Eternals

[BLUEVOODU]

Eternals hits Disney+ 1/12/2022... but did anyone see it in the theatre?  We did not. 

If you did, did you like it?  Anyone else that DID NOT see it, are you looking forward to the movie?

[CreepinDeth]

I saw this back in early December in the theaters. Literally just myself and my wife with 4 girls a couple rows in front of us. No one else. It was quite nice.

I'll withhold my review until after more people here watch it.

[retro junkie]

I finally sat down and watched this movie. A part of my dissatisfaction in the movie is that the Eternals are a hard sell, at least to me. Even though I grew up a MARVEL fan with my head in their comics. The Eternals is just that part of the MARVEL universe that are just unfamiliar to me, and I am a Jack Kirby fan. It could be that I left comics behind when I entered the workforce in 1973. It is possible that I stopped reading comics a couple of years before. The Eternals appeared in the comics about 1976, so I missed them, I was into girls at that point, married in 1977.
When it comes to Captain America, Black Widow, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Dr Strange, Spiderman, etc, those are characters that i grew up with. I knew who they were, nostalgic, familiar, childhood buddies, I was ready to see my heroes on the big screen. I knew who they were, icons of American youth culture of yesterday.
Enter the Eternals and there is no connection, no emotion, I don't know who these people are, can't get their names straight. And the movie, I feel, did not help me much in that aspect. And I am not sure what they could have done different. The movie was one of "those movies" in which you have to watch the full movie before you form your opinion. And thinking back over this whole montage it is a big dislike and a big like, for me, sort of mixed feelings I guess. I like it and I don't like it.

[targetrasp]

@retro junkie - agreed, I started my Marvel fandom in the late 80s. I did go back and read / collect a lot of the 60s and 70s comics but it was from books that were popular in the 80s and 90s. I know more about the character that got introduced / teased in the end because of their appearance in the popular books of my time.

[CreepinDeth]

I thought it was alright. Nothing amazing, definitely flawed but I did like where they went with the lore and why they're there. Still better than Thor 2 and I'm not just saying that for the memes.

Event though it's a fairly long movie, it still had trouble fitting everything in. I thought the actors did well with what they had. I personally thought it would end up centering around Angelina Jolie due to being such a big name but I was pleasantly surprised she's not the lead.

I did like that it brings up a lot of moral/ethical questions in regards to how to go about maintaining peace. I felt there was a lot more of a deeper meaning to this movie once you get past the spectacle.

The mid-credit scene is really the meat of what's going to drive the next phases and probably make the Eternals more relevant to the MCU.

[retro junkie]

@CreepinDeth the movie did a good job of making me understand both sides of the ethical issue. I am not sure even now who was right and who was wrong. I keep leaning one way and then the other. Did the Eternals make the right choices? That caused me to debate in my mind the issues and the consequences of both actions. That was an unexpected element brought to a movie that made it appealing and thought provoking. 

[Grindspine]

This is the first MCU movie that I thought was outright boring. 

In a series format, they could have taken time introducing the characters, the antagonists, the motivations.  In the movie format, so many characters were introduced with no time to develop.  There was no real tie-in to the rest of the MCU short of the dinner conversation about the Avengers.  No real attachment to any of the characters was felt.  No real care about their fates developed.

I rarely tear down a movie like this, but for the length of the film, I got nothing out of it.  It was far beyond sub-par for the expectations the rest of the MCU has set.  As a standalone movie, it was little more than background action and random scenes that hinted at subtext without exploring any of the deeper themes.

A grade of C- would be gracious.

[BLUEVOODU]

While I thought it was ok... it really was a dc effort of a movie.  I'm not sure if that's the worst insult a Marvel movie could incur, but it's true.

I'm always happy for a new Marvel movie. Some parts of this one were cool.  It could've been done in a much better way.  Marvel, stay away from the DC path.

[BLUEVOODU]

While studying next week... I'm going to revisit this movie.  I feel that I have missed something... can this movie be a DC movie Marvel attempt?  Maybe it really is that meh...

Spoiler: ShowHide

I did find the scene where the mind controller Druig has everyone synchronously shooting their guns. That was somewhat funny.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I also thought the Celestial coming at the end was pretty cool... you could see him from outer space from Earth.   Also... what the heck is going to happen with the Celestial now sticking partly out of the Earth?!

[Grindspine]

But what was the celestial standing atop? 

[BLUEVOODU]

But what was the celestial standing atop? 

It was being birthed out of the "core of the Earth" is my understanding.  SO... it's somehow still imbedded partly in the core.  Otherwise, the Earth would have been Earth bits floating into space.

[Grindspine]

No no, the one in space.

[BLUEVOODU]

lol... it was free floating so-to-speak in the vacuum of space, no?  Or did I miss that it was actually standing on something?

[Grindspine]

It looked as though it was standing....  It certainly was not orbiting...  The only option would be gravity pulling it to Earth and vice-versa.  That thing was so big, it would have had its own gravitational field.

But, you know.. physics.. phhh...

[CreepinDeth]

But, you know.. physics.. phhh...

[BLUEVOODU]

@Grindspine  - I mean... how many other super heroes defy physics.  My guess on that would be like the Super Man can fly... or whatever... so can they.   I didn't look anything up or know the canon back story of the Celestials.  That's my guess though.

@CreepinDeth  lol... 

[Grindspine]

So, if the myth of Icarus was based on the Eternals character, how did the story of him flying into the sun come about before he actually flew into the sun?

Were primitive humans experts in things that had not yet happened?

[BLUEVOODU]

I'm not sure to #1... but maybe primitive humans were never really primitive. I mean.. that does make sense and that technological breakthroughs still happened.  IT could be humans always had intelligence (beyond cave people and how they're perceived)... and it's simply technological breakthroughs happened to progress humanity.

[BLUEVOODU]

Throwing this out there... it's been on my mind... Eternals is probably the most disappointing Marvel movie to date.


Thoughts?  post it up

[retro junkie]

It is one of those Marvel movies that I probably will never watch again. And that puts it in a basket. Unlike other movies that I tend to return to just to rewatch again like Black Widow.

[Grindspine]

I'm not sure to #1... but maybe primitive humans were never really primitive. I mean.. that does make sense and that technological breakthroughs still happened.  IT could be humans always had intelligence (beyond cave people and how they're perceived)... and it's simply technological breakthroughs happened to progress humanity.

Yet they still did not make myths out of future events.... (some guy flying into the sun.. not even a spoiler since his name was Icarus.)

[Grindspine]

Throwing this out there... it's been on my mind... Eternals is probably the most disappointing Marvel movie to date.


Thoughts?  post it up

Yes.  Yes it was.

[Grindspine]

It is one of those Marvel movies that I probably will never watch again. And that puts it in a basket. Unlike other movies that I tend to return to just to rewatch again like Black Widow.

It puts the lotion on the skin...

I feel like we all got hosed for watching that travesty.

[CreepinDeth]

For me, I wouldn't call this the most disappointing. I still think the first Captain America, Iron Man 2 and Thor 2 are harder to watch for me. I would say it's on par with Iron Man 3 in my opinion.

[Grindspine]

I mean, you are entitled to an opinion.

The movie just made no logical sense. The character development... well, there was no character development...

[CreepinDeth]

well, there was no character development...

There was, it was just very minimal. The most character development was between Thena and Gilgamesh. Their relationship seemed realistic and I found myself rooting for them. Sprite had some character development as well. Having an adult be in a kid's body played a psychological role on her. Granted it was a little shallow since they couldn't explore deeper but I felt it fit the character. I also thought it was fairly interesting to see Kingo just straight up leave and not come back for the big battle. I was fully expecting him to return and assist but it just didn't happen. If there was a movie to do it in, this was the one. I don't think that type of scenario would work anywhere, or with anyone, else.

I mean, Iron Man 2 barely had any character development as well. It was just there to introduce Black Widow, who ended up being a character that didn't really develop until CA:Winter Soldier. Not to mention the villain sucked and didn't really make me care about Iron Man like the first one did.. Thor 2, well, it introduced an infinity stone... yay. The original Captain America probably has the most character development but I found it to be just as bland as Eternals. I take it back, Eternals is only slightly better than IM2 and Thor 2.

The conflicts regarding morality were decent enough and although wasn't executed well, made me think beyond the movie. More than the other movies I listed, which to me is a good thing.

This movie totally should've been a Disney+ series, though.

[retro junkie]

@CreepinDeth i agree it would have probably worked better as a Disney+ series.

[BLUEVOODU]

I See what you're saying @CreepinDeth .  I thought Iron Man 2 was a bit bland... Thor 2 as well... even though I liked Thor 2 better on subsequent views.   I really liked Captain America 1, so I cannot say the same for that movie.  In fact, I had a hard time with Age of Ultron for the longest time. I just started liking that movie a lot more since I noticed a few pieces and how they tied it together with other movies in the future.

Eternals, I can see how you would rate that with Iron Man 2 and Thor 2.   Still... it's probably my least liked Marvel movie at this time.  I also agree, it should've been a D+ series... but they wouldn't have had a couple of the actresses (at least I don't think) if they did it that way.

[targetrasp]

Rotten Tomatoes has it ranked as the worst but it's at least as good as Thor 2, The Incredible Hulk (as played by Edward Norton), Iron Man 2, or Age of Ultron... also the bottom tiered Marvel moves!

It's frozen pizza, off brand vanilla icecream, elevator small talk, kenny g; there's no redeeming qualities but nothing I couldn't stand.

I probably would rewatch all of the above (maybe not thor) before i'd watch the Eternals again.

[CreepinDeth]

In fact, I had a hard time with Age of Ultron for the longest time. I just started liking that movie a lot more since I noticed a few pieces and how they tied it together with other movies in the future.

My prediction is that the movie will be similar to this. Probably not at the level of AoU overall but the fact that there is a giant stone celestial coming out of the ocean and the two post-credit scenes that are going to have a huge part in other movies. Those things simply can't be ignored. And of course, once the main villain of the MCU gets revealed, the Eternals themselves will have a part to play.