The Eternals (MCU)

titan18 · 10-11-2021 09:21AM

Looking at the upcoming slate, they should be happy that their next films are all sequels. Spiderman, Doctor Strange, Thor and Black Panther being next will likely draw a crowd anyway (although the last two have some issues in who the main character is/might be). After their last few films, they've probably ate away at a significant element of fans goodwill imo. I'd say none of the Phase 4 films so far have been that good tbh.

pjohnson · 10-11-2021 09:25AM

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

Shang Chi was certainly a good movie tbf.

titan18 · 10-11-2021 09:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144583#Comment_118144583

Eh, I thought it was ok. Think my thoughts were that it started off well but got dragged down the usual Marvel third act of save the world and some messy CGI in the final battle imo. It likely slots mid way down or a small bit below on a ranking of their films like. It's by far and away the best of the 3 this year but I wouldn't call it good myself.

pixelburp · 10-11-2021 09:41AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144583#Comment_118144583

Would echo titan's sentiments; Shang Chi started off great - that Bus Scene was one of the strongest action sequences in an MCU film in a while - but as the film crept on, all the usual tropes started to leak into the story, to the film's detriment. The finale was similar to Black Panther really; in that a potentially cathartic and personalised capper on a character arc got lost in sub-standard, "I don't care about any of this" CGI mush.

johnny_ultimate · 10-11-2021 09:50AM

I'd find it increasingly hard to justify a cinema trip to a Marvel film if they're going to be streamed a month or two after release. I'm a big advocate of the cinema experience, but I've increasingly found these films more akin to episodes of a TV series rather than big-screen spectacles. I wasn't a big fan of Dune, but it does at least offer a plethora of visual pleasures. Even with Chloe Zhao behind the camera, I couldn't be bothered with paying multiplex prices for this when there's a whole bunch of interesting films playing elsewhere. The incredibly tepid reviews don't help, mind you!

That said, I do think the new Spider-Man will be a megahit and a big deal (not necessarily quality-wise, but at least commercially), simply because of the whole crossover angle. That's Marvel's best bet for a true, old-school hit in the next batch of films I reckon.

pixelburp · 10-11-2021 10:10AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144646#Comment_118144646

They have always been TV series writ large though which went a long way to forgive their lack of cinematic ambition; while speaking personally the arrival of the Disney+ shows, coupled with that narrative sense of closure brought by EndGame has eroded my interest in the MCU as a Thing Wot You See in the Cinema. The Disney + shows haven't been perfect but they have had the space to lean into the focus on televisual storytelling.

johnny_ultimate · 10-11-2021 10:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144714#Comment_118144714

At least the TV shows have a visual signature to them too - some of them anyway. WandaVision had lots of fun with the TV aesthetic (at least until it became a typical Marvel wham-bam spectacle at the end) and while I've only seen the first episode of Loki it had a notably more distinct visual identity than the movies.

I haven't seen Eternals, but should be noted it at least has received praise for having Chloe Zhao bringing something of her visual sensibilities to the table. I wouldn't be so confident of Spider-Man being anything to write home about in that sense going by the last two films, even if it might ironically be a more 'successful' and watchable film.

titan18 · 10-11-2021 10:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144646#Comment_118144646

Ya, I'm with you there. Having a cinema pass justifies it still for me as I'm paying a monthly price anyway no matter how many films I see, but Eternals was almost more like I felt obliged to go see it rather than me having a huge interest in seeing it. I'd be relatively confident on Spiderman and Doctor Strange, although both are going to get messy with multiverse stuff, Thor and Black Panther have some substantial questions (Portman as Mighty Thor and Black Panther's replacement) that might hurt them.

I think something that's hurting it all is the Disney Plus side too. Like at the start, it was films setting up following films and it was one pretty clear overall thread. Now, they've films setting up TV shows and TV shows setting up films and there's a whole lot more to keep yourself invested in to keep up to date with the story. Like the end tease at the end of this is surely more for a TV show as that's a character who isn't getting a film any time soon, and that TV show likely has set up for Eternals 2 at some point. It's getting very convoluted and it won't surprise me when people start checking out as there's too much to keep up on.

FunLover18 · 10-11-2021 06:10PM

I think I'm going to be in the minority when I say that I really liked this. It's not perfect but man I love the blend of sci-fi and fantasy and I really liked the characters. The movie doesn't really mess about with introductions, it throws us into their lives and their relationships. The first 15 minutes are jarring, a lot happens and a major inciting incident just sort of happens without much incident and is kinda glossed over until it's brought up again later. Some of the early scenes are edited very strangely too, almost like we're dropped into the middle of them but I would say the film definitely grows into its own thing and even the finale while it can be accused of being a big CGI fest, it's a lot more character driven for reasons I can't get into.

I've seen a few people mention Berry Keoghan's accent, is that not just his accent?

I loved Thena and Gilgamesh, I wish we'd gotten more of them, their relationship was more far interesting than Cersi and Ikarus. I thought the final showdown between Ikarus and Makkari was great, I'm a sucker for characters who should be friends fighting, it had a lot more emotional heft for me than a lot of MCU final acts.

Harry Styles?? Thanos's brother??

That voice at the end sounded like Mehershala Ali?

The White Wolf · 10-11-2021 07:23PM

Just out of it there and I thought it started well enough but then it hit a wall as new characters were reintroduced. Looked at my watch thinking well over an hour must be gone and wasn't even, which is a bad sign.

I'd agree that the film's worst crime is that it's trying to do way too much and just ends up becoming tedious quickly.

What a shame, I really had high hopes for this film.

EDIT that's not to say however that the film didn't serve its purpose in the grand scheme of things in the MCU. Feige just introduced a lot of crap there that will push on his plans, all without an automatic need for a sequel.

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118129933#Comment_118129933

Can you point to some moments were the actors were visibly embarrassed? I’m very interested in this.

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:18PM

Saw Eternals today

Kingu and his valet were funny. I liked the relationship between Gilgamesh and Athena and the fight scenes were good. And I really liked that Kingu bailed on the mission for moral reasons and didn’t show up to save the day later (which I expected him to do)

However overall I thought it was weak and other than Gilgamesh and Thena I really didn’t care for the characters or the story or the Celestials

I do have some questions though -

Cersei told Dane that Eternals don’t interfere in the natural evolution of a civilisation other than to protect them from Deviants but that isn’t true - they did guide humanity with tools and other advancements. Why did she lie?

What was the purpose of the superhero costumes? They didn’t protect them and their powers were built into their bodies.

Is Ego a Celestial like the Eternals boss?

And in the fight at the end didn’t the Deviant attack Icarus? Why was Phastos shouting about him helping Icarus? I get why Thena wanted to kill him but wasn’t the Deviant trying to stop the Emergence?

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143298#Comment_118143298

I don’t read anything (or watch trailers/clips) about a movie before seeing it but I noticed a lot headlines that Eternals was going to be something very different - a cover on a recent Empire magazine called it “Marvel’s risky left turn”.

so I was expecting something very unusual

but for the life of me I can’t figure what is so “different” or risky about it

pjohnson · 13-11-2021 09:34PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162472#Comment_118162472

The "sex scene" between Ikaris and Sersei and the fact Phastos is gay and has a husband and family.

Both these elements were hyped needlessly. Having seen the film the marketing for it was very strange given the product.

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162503#Comment_118162503

That is it? The big risk is that a character is gay and there a weird sex scene that makes people laugh (which is what happened today in the cinema)?

that is just bizarre.

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:48PM

I like that the group gets divided over their moral opinions and I really like that Marvel choose Hiroshima as the big example of just how bad humanity can get (that was the biggest surprise in the film)

but really other than that the movie is only mildly entertaining

also - why did the Celestial boss make Makkari deaf?

Need a Username · 13-11-2021 09:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118147306#Comment_118147306

I don’t think that is how Keoghan really sounds. Pretty sure he has toned down his real accent for the film.

brianregan09 · 14-11-2021 12:13AM

I really find it gas how every time a new one of these is release you can put your house on at least 1 poster coming ringing the death knell for marvel studios , this was review bombed because of the supposed woke diversity in the film ( all of this twitter internet noise does my head )

I'm someone who doesn't care what people are into as long as the story is good , Phastos's husband and child was one of the nicest sincere moments of the film , don't know how stuff like this matters to a litte cave troll in his mothers basement

On the film itself I really enjoyed it felt the time went really quickly for me I was invested i guess from the get go , was surprised at what happened in the 1st 15 mins or so but i thought it worked definitely , enjoyed all the Celestials stuff and really showed when they choose to in the future Galactus will be really done well, some of the shots in this aswell were breathtaking . Story was a bit mad but I did enjoy it , and it's left in such a way they can definitely come back to it in the future

remember aswell this phase is at the same phase as Iron Man 1 , it's the start again , by the end of this run of phases you could have fantastic four, blade, xmen, blade, ghostrider all massive hitters still to come into the universe

Need a Username · 14-11-2021 03:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118163128#Comment_118163128

No this Phase is not at the same place as Phase 1 was with Iron Man - that is crazy thinking. It much further along.

Who has been ringing the ringing the “death knell” for the MCU because of this movie? has anyone here even commented on Phastos being gay (apart from pjohnson who was only explaining to me how the film was considered a “big risk”)

I don’t see how the story is “mad” - it was pretty simple and straightforward. A couple of nice twists that they were unknowingly the villains, that they fall out over their beliefs, etc. but nothing complex or mad - it was pretty obvious from the opening crawl that they were going to come into conflict with their creator.

What scenes did you find “breathtaking”? There are breathtaking moments in most of the MCU and I expected such from this. I had zero knowledge of these character going into the film so I didn’t know what they could do but I expected one of the reasons they brought in Chloe Zhao was to get some “breathtaking” and different action scenes but there was nothing stand out or different at all. It is good but just not great.

pixelburp · 14-11-2021 03:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162531#Comment_118162531

Contextual to Hollywood mainstream cinema, the presence of open LGBTQ characters is a big deal. The importance of international markets, especially those hostile to gay folk, has meant Hollywood had, at best, characters or trivial scenes easily censored (see the recent Jungle Cruise's coming out scene, or the entirety of Fantastic Beasts' cringe inducing attempts to talk around the core gay relationship at its heart).

Because of Eternals' open gay relationship, the film won't play in various Middle Eastern countries to name a few(not sure if this is why China isn't getting it; IIRC Chloe Zhao has been publicly critical of China, which never plays well), so the risk is the potential loss of income - which would be Disney's priority.

Plus, the latest MCU film being directed by a Best Director Oscar winner is also a fairly big deal. The MCU films post Phase 1 have almost exclusively been directed by those happy to work with a prescribed palette and approach. Not every day an Oscar winner does something this mainstream.

Need a Username · 14-11-2021 03:17PM

Makkari was criminally underused.

Her only purpose in the movie was find the Emergence point and to fight Ikcarus for a few minutes (which was a great fight scene).

She seemed like a fun character and was the only one to mention the monotony of eternal life - she really should have had more screen time. The film moved along very nicely and it really didn’t feel like 2 1/2 hours - 10 or so minutes devoted to the team speedster would have been welcome.

Need a Username · 14-11-2021 05:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118164696#Comment_118164696

China wasn’t letting the the film in becasue of the director - didn’t get as far the gay character

I know it wasn’t getting into other markets because of the gay character

but with all the talk of “risk” I thought it was bigger than that - that the movie was going to be so weird or so different to previous MCU outings tat it was an “artistic risk” or one that could divide the everyday fans like us

I don’t have time to Google but I’m fairly certain that Oscar winning directors doing a mainstream movie is not as rare as you think

brianregan09 · 14-11-2021 05:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118164676#Comment_118164676

It is in such after Endgame it's a soft reset , they have had to build new hero's up from the bottom again ie Shang Chi, Eternals

What I meant about Phastos been gay and the divesity was the review bombing the film received on rotten tomatoes for being supposedly woke I didn't say anyone here complained about that

as for the story been mad ,I don't think we've ever seen a story where a celestial seed was planted in the planet either in the comics or movies ,

Breathtaking ...ok ....Sersi and Dane Whitman having a chat near the end and the big Celestial in space appears and pretty much whips them off the planet gave me massive Galactus vibes ,the fight scene at the end was pretty awesome aswell in my own opinion, some of the scenes in babylon were excellent too , there is alot

There is alot wrong with this movie aswell don't get me wrong and it won't be for everyone but I really liked it and I think it's unfair some of the crap it's getting

pixelburp · 14-11-2021 06:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118165232#Comment_118165232

Mainstream, no, it's fairly typical of course ("one for them, one for me") but specifically, the MCU just hasn't hired those kind of directors; bar Phase 1 somewhat, when you had more "workman" types at the tiller like Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, or Joe Johnston. Chloe Zhao definitely cut a more ... I dunno, artistic figure than the above. While you look at the rest of the recent stable of directors and they're uniformly bland, indie and young who had maybe one modest success then were courted by Disney. Oh and James Gunn, who kinda exists in his own sphere TBH.

Mind you, given the above, it's possible Zhao's hiring was the same again - just this time that small indie darling won an Oscar, accidentally adding some attention Eternals mightn't have otherwise received.

Need a Username · 14-11-2021 06:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118165282#Comment_118165282

I don’t see how it is a reset - the Infinity Saga introduced plenty of characters “from the ground up, not just the Avengers

you said “poster” so that seems to to be a poster here on the forums

I don’t think that makes the story “mad” - something new but not mad - Ragnarok was totally mad and bonkers. Eternals is far from that

Babylon looked great and I liked all the fights (I say again Makkari was awesome) but they were were not better than previous battles. Shang-Chi’s tram and skyscraper fights were trilling stuff and suppressed any visuals in Eternals.

the only opinions I’ve seen are the ones in the last two pages so I don’t what else is being said but if it is him getting a bad hammering (as you seem to be saying) then I would disagree with that. Each Marvel movie has become my favourite over the previous one with the exception of Iron Man 2 and now Eternals - there is a lot to love and some twists I certainly didn’t see coming but I suppose I went in expecting something radically different to any superhero movie in terms of visuals and style because of the headlines I had seen

I like that Marvel moved out of the US and that none of the character were Yanks - yes the actors mostly are but the characters were not just alien robots but international. About time. I really liked some of the relationships and the choices characters made in the story -

I don’t don’t I will like it more next time I see it . And I try to avails ALL talk and spoilers of movies and now I will double my efforts to avoid any headlines at all

Need a Username · 14-11-2021 06:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118165383#Comment_118165383

I suppose Marvel didn’t actually hire an Oscar winner to direct Eternals - she won that after getting the job

Foxtrol · 15-11-2021 06:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162472#Comment_118162472

I think you're getting a bit stuck up on headline hyperbole that goes along with basically every movie - there wasn't anything that implied the movie was going to be 'very unusual'.

I don't know how you can say Eternals wasn't a risk - unknown characters, largest group introduced in one MCU movie (struggling to think of such a large team introduced in any comic book movie), an outspoken director with no action experience, and a diverse cast and subject matter (likely what was meant by the 'left' in that headline and what has historically caused issues with conservative trolls and access to certain countries).

To me The Eternals had a different approach to character development, pacing, and look than most other MCU movies. It wasn't 'very unusual' but I don't think anyone should have gone in with that expectation.

Need a Username · 15-11-2021 09:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170988#Comment_118170988

I have already said that I got the wrong idea from the headlines. I’m not stuck on it now but I was when watching the movie. And yes there is a lot headline hyperbole about some movies but I normal pay no mind or just don’t see it - however the waffle about “risky left turn” and such caught my eye. And I did interpret that to mean some unusual because there wasn’t anything in those headlines to say it just about having gay characters, etc.

Most of the movies have been introducing unknown characters - not every member of the audience knows who Ant-Man or T’Challa were. I don’t see how the number of characters is an issue (and The Suicide Squad had way more characters on the team). And how many people know or care who the director of a Marvel movie is or what there opinions are. Sure a gay character was going to be a problem in this and that region and Zhao was was going to be a problem in China - but Marvel and Disney knew this a long time ago. They even had the option to cut the movie for some counties and choose to suffer at the box office instead. Not much of a risk if they had decided on the outcome in advance.

How was the character development and pacing different to other MCU movies? And as to the look of the film - there isn’t anything that stands out above the previous films.

paulbok · 15-11-2021 11:21PM

Didn't like Eternals at all, despite looking forward to it the last few months. For me there was too long spent on each flashback, could have been done quicker with a 'montage' scene of them clearing the deviants and some of the actors were poorly cast. I found Richard Maden wooden, performing a similiar character to the one he played in The Bodyguard (though with laser beam eyes), and Barry Keoghan, well I never got what the fuss is for him.

Some of the others were good in fairness, and introducing 10 new characters at once was always going to leave it difficult for the audience to connect with them all in a single movie. As someone else suggested, it may have been better as a tv series, getting the introductions done and flesh out the characters before moving the main plot to a movie.

As for the plot, well it certainly brought the MCU bang into the cosmic storylines, which with the multiverse seems to be the crux of phase 4 (phase 5 looks to be gearing up to be supernatural storylines).

I would guess that the partial remains of a Celestial could be a source of energy/power/magic to set up future storylines.

Foxtrol · 16-11-2021 08:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118171666#Comment_118171666

Ant-Man and T'Challa were both better known than the Eternals and there was one main character to introduce in each movie not 10+.

How can you not see it being more difficult to introduce a large number of characters in one movie? The more characters you have the less screen time they each get to develop and the audience to connect to them. Then you add how each having their own arch makes the overall story more complicated. The difficulty is obvious and a consistent complaint from those who didn't like the movie was the number of characters.

The Suicide Squad had Harley Quinn, one of the most recognizable comic book characters to the general public, to anchor the movie, along with other returning characters - the Eternals didn't have that.

I am not talking about the audience not knowing the director, my point is that it is a risk to hand a superhero action movie over to a director who has no experience with action movies.

I don't get your claim that risk doesn't really exist if if they decide the outcome in advance. Firstly, they weren't certain that as many places would block the movie as did so it was a risk. Secondly, even if they knew for a fact that the movie would be banned then it is still a risk - knowing you're limiting the possible viewers for the movie is a risk when you're banking on it bringing in other viewers who would like these elements - if they don't show up you're screwed.

On character development, can you identify other MCU movies with as many main characters introduced with such limited screen time with their background provided through numerous flashbacks?

On pacing, this movie was far slower than other MCU movies - so much so that this is another consistent complaint from those that didn't like the movie.

The Eternals (MCU)

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