I was not expecting to walk into such a vivid imagining of my worst fear when I walked into Eternals. That is, however, the film I walked into. Angelina Jolie's Thena loses herself in her centuries and millennia worth of memories and begins to fight those around her several times in the film. That is my worst fear.
I have depersonalization/derealization disorder. The world doesn't feel real, sometimes. Other times, I lose my connection to emotions or lose track of time. Hours might pass before I realize what's happening; I've ended up miles from home or standing in oncoming traffic or at the edge of ravines. I never expected to see that part of myself in a Marvel movie.
It reminds me of seeing Finding Nemo for the first time. That film's title character was the first time I saw anything resembling cerebral palsy on screen. Eternals is not the first time I've seen depersonalization on screen, but seeing it in a big-budget epic was a shock.
Eternals is not half the film Finding Nemo is. It is clunky, talkative, dour and utterly disinterested in action sequences. It is also Marvel's most human and visually engrossing movie. It occupies the same place in my heart as the video game The Last of Us Part II, something that I will never forget, but also something that I can't say was great either.
Academy Award winner Chloe Zhao was always going to be an odd choice to direct a Marvel movie. Her previous films are contemplative meditations on people at the edges of American society that use non-professional actors in varying capacities and often use scripts lifted directly from those actors' lives. Films such as The Rider and Nomadland are a far cry from the structured productions of Marvel movies.
Eternals is at its best when it leans into Zhao's strengths and focuses on its characters. There are quite a few; at times, it feels like this is Marvel's attempt at Justice League, introducing several characters with zero buildup. While Eternals is a better film than Justice League, it suffers from many of the same issues. The movie's too long, some plot threads are under-developed, its midsection is rife with unnecessary flashbacks and exposition dumps, and some characters don't get the time they should.
Where Eternals differs from Justice League is in how it balances its tone. A film like this benefits from a steady hand at the wheel throughout its production. Eternals could have been overly cynical or depressing, but it offers just enough humor at just the right time to keep from slipping in that direction.
The key to that balance is Hiresh Patel. Patel, a veteran of Indian film and TV, plays the valet to Kumail Nanjiani's Kingo. Patel's Kuran is the main human character for a large chunk of the film and offers much humor with a quick quip and a reality check. He's also capable of providing great pathos, especially during his final scenes. The film is far worse without him.
On the other side, Richard Madden's Ikaris is left wanting. Madden's performance shows none of the determination his character is written to portray. There's no emotion in him, especially compared to the other cast members.
Several flashbacks and exposition dumps in the middle of the film were unnecessary. It's commendable that those flashbacks show what they do; one may even call it daring. However, so much of what is in those flashbacks would've been better left unsaid. The result would have been a better, tighter, more intelligent film.
Eternals is an admirable attempt by a great director. It does wonders for the diversity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is far from a misfire. It's also easy to see that it could have been so much better.
Final score: 7.3/10