Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” is the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most ancient heroes. Superhumans, massive space beings and aliens: what’s not to love?
This film introduces all-new characters to the MCU and sets the stage for several more movies to come.
Celestials are powerful cosmic beings. Arishem, the prime celestial, created the first sun which produced light for life to be born. Life was balanced until an unnatural and violent species of predators emerged, known as Deviants. Arishem sent the Eternals to protect the humans of Earth from deviants, each with their own ability.
The Eternals have various powers including flight, superstrength, super speed, heat vision, mind control, matter manipulation, the ability to conjure weapons, cosmic energy, illusions and the gift of invention.
The Eternals complete their mission and live (somewhat) normal lives for 500 years.
After a worldwide earthquake and the murder of their leader, Ajak, they regroup and Sersi is given the power to communicate with Arishem.
The Eternals learn that they were lied to for 7,000 years and their real mission was to birth the celestial, Tiamut, that would destroy Earth; this is called the “Emergence.”
Ikaris and Sprite turn against the other Eternals, leading to the final battle, where they turn back.
They stop the Emergence by forming a “Unimind” that gave Sersi the combined power of all the Eternals and enough energy to kill Tiamut.
In the end Ajak, Gilgamesh and Ikaris die, Sprite becomes human, Sersi, Kingo and Phastos are taken by Arishem to be judged and Thena, Druig and Makkari venture the universe to help other Eternals.
The writers do a good job of explaining the very long, detailed and maybe even confusing backstory of Celestials, Eternals and Deviants. The audience isn’t confused about what’s happening, but also making them curious about certain aspects of the lure of the MCU
The most exciting aspect of this movie is the weapon design. The glowing gold cosmic energy we saw whenever the Eternals used their powers and Dane Whitman, played by Kit Harrington, A.K.A. the Black Knight’s sword, the Ebony Blade, otherwise referred to as the Black Blade. These details were visually appealing.
The directing in “Eternals” exceeded low expectations. Going into it expecting the same old Marvel shots that fans have been seeing for the past 13 years, they were pleasantly surprised by Chloe Zhao’s cinematography. The shots in the movie were different and fresh. There was a new type of team up shot where the camera just zooms out on the heroes rather than rotating with them as we see in all of the Avengers movies. I really liked that.
The interpersonal scenes were also really good, showing us what we needed to know without making it blatantly obvious.
The original soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi, last heard in the MCU in “Iron Man,” is amazing, and similar in ways to his most famous work, “Game of Thrones.” The soundtrack gives you a sense of ancient times with a modern, cosmic superhero twist.
You can feel the emotions the Eternals are experiencing throughout the movie in the tense, menacing and satisfying moments. Ramin Djawadi nailed this soundtrack.
The character arcs varied from character to character. Thena, Sersi, Druig, Phastos, Kingo and Sprite had well-formed character arcs. There is a very subtle change between them from the beginning to the end. Ajak, Ikaris, Makkari and Gilgamesh on the other hand, aren’t quite there. Although there is a little change in them, it is not as obvious as the others.
[Final Spoiler Alert!] The first after-credit scene opens up on Makkari, Druig and Thena in the Domo, the Eternals spaceship, navigating their way through stars. They are interrupted by Pip the Troll (played by Patton Oswald) warping out of a portal, giving a long and dramatic introduction of Starfox, played by Harry Styles. With the confirmation of “Eternals will return,” fans are curious to see how Styles’ role in the MCU will grow. Although he has proved himself a good actor, his fans have been known to be obsessive and toxic. His placement here seems off but his future appearances could prove everybody wrong.
The second after credit brings the camera back to Dane Whitman. He opens a case with his family sword, the Ebony Blade, inside; as he grows the courage to reach out and touch it he is interrupted by none other than the vampire vampire-slayer, Blade, played by Mahershala Ali.
This confirms Kit Harrington’s role as the Black Knight in future films. According to the comics, the Black Knight is a human who is trained in sword combat by Blade and fights alongside the Avengers, Defenders and Eternals at some point in his life.
Directing: 7/10
Writing: 7/10
Creativity: 9/10
Character Arcs: 6/10
Soundtrack: 9/10
After credits: 8/10
Final/Overall Score: 8/10