We Disagree: Eternals (Rewatch)

2021,  Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) -- Disney+

I am not sure why Marvel did this movie. I guess the next wave of Marvel movies is going to be more... cosmic? I don't know, I really no longer follow along, knowing full well I will see all the movies not long after they come out, but very little is actually anticipated by my brain anymore. I don't dislike them, they just don't excite me like they once did.

I watched this just after it released on Disney, because of course I did. But not a lot of it stuck with me, in fact not a lot of it struck me with any emotional impact even while I was watching it. So, I didn't write about it. And so I am here rewatching it, so I can finally write about it. It won't be one sitting, so expect tonal shifts as I watch in chunks.

Marvel in Space has a historical race of beings called The Celestials. They are ancient, powerful beings at the god-level of existence, and not pseudo-god-alien beings like the Asgardians who leave an influence on Earth, creating mythos, but truly godlike, incredibly powerful creatures literally responsible for the birth of galaxies. 

We have met them before in the movies. Starlord's daddy Ego was one. The mining colony of Nowhere was the severed head of one. But this is the movie where we are introduced to their role in the Universe and their influence on Earth in particular. But we do so without involving any of the heroes of Earth at all, which is kind of weird considering the big event the movie ends with.

The Celestials created the Eternals, an ensemble cast of superpowered beings sent to Earth (and other planets before) to fight the Deviants, whom the Celestials also created, but lost control of. The Eternals are tasked with protecting humanity from Deviants, but ordered to not get directly involved with the evolution of humanity. By the time we reach the current day, they believe they succeeded in eliminating the monstrous Deviants, and after some family squabbles, they settle into mostly anonymous lives amongst the humans they resemble.

And then they discover their true purpose.

I am about mid-way through my second watching, and I am finding myself not all that interested in it. I don't like most of the characters, and don't understand the existence of many of them. They were sent to be soldiers, to fight Deviants, but most of them have ancillary powers that don't directly contribute to combat. In standard superhero groups, people get their powers in weird, random ways and end up putting on suits and cooperating to fight Bad Guys. Those with not-direct-combat powers become support members, and all work together defeat the baddies. But this team was created with one purpose in mind, so I am not sure what molecular transformation really provides in the middle of a battle. Most of Circe's actions barely slow the Deviants, and much is cute or almost comedic in effect. I guess, at the very least, she (and a few others) were there to be support for the team, to reduce the loss of human life during these battles?

(one week later)

I am hesitant to say, "I don't like the movie." But I also cannot be an apologist. Its just that the story and the characters leave me flat. And its meagre integration into the MCU is almost laughable. How could that event, and even the lead up, not have alerted some of the more powerful beings into action? Where was Doctor Strange? Where was Wanda Maximoff ? Even if Fury was not around, what's left of SHIELD must be paying attention to world impactful events? Considering the speed at which "new superheroes" are introduced to this world, there must have been a few sitting in the wings catching on to the Earth about to ... die? 

But, don't get me wrong, I get it, this is introducing the new stage of MCU and its an establishing movie. So, some prior connections are severed for the sake of the reality of movie making. But even taken at face value, I wasn't absorbed. Even the grandeur of Zhao, the wide panoramic beautiful shots just didn't do anything for me. Maybe they were best left for the cinema? But even in 4K, and on my new bright and colourful TV, everything was just ... muddy. And the battle scenes were just incredibly pew pew pew lackluster to me. When I hold up to comparable battle scenes, such as the arrival of Captain Marvel in Endgame, I wonder why I wasn't in awe, like I was for her. There was so much behind every action she took, so much weight and power, and these Eternals should make her pale in comparison. And don't get me going on how utterly disinterested I was in all the characters, but for Circe and Ikarus, and the latter only because they are pushed to the forefront and therefore have more room to ... evoke. The rest, had occasional hints, but for the most part were ... devoid.

So yeah, we disagree... for the most part. I do agree with Kent that the movie wasn't bad enough to dislike for not being like all the others before it, I just don't think it did well on its own.