Eternals - Nov 10

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, those last few weeks had been taxing, therefore let us talk about the latest Marvel movie, the ‘Eternals’ (2021), instead.

Where to begin with them? With ‘Shang-Chi and the legend of the 10 rings’, of course. Both movies are simply different, but both differ from the rest of the Phase 4 MCU, (so far), by being not transitioning, (as the ‘Black Widow’ film was, for example), but introductory, they introduced the titular characters (and a few others) from – a blank slate. Yes, this was how the Iron Man, Thor, and the rest of the initial characters got their start, but the situation back then was different, even by the standards of the MCU mechanics.

…Does this state of affairs relate to the mixed reception that the ‘Eternals’ got from the critics and the audience? Good question. The movie itself is not very different from the standard MCU fare, though the difference is that the Eternals, the Celestials and the Deviants are not usually associated with the Avengers in the Marvel comics; in fact, I remember that when the Marvel comics restarted the Avengers sometime before the COVID-19 outbreak, they actually killed-off the Eternals because of reasons… Well, actually, because the Celestials went insane and had their own civil war instead, and part of the fallout was that the Avengers’ new HQ became a corpse of the one of the Celestials – and now look at MCU, where Earth now has a frozen Celestial stuck in it for real. What is that point?

…The point is that the ‘Eternals’ have not deviated all that much from the Marvel comic baseline, no more so than the ‘What if?’ cartoon series have, no matter what the critics say, or Ms. Chloe Zhao, who made the movie says. Yes, the ‘Eternals’ have social minorities – there’s a gay InHuman, and a deaf one – and there’s a sex on the beach scene – but, uh, what is the point?

…Oh, that this is a milestone for the Marvel movies, whose lack of a variety got rather obvious by now and then there is the entire sex on the beach situation? How wonderful, Disney/MCU is first in Hollywood to reach those milestones and to come out ahead in connecting with the little people in the real world. Yay!..

However, seriously, at the end of the line, there are two types of movies and co. – fiction and non-fiction. Movies, just as TV series, comics, books, and etc. can be either one or another, and the ‘Eternals’ are clearly fictional. Of course, so was ‘Nomadland’ and the rest of Ms. Zhao’s films, so what is exactly the difference between the ‘Eternals’ and the rest of her films?

Well, Captain Obvious points out that the ‘Eternals’ are her MCU debut, and that while the rest of her works were realistic, the ‘Eternals’ are not. Everything else is a matter of taste, opinion and prejudice, something that the reviews and critiques of the ‘Eternals’ have shown. Some people claim that Ms. Zhao have sold-out to Disney/MCU, others deny it, but the fact is that she did get paid for the ‘Eternals’, and a good amount of money – but that is between her and her employers, may her professional relationship with them be of a better sort than what ScarJo has had. Anything else?

To – regretfully – beat a dead horse, let’s get back to AoS, for the ‘Eternals’ are a movie that would’ve benefitted better by being a TV series that the AoS had been, i.e. – a soap opera that disguises itself as an action flick. Sersi – don’t confuse her with GoT’s Cersei, please – is rather reminiscent of Chloe Bennet’s Daisy/Quake, while her main man Ikaris has traits of both MCU’s Grant Ward, (currently deceased), and of Marvel Comics’ Hyperion, (I don’t know his current status, admittedly). Indeed, Ikaris seems to be reminiscent of both DC’s Superman and of the Homelander from ‘The Boys’ Franchise. So what?

So nothing – this only shows that despite their pedigree, the ‘Eternals’ are still a MCU movie, however atypical one at this stage. The movie’s details might be (mostly) unique to it, but the basis is still the same, nothing more. Ms. Zhao’s movie-making skills are unquestionable, and so she delivered once again, creating a very enjoyable spectacle – and the fact that she was able to multitask, i.e. create an enjoyable movie that also checks all of the ‘correct’ politically progressive marks only reinforces her formidability. That is all. Feel free to enjoy the ‘Eternals’ if you like Disney/MCU movies, and if you do not – then no. That is the bottom line.

In addition, this is also it, for now. See you all soon.