The Eternals (MCU)

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118172273#Comment_118172273

Thank shyte I'm not the only one who found Madden kak.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118177223#Comment_118177223

Ant-Man and T’Challa were better know to who? How well known was Iron Man to the general public before that movie came out?

Eternals is no different to movies than the likes of Magnificent Seven, Dirty Dozen, Great Escape - how is a large number in the main cast a risk?

Suicide Squad had Margot Robbie to draw people - Eternals is a Marvel movie, which would draw people.

Zhao is not the first director with no action experience to direct an action movie. Feige and Zhao would not have jumped into this without long talks about it - he would have known very early in it if she wasn’t up to it.

Marvel and Disney might not have been 100% certain where there movie would get banned but they are not populated by idiots - they had a fair idea of what was going to happen. And if they know for a fact where it is going to be banned then it isn’t a risk - BECAUSE it is getting banned there is no longer a risk. And by your logic every Marvel movie is big risk because people could suddenly stop showing up.

Yes, there was a lot of characters and there was limited time - but what is so special about limited character development?

I totally disagree with whoever says the movie was slow. It moved along very nicely and didn’t seem like 2 1/2 hours. In fact I would have liked it to be longer so that Makkari could have had more to do than just pummel Ikarus.

Homelander

I didn't think the movie is too long or too slow but it's not very good. Weak script, mediocre acting, and in particularly, some god-awful dialogue. I mean, poor Kit Harrington, it was cringe-inducing what he was given to work with.

The second half was slightly better with some strong visuals, but something would be very wrong indeed if Marvel couldn't at least nail that down. The whole cast was lacking in charisma, and I didn't find myself particularly caring about any of them.

The plot is nothing to write home about, perfectly servicable and could even have been decent if the production was handled better.

I thought Richard Madden was OK. Maybe less that he gives a good performance, but that his character at least had some depth and conflict to him that made him feel less paper-thin despite the fact they're all supposedly thousands of years old.

It's hard to blame the actors because typically when you have a cast of largely proven talent that produces a result like this, the fault lies elsewhere, be it the writers, the director, or a blend of both.

I thought Shang Chi was very average and predictable but it's more competent and consistent than Eternals is. I could probably say the same about other Marvel movies I'm less than fond of, like Captain Marvel or the first Thor - not great movies but generally consistent in their banality.

Eternals is probably the most shoddy of the Marvel movies to date. I'd compare it to something like WW84 from the DC stable, another spectacular blend of bad storytelling and poor production. Still watchable, but not good by any metric really.

That first post credits scene as well was horrible. Those 90 odd seconds really did not help with my poor opinion of the previous 2hr30m.

Mecrab

I loved it. I liked most of the Eternals except Sprite and Sersei. Wanted to see more of Thena, Druig and Makkari they were the most interesting Eternals to me but got such little screen time. The deviant plot could have been handled better it kind of went nowhere? the main deviant being intelligent i wish he had sided with the Eternals and fought with them against Ikaris

Mecrab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144574#Comment_118144574

I think you're mad if you think Eternals, Shang Chi and Black Widow haven't been well received outside the bubble of forums. Brang my nephew to Shang Chi and he was absolutely buzzing after it!

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178264#Comment_118178264

Yeah, I'd say it is nearly the opposite - I see far more grumbling in the bubble of forums than elsewhere (to be fair mostly from the same folk who have been grumbling for years)

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118177521#Comment_118177521

At this stage you're really twisting yourself in knots trying to defend that this movie wasn't a risk, at this stage even the whataboutery doesn't stand up.

Prior to the Black Panther movie T'Challa was well known to comic book readers but more importantly was introduced to the general public in a movie that made $1.153 billion at the box office. How on earth can you claim he wasn't well known in advance? Ant-Man didn't have a movie lead in but he has been a near ever present in comics since the 60's (founding member of the Avengers) and repeatedly appeared in cartoons over the decades - he might not have been a household name but he was much better known than the Eternals. The Eternals were a clear bigger risk than both related to how well they were known.

You've listed a handful of movies with large casts, many being decades old and in doing so you've made my point for me. I never said it couldn't be done, I said it was a risk because it difficult to do which is why it is so rare it is attempted in movies and even rarer that it hits the landing. The Eternals was clearly a risk with the size of the team being introduced compared to how most movies are approached.

I am not talking about Margot Robbie being a draw, Harley Quinn as a character is extremely well known before she made it to a movie and she'd been the central character in 2 other movies before The Suicide Squad - movies that combined for $350m+ at the box office. Being able to introduce a load of other characters around a well known central character is a far less risky approach than what they had to do for Eternals.

Again, you're strawmanning here - I never claimed that Zhao is the first non-action director to direct an action movie. I don't think there are many aspect of life it isn't accepted that it is more of a risk to hire someone with no experience than alternative options with no experience. No matter how much they spoke in advance or the fact Feige could have pulled her, it was still a risk. Every time a director is pulled from a MCU movie it is big news and leads to ongoing complaints about Marvel control of directors and potential backlash from an outspoken director if that situation occurred - some haven't gotten over Edgar Wright being pulled from Ant-Man. Just because you have a parachute it doesn't take away risk.

I don't see the point in us continuing to go around in circles, at this stage I've pointed out in detail how the movie was a risk compared to other MCU movies. I haven't claimed that it is a hyperbolic 'never seen before in film' type risk which you seem to be arguing against. If despite the evidence you see this movie as not being a risk then we can agree to disagree.

flazio

Going forward Marvel Studios needs to avoid headlining projects with Game of Thrones actors. They're bad luck. Started with Finn Jones in Iron Fist, then Iwan Rheon being the main baddie in InHumans and now Richard Madden and Kit Harrington in Eternals. Yes I know Peter Dinklage and Natalie Dormer were in acclaimed films but they weren't headliners, just small cameos.

Agent Coulson

GOT alumni Aidan Gillen will need an MCU role at some stage he has been in pretty much everything else at this stage.

brianregan09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118182675#Comment_118182675

Marvel Studios had nothing to do with Inhumans or Iron Fist though

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118181555#Comment_118181555

Twisting myself in knots? Sure, whatever you say - but I’m not the one spending the time typing out that long post to someone that ends with questioning that there was no point to the post. So why did you bother?

I didn’t bother to read what was in between.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118182580#Comment_118182580

Why are you disheartened?

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118182675#Comment_118182675

What has Game of Thrones got to do with anything?

flazio

It's a tongue in cheek observation, reel it in lads. Don't worry, Be Stark industries head of security.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118184940#Comment_118184940

I sometimes can’t tell when emojis are not used …

glad to see it was not serious because it a really really weird comment. :p

flazio

I was going to hold out until it turned up on D+ but with the weather miserable and 3 hours needed to kill I thought eff it and took a look. Even got the screen to myself. 🙂

It's OK, it's no Endgame but it's not The Incredible Hulk either. I enjoyed most of the ensemble. Just Jolie I think let it down by barely doing anything.

And I've always preferred 7up anyway.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118184279#Comment_118184279

Unsurprisingly you're just showing your skill at strawmanning again - I never said there was no point to the post, I noted that due to your posting style that there was no point in continuing after I'd clarified myself in the post in question. Your childish response here that you 'didn't bother to read' simply proves that I was right in that assessment.

Need a Username

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118278453#Comment_118278453

I don’t remember what this was about - the post you are responding to was from over two weeks ago.

It took you that long to think of a response?

Whatever this was about it can’t be worth that effort.

Need a Username

Just heard an interview with Zhao.

she is a big of the MCU series. After hearing her talk I wish they had given her a different movie to do. Or maybe given her more freedom on Eternals.

Apparently when she came onboard there was actually twelve Eternals. And I here I thought the ten we got was too many. I think it was her idea to cut the number - nothing was said about who the other two are.

flazio

Not coming to Disney+ until January 12th. Kinda surprised by that. I was thinking they might put it up either for Christmas or New Year.

pixelburp

$386 million worldwide box office. Doesn't feel like a great haul. But yeah releasing after Xmas feels weird.

Homelander

Marvel fatigue is just setting in now that the initial run is over. People are not warming to the next phase as much. It can't be laid at the door of Covid when other films are grossing double what the last slew of Marvel films did.

The box office draws for the last few films are very similar, indicating an audience, but a significantly smaller one. Even Venom, medicore and all as it is, made way more bank than either Black Widow, Eternals, or Shang Chi.

I thought Black Widow was solid enough thanks to the actors more so than the narrative but Shang Chi and Eternals are half-baked formulaic productions lacking the charisma that made the first phase so successful.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118304705#Comment_118304705

I don't think Fatigue is the right metric now; not with Disney+ floating about as an increasingly more obvious home for a series that was often unashamedly serialised and televisual in its approach. I don't doubt the middling to poor reviews and word of mouth damaged Eternals' take, and I'd be lying if I said the Phase IV personalities excited me, but I do find myself wondering if increasing numbers are just going to wait for these films to appear on Disney+ - cos there is rarely anything "cinematic" beyond that's where the MCU lived.

johnny_ultimate

While I certainly think Marvel fever has deflated somewhat post-Endgame, Spider-Man will almost certainly be a monster hit - at least by pandemic standards, but maybe even by normal standards. It’ll be curious to see how the other ‘established’ character sequels fare next year, though.

The White Wolf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118304705#Comment_118304705

I don't believe in the fatigue as yet as Spiderman NWH is already a smash based on ticket sales, but they certainly need to be careful. Hawkeye is basically a Marvel Hallmark series.

NIMAN

Went to it yesterday with the kids, and I would have to say at the outset that I wouldn't be a marvel or Superhero film fan. I've maybe seen 6 or 7 Marvel films in the catalogue.

It was an enjoyable enough film, not cgi laden like many others. Decent story and acting not too bad.

But why oh why do these films have to be so long. Jez, it felt like forever in the cinema. Kids were getting restless about 45min from the end. It could have done with a good editor.

Sonic the Shaghog

Won't be long until Marvel offers RDJ and Chris Evans the big bucks to come back I reckon.

Stark as a alternative reality version perhaps? Cap time travel I dunno

Fysh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118308350#Comment_118308350

I was thinking the post-Christmas release date was someone at Disney being tight-fisted and trying to make sure that folk who pay for 1 month of Disney+ to get Christmas stuff don't get Shang-Chi and Eternals for "free" with a single month's sub. Though there is probably some element of spacing the films out so that the arrival of a new MCU title still feels eventful...

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118312080#Comment_118312080

The Eternals is still playing in many US theatres. Even without that, it isn't worth Disney's while having people feel like they only have to wait a few weeks to see their movies on Disney+ as we head out of peak restrictions.

Spacing is definitely another driver also - Hawkeye basically runs up until Christmas and the next show isn't expected for a while so they need to keep MCU content coming online to avoid people cutting out.