December 15, 2021
You’re going into it with low expectations.
You walk into the theater and easily find your seat. As you settle in, popcorn in hand, you mentally prepare yourself for the worst Marvel movie you’ve ever watched.
And for some the Eternals might just be the worst Marvel movie they’ve ever watched. With a critics score of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Eternals is not just the newest addition to the Marvel universe, but also Marvel’s lowest rated movie to date. Yet, it has an audience score of 80%.
I went to see the Eternals two days after it came out in theaters and I actually enjoyed it. The Eternals was Marvel’s most diverse movie yet, the design and special effects were amazing, and it introduced a lot of things Marvel can use later on.
For instance one of the things introduced was the Ebony Blade, a sword that is seen in the second, and last, end credit scene. In the comic books the Ebony Blade puts a blood curse on anyone who touches it and is wielded by the Dark Knight who is typically portrayed as a villain. The movie alludes to character Dane Whitman becoming the Dark Knight or at least wielding the sword later on.
It also introduces a lot of characters beyond just the eternals. It introduces the celestials and Arishem the Judge, the celestial who made and commands the eternals, along with a character named Eros, also called Starfox, who is played by none other than Harry Styles and is Thanos’ younger brother in the comic books.
Unlike most marvel movies before it, the Eternals focuses more on character development rather than big action scenes. The pacing of the movie was more similar to Dune or a murder mystery movie with a lot of flashbacks. Because of this it was a little slow in the beginning and that’s one reason some people don’t like it. I agree that they probably could have cut some scenes but to be fair they did have to cover a long period of time and six different characters to introduce.
The movie also didn’t have characters from any of the other Marvel movies. It mentioned Thanos and the blip, but no one like the avengers directly appear in the movie. Meaning the Eternals don’t have any of the Marvel characters that we have come to love. This might contribute to the lower ratings the movie has received.
Another reason some people don’t like the movie is because despite the fact that it focuses on character development, some characters feel rather undeveloped. A lot of people found problems with the character Thena, who is portrayed by Angelina Jolie. And, honestly, I can see where they’re coming from. Thena’s character is supposed to be a character whose mind is supposedly fractured causing her to not function properly and have flashbacks. This does have an explanation in the movie but it doesn’t have a good resolution, it just kind of goes away. The main thing about Thena’s character is that her brain is broken and they don’t develop her much further than that.
Is the Eternals a perfect movie? No, but then again hardly any movie is. I think that the Eternals is a solid high mid-tier Marvel movie. There are a few things wrong with the movie and a few things that felt like they were left hanging, but it is hard to introduce a full cast of characters that have known each other individually for thousands of years. Overall I feel like Marvel did an okay job with the Eternals and I don’t think that it entirely deserves the bad critics reviews it’s getting.
Your donation will support the student journalists of James Bowie High School. Your contribution will help cover our annual website hosting costs. Any contributions made through this service are NOT tax deductible. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation OR to subscribe to our print edition, please contact us at [email protected].