Tremont Mail

Eternals

Eternals – 2021 (Action, Adventure, Drama)
rated    –    starstarstarstarstar

Another week, another Marvel film (I swear Disney has something releasing weekly, on the big screen or Disney+.) I’m a big Marvel fan, and I usually try to keep myself from reading anything from other reviewers or aggregator sites such as Rotten Tomatoes. I intentionally do this so that I don’t have my view of a film skewed. Sadly I was unable to avoid the response to the Rotten Tomatoes critics scores on this one. Usually, I wouldn’t care, as I often disagree with the popular critics.

I didn’t put much weight into the critics’ response; I know they don’t always positively review Marvel films, so I was still excited to watch this one. I didn’t know a lot about the characters or the story of the film. I had seen the trailers but didn’t know what to expect on it all unfolding. Your classic Marvel film; has giant set pieces, over-the-top action scenes, and handles a lot of things nearly perfectly. They had a cast that checked many boxes from the first deaf superhero, equal representation of women, people of color, and various degrees of popularity (although I would say they had too many big name stars in this film.) They also managed to create the best version of any “speedster” put on screen (think The Flash.)

Sadly, for everything they did right, it feels like they did just as much or more wrong. The cast was stuffed (ten+ new characters, all in one, albeit it long film), and it was just too much. There were many times where you were left wondering why character X was even on screen. Marvel handles new characters pretty well; they tackled the introduction of an entire team in “Guardians of the Galaxy” with no issue. I feel that they would’ve been better splitting this into two films, maybe, or introducing half the “team” now and then more as we went along further into the MCU.

It also felt like this film was a mess, with so many thoughts, plots, and development that all crossed over. I wanted better; I was a big fan of “Nomadland” last year, and I won’t give up hope on Chloé Zhao, who went from a slow-paced Oscar-winning film to a big-budget Marvel film. I didn’t feel like I was watching a film directed by her but by Marvel, who was trying to show off that they allowed her to direct it.

With all of that being said, this won’t hurt Marvel (maybe their pride), but they will recover and bounce back with the craziness that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has in store for us.

If you’re looking for a great film (with some unique flair), you should check out “The French Dispatch,” if you know who Wes Anderson (“Isle of Dogs,” “ The Grand Budapest Hotel”) is and appreciate his films; I would say this is the most “Wes Anderson” film of all of his movies.

Where to watch:
 IN THEATERS NOW

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