First ETERNALS Reactions Tease Lavish Shots and Stellar Acting

They’ve arrived! The first critical reactions to Marvel’s upcoming film Eternals are making their way through cyberspace. The results? Some overwhelming praise for the latest MCU outing. Almost every critic had something effusively positive to say about the cinematography of Eternals. It sounds like fans can eagerly anticipate a beautiful film. They can look forward to a movie that offers an even more epic scale than before. The cast also received universal praise. Critics cheered the actors for the life they brought to their characters and their, let’s face it, sky-high hotness quotient.

Marvel Studios

But beautiful scenes and beautiful people are a movie-making must these days. Does all of this translate into a good story? Let’s see what the critics had to say. Before you read on, please note that a possibility of light spoilers exists. Tread carefully.

First up, our team certainly loved the film. Nerdist‘s Dan Casey shared that Eternals was ambitious, lavish, and unapologetic about its scope. The story may not appeal to everyone, but unique stories never do.

Our own Hector Navarro also noted that he felt this movie did the comics justice. And further that Eternals encouraged viewers to really consider the characters and their emotional journeys.

Rachel Heine agreed with Casey’s notion that the movie had a lot to say. She shared that perhaps it even had (just a smidge) too much to say. But Heine felt that once Eternals got going, it found its stride.

Heine also made this valid point.

Overall, a theme of “new” and “different” was evident among the critics’ Eternals reactions. There’s a distinct sentiment shared that the movie offers a novel direction for the MCU. That it’s laying the groundwork for a whole evolved segment of the universe. Chloé Zhao’s distinct style and unique perspective receive much of the credit.

But, for some, this fresh take wasn’t allowed to shine fully. While the scale felt epic and cosmic, the movie didn’t entirely run with the seeds it sowed. Though the movie wanted to take off, it seemed held back.

Speaking of fresh directions, the question of inclusivity and representation is always on our minds during big releases. Of course, Eternals did an incredible job in its hiring choices, both behind the scenes and on-screen. But something critics haven’t discussed too much in their reports is whether the film developed characters to match. Eternals draws mythological inspiration from cultures across the world. The film presents an incredible opportunity to respect, highlight, and celebrate various cultural traditions. Hopefully, within Eternals’ dense storytelling, more than one moment exists to highlight these foundational stories.

Something we did hear a little about was the LGBTQ+ representation in the film. One critic reports that the representation felt solid. Certainly an exciting piece of news. However, at the time of this writing, only one half of the queer couple in Eternals has an official character name. So we hope Eternals’ representation does indeed go further than Marvel’s previous attempts at LGBTQ+ representation. And that both characters exist as fleshed out and fully realized parts of the story.

One thing there was no question about was that Eternals visuals absolutely stunned. The movie felt grand on a universal scale.

However, though nearly everyone gives the movie its due in this arena, others thought the dazzle wasn’t enough to battle an uneven tone and expository missteps.

Overall, these two tweets seem to sum up the critical experience and reaction to Eternals. Everyone had a good time, at least on some level. However, some felt that good time was more surface-level, while others felt the film resonated like no other.

Does any of this mean it’s a “good” movie? Idk man. It looks great and the cast is fun and charming. It’s more artistic sensibilities are directly at odds with the MCU house style sometimes but when they go head to head, the artistic sensibilities win out more often than not

— The Haunted Mason (@rustypolished) October 19, 2021

Soon, everyone can draw their own conclusions. Eternals releases on November 5.