Melting Pot- Eternals [2021]

Admittedly, this is an odd one.
Not so much the story; that’s almost typically Marvel Cinematic Universe, right down to the potentially world-ending threat that, surprisingly, isn’t entirely the whole ‘death-from-above’ that has been the default go-to that has plagued most of these major event movies.

Well… maybe it is considering the origins of the threat, but at the same time, not quite coming from there to rain down havoc on our ‘heroes”. Yes, that has to be in quotes because it’s part of the story that our titular characters are questioning their place in the overall scheme of things.

What might be a more interesting take is the application of faith and likely religious overtones our characters represent. There are elements we have seen in other stories and movies before (looking at you Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), some of you may know why), a small handful probably done better. Except that it is applied to this particular cinematic universe that promises long range repercussions for the world, and the rest of the universe too.

Give Marvel credit there, they are aiming cosmically big with this one despite keeping the core of the story relatively small and personal to the characters we follow within this narrative. And therein also lies the odd dichotomy between the typically big scale MCU adventure type movie with its grand action, and the visual aesthetics of its director Chloé Zhao.

Like much of her previous works, Zhao appears to rely on ambient natural lighting for much of the outdoor scenes, particularly with the sun backlighting her characters. Some scenes seem to appear dark and murky at times, lending a kind of softness to the overall image. This also lends a slightly saturated look to the movie most of the time, which helps certain colours pop on screen.

In a way, this looks very unlike any of the previous Marvel movies most of the time. That is, until the action kicks in. It’s hard to determine how much of that would be Zhao’s direction or the work of the second unit which would usually handle the large scale action where you can’t clearly see the main stars. And a large scale is what the movie has much of the time. There is a sense of epic scale going on, with the story itself spanning millennia hitting key points in history.

But the story itself is very underserved with its sprawling (and lengthy) job of ‘getting the band back together’ when an ancient threat reemerges before delivering a couple of twists that do not entirely feel earned. With so many characters to focus on; their primary characteristics that need to be established in the greater scheme of things, their interpersonal relationships, their personal choices, not to mention various influences in culture, religion, and orientations that swirl… and it’s a lot going on, not every ingredient thrown in is properly cooked.

Perhaps there is a shorthand going on and there are points where each of the stars are able to imbue their characters with their primary… characteristics. Elements that may be better served with additional viewings – should one desire to slog through the 150 minute plus movie again and again. After all, there are many ‘easter eggs’ abound for the die-hard comic fan, and some for those invested in the MCU itself.

And visually, it is a beautiful movie to look at most of the time. The stars do as well as they can, particularly well with the personal character moments, although Richard Madden’s Ikaris does seem overly stiff and a little boring. It could be a characteristic thing and he’s meant to be that way. Heavily contrasting that is Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari, the speedster who is more energetic and exciting that you’d wish she had more screen time. In fact, you probably wish this movie itself could have split into two and devoted more time to their personal character developments, but it’s probably a nitpick. I’m just wondering if this would have worked better as a mini-series project, each episode fleshing out each character before the big finale.
That didn’t quite work out for the Inhumans (2017) series.

As a whole, Zhao’s direction and influence is very evident, contrasting the MCU aesthetic for grand adventure and effects laden action. Her touches on character shine most of the time, but it doesn’t help that the overall adventure seems rote to a familiar formula that, at this point, seems to sap urgency. Still, for me at least, the positives did edge out the negatives by a bit.

Milage may vary to personal choices on this one.
Yes, there is a post titles scene to set up a sequel, and a post credits scene with a mysterious guest star.

Rating: 1/2 /5

Directed by Chloé Zhao
Written by Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo & Kaz Firpo
from a story by Ryan and Kaz Firpo

Stars Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, and Kit Harrington

.

---

I’ve written a Syndi-Jean movie script and it is available to read for free!
Details are on my twitter feed, or check out the books (links below)!

Get all three!
Barnes and Noble / ISBNSnet / Book Depository / Google Play Store
Learn more here.

---

---