Eternals is one of the first movies in the new era of Marvel entertainment. The movie did a lot right but missed the mark in other ways. 

This film introduced a whole host of new characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The diverse cast of characters was a welcome addition to the MCU, but the way they fit into past events fell a little flat. Marvel is all about complicated plot lines and many stories happening simultaneously, but the idea of mythical immortal beings, the Eternals, existing on Earth for millennia seems a little far-fetched. It would have been beneficial, in my opinion, to have a brief reference to the Eternals in a previous movie.

Despite all of this, the movie was a cinematic beauty. All of the locations in the movie looked perfectly realistic and the cinematography was amazing. Needless to say, special effects and stunts are very necessary for Marvel films, and they did not disappoint in this movie. All of the Eternals have unique superpowers, and they looked extremely realistic and believable. It is often hard to perfectly pull off scenes involving those with super speed, but Marvel hit it out of the park with Makkari’s speed scenes. All of the stacked cast, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Kit Harington, did an amazing job portraying their character’s dispositions from the most annoying and backstabbing characters, to those with truly kind hearts. My personal favorites out of the Eternals were Druig, who grew on me throughout the movie, and Makkari.

My only other issue with the movie was that too many plot lines were trying to be introduced at the same time. I understand that Marvel has branched off from its original cast of characters and ideas, but this film tried too hard to introduce a whole new idea and set up future new concepts as well. Nevertheless, I am excited to see where Marvel goes after this and what happens to these new characters and plotlines.

Even though I have a mixed opinion on some elements of the movie, I think that Eternals is a must-watch for any lover of the MCU or adventure and action in general. This is a movie that you have to watch to understand and one would definitely miss out on future happenings in the MCU, and a truly well-made film, if they do not see it. Don’t forget to stay for the post-credit scenes for important teasers for future plots and a glimpse of a famous singer/actor as he makes his MCU debut.

Kate Menake ‘23