The Beauty of Eternals (2021)
It’s been more than two months since Eternals came out and I had the opportunity to watch it in IMAX 3D in the theatres. Personally, I found this movie beautiful and diverse, but after reading the reviews I was a bit surprised. It is one of the lowest-rated movies in the MCU!
Recently I watched this film again with a couple of my friends and I enjoyed it more the second time. And somehow, I found the low ratings to be annoying, especially because of the reasons provided in the ratings. So here is my take on Eternals and why it should be rated far more positively.
I hope you have watched this brand-new chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because the next part will be full of spoilers! If you are one of those who did not quite like this film, I hope after reading this, you might be able to enjoy it the next time you watch it.
Spoilers ahead!
The Visuals
Eternals is one of the best MCU movies in terms of designs and visuals (along with ‘Doctor Strange’). The designs, patterns, and animation were pretty unique to the film. There were multiple visually stunning shots throughout the film. It covered many historical cities and portrayed them stunningly.
Eternals gave us an opportunity to watch speedster action sequences without slow-motion. And I feel that this is a brave move for a comic book-based movie. Imagine that you had to direct the action sequences of Makkari, wouldn’t it be obvious that you include at least a glimpse of her fighting in slow-motion? Who would have thought that a speedster fast-motion action sequence was as powerful and entertaining as a slow-motion action sequence?
Another one of my favorite moments is when Arishem appears on the screen at the end of the film. The sound effects and the sheer scale of Arishem made the scene quite terrifying.
Not a typical superhero movie
One of the major reasons why people were disappointed in the film was because of the final chapter of the movie. Unlike the typical superhero movies, this film plays its final act uniquely and more realistically than the other MCU movies.
In the world of superhero movies, people are generally contented with either sad and negative endings, where the villain wins, like that of Avengers: Infinity War, OR expect a happy and joyful ending, where the heroes win, like that in Thor: Ragnarok (do not consider post-credits, because they always have some shocking revelations). Moreover, people expect a stand-off between the heroes and villains in the final moments of a superhero movie.
But Eternals is not like a typical superhero movie. It has a neutral ending; the team does manage to save the Earth from getting destroyed by stopping the birth of a celestial; however, by the end of the movie, one of the Eternals has given up her powers, three Eternals have died, another three have been taken prisoner by Arishem and only the remaining three are free, in search of other Eternals. Secondly, there was no clear stand-off in the ending sequence but I believe that this is what made the film quite unique. It’s been ten years since we have been watching superheroes assemble and fight together at the end of a superhero movie (Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor Ragnarok, etc), but Eternals sacrifices the final team up and sticks with the character stories. This is what makes Eternals beautiful!
(So before blaming Kingo for not joining forces with his teammates consider his character history and mindset)
Complex Characters
One of the reasons a superhero movie fails is if it doesn’t give proper justice to all its characters. (That’s what happened with ‘Justice League (2017)’). With ten superheroes, Eternals had the job to explain and convince the stories of all these unique characters.
And I think the movie does a pretty good job in explaining ten different complex characters in a run-time of fewer than 160 minutes. We can understand the motives of the characters based on their personal history. (like Phastos losing faith in humanity after the atomic bombings). Moreover, the chemistry between different characters adds humor to this film.
Druig
And yes, Druig!!
I started liking Barry Keoghan after first watching ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)’ but after watching his role as ‘Druig’ he is now one of my favorite actors. Even with a screentime of less than one hour, Barry Keoghan did an amazing job. There was so much to love about this character: his powers, charming personality, and accent!
Although being a secondary character, the story of Druig is pretty well explained. We can understand him doubting his mission’s true purpose, as he cannot use his powers to stop the chaos and wars among humans. He wants to change the world for the better but, can’t take a single action because he is instructed not to.
The relation of Druig with other characters is also quite entertaining to watch; especially his chemistry with Makkari!! (although shown in only 2–3 scenes). One of the people-favorite moments is the scene in which Druig flirts with Makkari in the Domo (Eternals Spaceship). Druig’s words: “My beautiful, beautiful Makkari!” are enough for the audience to fall in love with this couple.
Conclusion
Although Eternals might not be the best MCU movie, it doesn’t deserve the harsh treatment it is getting. It has opened doors to a new generation of superhero movies, one in which the focus on characters is more than the typical superhero endings.
Happy Watching :)
