I should note at the outset that I didn’t mean to see Eternals in the first place. I was looking for Dune, but whether it wasn’t in theaters yet, or wasn’t in that theater yet, or was out of theaters or that theater already, there wasn’t a Dune to be found. (In case you can’t tell, I don’t go to the movies that often – and anyway I was traveling and didn’t look things up in advance. And only decided where to stop about an hour before I did, too.)
Anyway, Eternals was about what I expected from comments I’d seen – a mediocre superhero film with certain themes included that were bound to excite the “queer” community. The film, just for context, accompanies a reboot of a perpetually short-run, multiply rebooted comics series. For this go-round, at least one character (Ajak) has been “updated” to female; another (Sprite) is strikingly androgynous (I believe supposed to be female here – unsure of the original); a third portrayed in a homosexual relationship (I forget the character’s name, and the thing is celebrated, if that’s the word, by appropriating the lovely Skeeter Davis number “The End of the World” – which misuse is a crime against nature).
All of which, of course, makes the film very much of part of its age (ours), but doesn’t necessarily compromise the art irretrievably. The Iliad, for instance, is not significantly marred by the fact that its action is spurred by a dispute over a couple of slave concubines (which status may be being polite); although it helps the Homeric case that the cause once explained is promptly forgotten for the majority of the epic, and The Iliad is in any case a tragedy.
Eternals probably would be more effective if it had more of the stylings of a tragedy. It certainly has the plot of one – at least nearly. Since we receive the information practically in the prologue, it’s not much of a spoiler to reveal that the “Eternals” are agents of a demigod, and that they end up rebelling. But it’s a superhero film, so they save the world in the process. And elements of the ending do make Eternals stand out for seriousness. The final action sequence is very well done; but perhaps more impressive, the reality of consequences is addressed here. Ikaris’s character arc concludes in devastating fashion, and there’s a hint of actual judgment to come in the sequel hook. Superhero films being what they are, it’s my best guess our heroes wangle their way out of that threat, but I don’t quite want to judge this film on that assumption.
The problem is that up to the ending the film does not live up to the emotional weight its plot suggests. The acting is largely by rote, and the lead actors are unfortunately the most wooden. The pacing and organization is interesting but unsatisfactory: individual scenes are done well – commendably un-rushed – but the movie as a whole feels incomplete like a scrapbook. The most egregious problem is that the character Druig – which I thought was the most compellingly acted – makes sense by himself but at least one scene must have been cut (and the film’s quite long even so) that explains acceptably how he ends up where he does at the end in relation to the team. There’s another character who is, I believe, supposed to be mute – for no explained reason and whose communication through sign language apparently never poses difficulties, where you’d think that would be an opportunity for exploration and/or a moral.
The events of the plot raise questions about – among other things – loyalty, technology, power, identity, and free will – but the mass of uncertainties doesn’t sit well with the fantastic trappings and direct resolutions of the film. (This is, incidentally, the same problem that cripples Jupiter Ascending and Guardians of the Galaxy 2.) I think many of the difficulties with the overall tone of the film could have been avoided by telling the story – granted the time-jumps over thousands of years – sequentially, rather than using flashbacks and making key plot points a surprise. “Ambitious but rubbish,” in the immortal words of Top Gear – although “rubbish” is certainly putting it too strongly and the ambition ought to be commended.
Romance of Victory 