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For years, Marvel has focused its movies on the Avengers—to the point that the motley band of heroes has become like family to big-budget action movie lovers everywhere. But with the Avengers currently in a state of upheaval, Marvel turns to a different band of conflicted heroes in Eternals.
Eternals travels through history with a group of immortal beings who were sent to Earth 7,000 years ago by their all-powerful master to battle the Deviants, ferocious monsters that threaten humanity. For thousands of years, the Eternals have been living quietly among us, subtly guiding Earth’s civilizations, living even more peaceful lives since the last Deviant was defeated. But when the Deviants return and the Eternals’ leader is killed, they realize that they never knew the truth about their mission on the planet—and they find themselves reuniting and preparing for their greatest battle yet.
Starting from the lengthy explanation of the Eternals’ mission and history that scrolls across the screen, there’s a whole lot of story and a whole lot of characters to explore here. Marvel has built up the Avengers over years, generally introducing a hero or two at a time, allowing audiences to get to know their individual personalities and powers and quirks. Each hero is different—and their resulting movies are diverse, too. But the Eternals don’t get that time and development—other than a few random snippets of scenes through history. As a result, viewers never really get a chance to connect with the characters. Most of them feel flat and uninteresting, their powers hazy—and the ones who stand out feel too extreme (especially Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo, the over-the-top Bollywood star, who travels with his embarrassingly stereotypical Indian assistant).
Meanwhile, one of the best things about Avengers movies is that, despite the fact that the heroes are often battling villains who threaten life as we know it, they’re still just comic book action fun. The films don’t take themselves or their characters too seriously. Eternals, on the other hand, is deadly serious. It’s dark and heavy, with loads of drama and in-fighting. While there are the occasional comedic moments, they generally feel awkward and out of place. And the result feels long and heavy and self-conscious—something you’d expect more from DC than from Marvel.
Though the ensemble cast seems promising, these heroes just don’t gel the way they should. So while Eternals does provide some grand-scale action and drama, instead of satisfying your need for superhero adventures, it may just leave you missing the Avengers even more.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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