistic? Next time you’d do better to send in a few extra monsters and pick some cooler dudes. I don't much care for these experiments. Of the characters, I think I liked Kumail and his cameraman the most, he made me laugh at least twice. I was looking forward to Dong-seok Ma, but I still like him a lot better when he's actually doing a bit of acting. If you want action and emotion, go see Bond, he's a real super hero. (09.11.2021)

Breathtaking scale, action with beautiful exteriors and a monumental story about nothing less than the reason for the continuation of our existence in the universe. Eternals is an untraditional family team movie that spans about 7,000 years during one strange pregnancy. Zhao has given a serious face to Marvel, introducing powerful topics and bringing everything to a satisfying ending, which promises great things in his future movies. The actors are well-chosen, the correct types and even though the inclusion is flagrant and makes you ask yourself "why?", it can be overlooked and excused as bowing to journalists, because it does more harm than good to the story. Let’s go to Ajak first. She’ll know what to do. (14.01.2022)

It's nice to also have Däniken in Marvel. I'm getting very picky about the MCU, I don't really need to see all the series, but this movie made me happy. Especially the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate. (31.12.2021)

Now I have no worries about the new MCU film phase. Yes, Shang-Chi received the same rating from me, but I did have a few reservations about it, but I can't think of a single complaint about Eternals. The film is surprisingly very much about the characters and the relationships between them, and that's the nicest thing about it. Of course, there are action scenes and they are great, but that's not the main thing Eternals has to offer. These are new and completely unknown heroes, of which there are quite a few, but thanks to the elaborate script and their representatives, they are not interchangeable and we get to know and understand them well. In addition to the characters, the film also miraculously manages to explain a completely new mythology, link it with what we already know, and offer a BIG promise for the future. The finale is one of the best we've seen from Marvel - something big, truly huge happens, but it doesn’t just happen "to make something happen," but rather is logical and entirely appropriate. Pure 100% satisfaction. (05.11.2021)

First of all, I have to point out that Eternals is one of the more interesting Marvel movies. It is a rather whimsical and perhaps over-ambitious extravaganza that both introduces us to individual heroes and then quickly puts them into action collectively. It is as if all the origins of the first phase of the MCU up to the Avengers team-up were condensed into one single movie. So you can imagine that there is a shit-ton of unavoidable introductions and explanations vs. very little action (and when the action does come, it is a terrible mess of CGI). However, I was pleased to see that the main protagonists rather unusually and uniquely deal with at least some of the dilemmas of whether what they are doing is really the right thing to do. This therefore also makes the villains slightly ambiguous - I would like to see more of that approach in the future! Also, just when I had been so taken in by the rather impressive conclusion and was practically determined to give it four stars there came what was probably the worst mid-credits scene I have ever seen in the Marvel Universe. It seemed like it was something out of a Shrek movie, and therefore undermined any enthusiasm for what had happened before by reminding me what a calculated product it really is. Plus, if Marvel itself does not take its "different and ambitious" movie seriously, how could I respect it? (02.11.2021)

An MCU-film coupled with the Oscar-winning director of the notable Nomadland immediately caught my attention, making a visit to the cinema almost urgent - despite the rather lukewarm trailer. At times, Eternals quite blatantly tries to be the most multi-cultural, tolerant and all-encompassing film from Marvel, which it manages to do in a universally unobtrusive manner for most of its running time. Technically, it's an audiovisual orgy, but that's what we're used to with films like this. I'd like to single out the appearance of the Deviants and Celestials. Aside from that, I enjoyed the various abilities and characteristics of the Eternals (Thena being most interesting to me), who were given ample space to be introduced where possible – hopefully we'll learn more in a possible sequel. I don't want to spoil anything here, but I appreciated the idea regarding the Eternals' main quest – it was similarly unsettling to Thanos's snap. Both post-credit scenes were a bit odd, but they served their purpose – curiosity is a bitch. (04.11.2021)

Every Marvel movie excels at something. Unfortunately, with Eternals, I knew what that thing would be before the film even began. Out of the 25 or so MCU films to date, Eternals excels at putting together the most boring and least suitable cast. The story itself is okay and has a good pace despite the overblown running time. But you do expect something better from a $200 million movie than a "slightly better-looking episode of a Disney+ show". (21.01.2022)