Orbi-Wan Techno

From my review page ORBI-WAN GOES TO THE MOVIES:

Eternals (PG-13) - The most un-Marvel Cinematic Universe movie so far will satisfy the very deep-cosmic-oriented fans out there. For Thor/Captain America/Ant-Man fans, your mileage may vary.

I'm saying this completely upfront. "Eternals” is not a bad Marvel movie at all. You just kind of need to be in a different frame of mind if you are expecting something along the lines of “The Avengers”, “Guardians of the Galaxy” or even my recent favorite “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” I think it had some difficult hurdles to jump considering what we have come to expect since 2008 with “The Incredible Hulk” and “Iron Man”.

The Eternals are basically heralds/minions of the Celestials, whom we were sort of introduced to in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. We are all familiar with Ego, played by Kurt Russell, but as we find out, there is a WHOLE lot of extra material Marvel is now willing to share about exactly who the Celestials are and, um, their actual intentions for the planets that they “created”, including Earth. Remember, we are talking about comic book mythology here.

The Earth-bound Eternals, who are comprised of Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Thena (Angelina Jolie), Sprite (Lia McHugh), Gilgamesh (Mae Dong-Seok), Kingo (Kumail Nankiani) among others, are dispatched to Earth in 5,000 BC just as humans are coming under attack by a race of alien-type creatures called the Deviants. The Eternals live their lives to serve as protectors for the human population but, as the story progresses, we learn that the Celestials are not as benevolent as their servants believe, and to say anymore would completely ruin the surprises that are uncovered.

One aspect I really enjoyed about “Eternals” was the constant jumping back and forth in time, with our heroes using their varied and specific powers to guide and protect humanity over the centuries and even millennia. It is an extremely complex way of telling the story and I applaud director/screenwriter Chloe Zhao and her crew for what they have accomplished here.

I really enjoyed the introduction of this particular branch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and am interested to see how Disney/Marvel intends to incorporate what they’ve done here with the name-brand superheroes and even the Guardian universe that we are accustomed to. I am giving “Eternals” a solid 4 out of 5 lightsabers, and am not hesitating to see the next edition whenever it may be released.

NOTES TO PARENTS (MILD SPOILERS): “Eternals” is rated PG-13 for fantasy violence, very mild language, and brief sexuality. Language is extremely light for a PG-13 movie, I heard s*** only once. A** and d*** may have been uttered a couple of times. The Deviants are pretty scary-looking and do injure the Eternal heroes to the point of killing a couple of them. Sexual content is basically of one scene of a naked Sersi and Ikaris making love, though nothing graphic is shown. Heads up to parents who wantt to know, there is a shot of Phastos and his same-sex human domestic partner sharing a pretty quick but intimate kiss.

MID AND AFTER-CREDIT SCENES: Mid-credit scene - An Eternal with the same “wokeness” of our movie heroes is introduced and (sorry, definitely spoiling this for MCU Patton Oswalt fans) his herald, a drunken elf. After-credit scene - Dane, who has confessed a confusing family history to Sersi, unboxes a family heirloom and is immediately questioned about his decision to do so.

LIKE and SHARE the page ORBI-WAN GOES TO THE MOVIES www.orbiwanblogs.me/moviereviews.

Orbi-Wan Goes To The Movies is protected under Creative Commons.

rexinnih

Saw this with my two kids today (10 & 12) in 3D. When I bought the tickets last night, only one other seat was taken so thought it would be pretty empty theater. About 10 other people ended up in the theater with some pretty young kids.
Overall enjoyed it but was primed for a movie unlike previous Marvel ones. Younger kids were fidgeting in their seats especially towards the end.

Draven

Loved it - it just felt epic with things like the scale of the Celestials. Nothing has been that big in the MCU and it felt truly cosmic in a way that Thor and Dr. Strange didn't quite get to.

One thing I really liked was Makkari - that was the best “speedster” effect I’ve ever seen in any movie or TV show. When they showed her leaping over a rock or arcing around, it looked so much more natural than the straight lines and zigzags we normally get. She had momentum that the Flash or Quicksilver never do (the MCU Quicksilver is a close second). She “felt” fast. I would have enjoyed a lot more of her.

Wolf359

Right up there with Infinity War and Endgame as my favorite MCU. Shame about the bad reviews.

Red Hood

Been meaning to write this for over a week. I loved this film. Easily top five of the MCU films. Still, there some things I wish they were different.

Pros:
- Gemma Chan was incredible in her role as Sersi. She has a natural charisma that translated very well to her character and the growth she has through the film.
- The director and the writing team took a great concept in the Eternals and executed it in a much better way the comics ever did. Of all Jack Kirby Marvel creations, the Eternals are by far its weakest one due to having a very good concept that had no direction whatsover when he wrote it. Throughout the years other creators like Walt Simonson and Neil Gaiman tried to add to the Eternals mythology but for the most part, it was a miss. Even back when Kirby did the book, people were divided on it and for the most part of their existence, these character have been in their very obscure corner of the Universe, with the exception of the Celestials and Sersi. I don't remember any of the Eternals ever being part of any big event in the Marvel Universe. From Secret Wars to Infinity Gauntlet to the many crossovers and big events Marvel has had over the past 50 years, the Eternals have not been part of any of them. The main reason is that these characters didn't feel to be part of the same Universe that had the Hulk, Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, etc.
- The scenes throughout history were great, almost magical. Each actor was pretty great in their role and it showed humanity made these androids feel emotions, similar of what we have seen in the Vision.
- The movie was completely different from other superhero films. From characters not being in the same page (Kingo, Sprite, Druig) to not getting what has become cliche in superhero films. Once again it used the Kirby concept of the Eternals and made it crisp and better.
- Thena survived and Angelina Jolie seems to be in for the long run on the MCU.

Cons:
- Ikaris betrayal was telegraphed from the first scene he appeared. This storyline felt lazy and cliche. Too many hints since that first scene, when Ikari conveniently appeared to save Sersi and Sprite and then when they visit Ajak, he quickly blamed the Deviants without having a clue of what was really going on. Richard Madden's acting gave too much away that he's a guy who couldn't be trusted as he came of as shady from the get go.
- Killing Gilgamesh. Of the few characters from the Eternals that actually made it to the Avengers in the comic books, Sersi and Gilgamesh were the only 2. I wanted to see his character go on this long run for the next several Marvel phases, but sadly it appears it was a one and done
- The film following the Kirby designs but not using the details and colors that made his style famous. One of the few things that attracted me to the Eternals was Kirby's designs, not the story. To this day, reading the book is almost a chore, but the colorful details of the book made it worth it to revisit. Why didn't the director used some of it still a mystery to me.

Overall, it's a great film and I'm certainly looking forward to where this goes. Loved the mid-credit and after credit scenes. Having Blade at the end (although in voice only) makes everything that it's going on in the MCU more mysterious. Also of note, it seems the Eternals are taking the place that the Inhumans were supposed to have in the MCU. I hope the Inhumans get another opportunity. Maybe when the FF come aboard, they will be part of those stories.

Once again, it's amazing Marvel is on their 26th film and WB/DC can't get past doing Batman for the 100th time.

JayTL

In defense of the Ikaris betrayal:
Is it really a betrayal? It's one of those things I can see both sides of the argument for.

Wolf359

Sersi was really the one doing the betraying. We're just partial because we'd be the ones dying.

Draven

Yep. Shades of "Thanos was right" which you can actually see if you look at people as nothing more than a resource over an individual.

Red Hood

And he murdered Ajak.

devilshalo

Not in the technical sense.. it was a Deviant that did.

Josh-da-man

I feel that way about most later-period Kirby projects, whether its the "epic" stuff like Eternals or New Gods, or the smaller ones like Devil Dinosaur or OMAC.

They seem more like standalone works and ideas than actual parts of a pre-existing universe.

JayTL

He's still doing his "job/destiny". I don't agree with him, but I at least understand where he's coming from.

Artman

Caught the last IMAX showing today before Ghostbusters takes over. Really liked it! Honestly just a handful of things I might've done differently. I think the ending with Arishem wasn't needed - it took what was a natural, uplifting ending and leaves the audience feeling confused. (at least it did me) And the info that something wasn't right was conveyed in the mid credit scene. This looks to still make the most of the three MCU films this yr, I hope it gets that planned sequel... but a Disney+ event series might serve it just as well.

DJariya

Its about $146M behind Shang Chi in WW box office. And Shang Chi had better reviews. I think it’s going to run out of gas very soon, especially with Ghostbusters opening this weekend. Doubtful it can catch up.

RichC2

It won't. Most of Shang-chi's gross was made in the US and Eternals isn't going to catch its $224m sum. Abroad, they'll be about even.

JayTL

So I'm guessing it'll be on D+ by Christmas, right?

RichC2

45 days would place it at December 20th, so you can almost guarantee it will be.

JayTL

I can see them pushing it up a couple days just to make a big "hey Eternals on D+ for Christmassssssssss"

Bchbum

bawhahahahahahaha. Is this a joke? It has to be. This wasn’t even close.

Giantrobo

Hardcore Marvel Fan I work with didn't really like this. Pretty sure that means I'll love it....

Draven

I'm a hardcore Marvel fan and I loved it.

Wolf359

Key words... My favorite
You're new here so you apparently don't know simple truths like:

Opinions
Vary

Abob Teff

It really fascinated me that a movie all about heart had no heart. It felt well-made, but it just lacked anything that made me care. There was NO arc for any of the characters, just a series of events pushing us to an outcome. No character developed, no character changed. It was plainly evident that Earth would not be destroyed. There was never anything at stake in this movie. Even the character deaths had no impact.

I'm still trying to find reasons to like this movie ... but I'm not doing so well. I think my biggest issue is that I keep comparing this to GotG: a fairly unknown property with an ensemble cast introducing us to the next phase. Instead, the cast was largely flat and this didn't get me excited for anything coming after it. I didn't want constant winks and nods or to be beaten over the head with it, but this failed to show me how it is connected to the MCU. We just saw three TV series about multiverses and know we have at least three movies coming up directly dealing with multiverses ... but instead we randomly shoe-horn in one movie to introduce Mythic Marvel?

Abob Teff's Drunken Review

In a Marvelverse of Mildness, Bucky Barnes, Wong, Aquaman's Mom, and a bunch of other Asgardian Ultrons fight Bong Joon-Ho's creature from The Host, stand by while ancient civilizations destroy themselves, bicker about family drama, make Squirt into a real boy, blame gay black men for Hiroshima, and try to kill a space-baby. The romp is capped off by post-credit sequences with Shazam and Patton Oswald and a commercial for Harry's razors.

TomOpus

Boy, the poll numbers are all over the place, though majority gave it 3.5 or above.

dex14