The Sunday Mail
Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
THE fact that the most memorable thing about “Eternals” is the film’s two post-credit scenes should pretty much hint on everything you need to know about Marvel’s lacklustre effort from last year.
The film has made a measly US$401 million on the box office.
It also had the unfortunate honour of acting as a precursor to the now record-breaking and critically acclaimed “Spiderman: No Way Home”.
Together with “Thor: The Dark World” (2013), “Eternals” also becomes one of the few blemishes in Marvel’s stellar record.
Back to the post-credit scenes.
I cannot say this enough, but spoiler alert!
The first scene features the three remaining Eternals — Thena (Angelina Jolie), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff) and Druig (Barry Keoghan) — as they seek out their counterparts on other worlds to reveal the truth of their origins.
More on that later.
Their discussion gets interrupted by a visit from two new characters, namely Pip the Troll (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt) and Eros (Harry Styles).
They offer their services in rescuing the other Eternals from the jaws of Arishem and provide the location of the sought-after characters.
The most shocking and memorable thing about this scene is that Harry Styles, of all people, is playing Eros.
Not only that, but he is also revealed to be the brother of Thanos and Prince of Titan.
The other scene sees Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington), introduced earlier in the film, take his first steps into becoming the Black Knight.
Mahershala Ali’s Blade also makes his Marvel debut during this scene, although we do not actually see him. We just hear Ali and, by extension, Blade’s voice.
Now, it would be a waste of time to dwell on the implications of these scenes as there are both small parts of a larger story.
All we can do is speculate at this time.
What we know for sure is that both Blade and Whitman will be coming back.
At the moment, we do not know yet if the Eternals will get a sequel.
Also, we do not even know for sure whether or not any of the other characters will return again either via an “Eternals” sequel or in any of the upcoming Disney Plus shows.
Still, the shock and awe of Styles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the long-awaited Marvel debut of “Blade” are the only things that make this film bearable.
The rest of it is a 156-minute snooze fest.
The action is not really what we have come to expect from Marvel.
Besides, it appears not to connect with the current Marvel Phase Four narrative.
It is like the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie in that it exists in its own pocket of the MCU, only without any of the charm and entertainment.
The film takes place soon after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” and we are introduced to an alien race known as Eternals that was sent to earth in 5000BC.
Their mission was to eradicate monsters known as Deviants and protect humankind from extinction.
They achieve their task roughly in 1521 but decide to stay and live amongst humans, banned from interfering in any of their wars.
The ban comes from their creator, a celestial known as Arishem.
Their past comes back to haunt them in the present day when a deviant, freshly unfrozen in the Arctic Circle, starts attacking and killing them.
The cluster — originally comprised of ten immortals who possess varying superpowers — decide to regroup and investigate these attacks.
It is only then that secrets, betrayals and lies are discovered. While the story itself is part of the Marvel canon, I do have huge reservations about its place in the current narrative.
I will only revisit this opinion if Arishem is later revealed to be Marvel Phase Four’s big bad or something. The film is found wanting in so many areas, chief amongst them being character development.
Writers Ryan and Kaz Firpo do not really give us any characters to care about.
This is despite the fact that Marvel managed to assemble a well-rounded and very talented cast.
Gemma Chan’s Sersi lacks depth and personality, while Ikaris (Richard Madden) is depicted as nothing more than a one-note Superman imitation.
The two are painted as the main characters of the film. However, their love story comes off as forced.
Salma Hayek’s Ajak, presumably the leader of the team, is totally wasted in the movie.
Her appearances in the film’s trailers pretty much sum up her screen time in the movie.
A mute Ridloff’s Makkari and Don Lee’s Gilgamesh, who is depicted as the strong silent protector, are the few likeable characters. But, off the ten Eternals and the entire movie cast, the one character and performance that hits the mark is Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo.
An Eternal who can project cosmic energy projectiles from his hands, Kingo becomes a popular Bollywood film star to blend in on Earth, and, with it, develops a very huge ego.
The actor’s comedic background allows him to bring a lot of charm and likeability to this role.
Harish Patel’s Karun also does well.
