I don't think that "Eternals" is a very good film, but I liked it anyway. It breaks from the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe formula in some significant ways, and is ambitious and weird and looks great. It also has way too many characters, and commits the cardinal sin of focusing on the most boring ones.
"Eternals" is about a group of ten immortal beings who are sent by the god-like alien Arishem to Earth in the distant past. They're charged with protecting humanity from monsters called Deviants, but are not to interfere with Earth's development otherwise. Each of the Eternals has their own specific superpower, such as flying, controlling minds, or firing energy blasts. We catch up with one of them, the matter manipulator Sersi (Gemma Chan), in the present day, centuries after the Eternals split up as a group and went their separate ways. When she and her human boyfriend Dane (Kit Harrington) are attacked by a Deviant - thought to be long extinct - she knows it's time for a family reunion.
The other Eternals include illusion generator Sprite (Lia McHugh), warrior woman Thena (Angelina Jolie), flyer Ikaris (Richard Madden), super-strong Gilgamesh (Don Lee), speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), technology guru Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), energy blaster Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), mind controller Druig (Barry Keoghan), and their leader Ajak (Salma Hayek). Through flashbacks, we learn the history of the group, and their relationships and clashes with each other. It's a purposefully diverse set of actors, representing all races, with LGBT representation, and one mute Eternal using sign language. However, the group comes off as a familiar extended family regardless. Several of them have paired off as romantic couples, and "Eternals" features the MCU's first, brief sex scene. There are also longstanding rivalries, tensions, and points of contention, like how much involvement to have with humankind, and how much they should trust in Arishem.
I like that "Eternals" is a film with some real scope to it, with a story that takes place over eons, and with characters who grow and change. I like that a big part of it is about emotions and personal connections, especially Sersi coming to terms with her feelings about her ex, Ikaris. Alas, Gemma Chan is one of the weaker actresses on the roster, but gets the lion's share of the screentime, while Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie are playing fairly minor characters. Chloe Zhao makes sure that each of the Eternals gets their big moments, and we get to know all of them to some extent, but this means that "Eternals" runs an exhausting 156 minutes, and a lot of it is just taken up with finding one scattered Eternal after another, followed by a repetitive fight scene. The Deviants are pretty badly handled - for the most part they're just your typical CGI monsters, though it's suggested that they're capable of being more.
This is not to knock the action. "Eternals" is perfectly fine as far as the spectacle goes. Zhao sets many of her action scenes in interesting natural environments, creating the opportunity for some really striking cinematography. The Eternals' designs are very appealing, with a motif of golden astrological signs and geometric symbols recurring in their costumes and their powers. But no matter how much eye candy there is onscreen, it's hard to get away from how often the audience is asked to suspend their disbelief about everything from the Eternals affecting human history to the tin ear dialogue. I appreciate that the film wants to grapple with big concepts and ideas, but it's just not good at doing that in cinematic ways. Also, while it's great that the movie actively subverts several tropes, like gloomy mind-reader Druig actually not being a secret traitor in the third act, there are similar narrative decisions that wind up being confounding - one major character just sits out the entire final battle for no good reason. Was the actor unavailable? Did we lose a few scenes somewhere?
I still enjoyed "Eternals," because at this point Marvel's operation is well-oiled enough that it can ensure even the roughest of their creations stays at least moderately entertaining throughout. And I'm glad they let Chloe Zhao make a film a little more heartfelt and earnest than usual, and take some chances on unusual faces. The movie's not great, but as far as MCU films go, I'd rank it squarely in the middle of the pack. And I look forward to the return of the Eternals soon.
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