Eternals 4K 2021

What do you expect from the Marvel movie, which is about a team of 10 immortal and perhaps the strongest inhabitants of the Earth? Captain Marvel is not considered, she flew off to hang out in other places. Many were waiting for a scale comparable to the Avengers, or at least the guards. Moreover, the Celestials lit up in the trailer. And it foreshadowed really large-scale events. And... All expectations are shattered.

It is important to understand that the director of the film is Chloe Zhao, an Oscar winner for Nomad Land. A drama director who has no other films in her portfolio. And this time she did not change herself. This film is a typical drama only in the setting of the Marvel world.

There is almost no action in this movie. There is virtually no antagonist in this film. The antagonists of the Eternals are the Eternals themselves, their internal conflicts. All who could act as antagonists were reduced to static. They're just furniture, like a table that was broken in a trailer. And this is what sets this film apart from others in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It consists of dialogues and introspection. The film runs for 2.5 hours and 95% of the time is dialogue and introspection. The problem is that they are boring and drawn out. I caught myself 5 times thinking that I was waiting for the next dialogue to end, because it did not catch on.

The film had a cool opportunity to go through the eras, show how the myths about the gods were born and what role the Eternals played in this. And the authors constantly interrupted modern time with flashbacks from past eras. But it was very fragmentary, fragmentary. My opinion is that this task was not completed. There is a wonderful example: Cloud Atlas. There are 6 stories and 6 different eras, everything is intertwined, it is interesting to watch it, there is the same drama, there are many characters, each era has its own! But everyone was exposed. No one was revealed here. The formation of mythology was shown very conditionally, saying that here it is.

The cast of the film is very interesting, there are stars of the first magnitude and rising stars. Women of all colors, men of all colors. And even a deaf-mute actress. Everyone is very tolerant. But the characters are not revealed, the actors, as for me, played a little 'wooden'. And you know, Lauren Ridloff, that same deaf-and-dumb woman, is the decoration of the film and a godsend. I liked her character, her game. It was really interesting to watch her. She's just smart.

But the internal conflicts of the characters are very typical and stereotyped. Duty or love. Unrequited love and how to live with it. Debt or something dear to you. Can an immortal love a mortal. Living with a dangerous illness or 'death'. Freedom of choice or ideal authoritarian world. Sacrifice billions or the fate of the universe.

Half of these conflicts will well be resolved. The authors did not have enough time for this. Well, simply, the conflict of the level 'They exploded the atomic bomb, I was disappointed in people', is resolved within one minute: 'I met my gay man, they deserve a second chance.' You live 7000 years! Seen thousands of battles and millions of deaths. If he is able to love, then this is hardly the first love in 7000 years. And the atomic bombing should not have been so shocking. Cardboard motivation. And again, the transition from one state to another in one minute. The internal drama is not disclosed, it is inserted only for show, that the character had his own anguish, and then think for yourself.

For example, there is a film Hancock, the idea is close, about the invulnerable and ever-living, about disappointed in people. And part of the conflict is inherent in him. There, they were able to reveal all this, here only a few and then for a C grade.

The film lacks action. But he is weak and like a drama. I was very worried about the leader of the Divergents, who avenged the genocide of his people. Waiting for the Eternals to admit their mistakes and he would play his part in the finale. But this line has been dropped. He is real furniture, and if he is cut from the film, then nothing will change.