Eternals - Pretty Well Done Movie for the Unfamiliar Characters of Marvel Comics

I finally got the chance to see this movie with my wife yesterday after getting the seats which we preferred in one of the cinemas we have been eyeing. It was a big challenge to get the tickets since many people have bought them in advance, while we had to make sure we were able to get in the theaters before we could buy them. Anyway, I'll just get to it now.

Brief Story Line

A group of alien race called the Eternals have come to earth since 7000 years ago to kill the predator monsters called Deviants who were endangering the humans life. They were led by Ajak (Salma Hayek - The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, Drunk Parents etc) who was the wisest of them all. The rest were Sersi (Gemma Chan - Raya and the Last Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians etc), Ikaris (Richard Madden - The Bodyguard TV series etc), Sprite (Lia McHugh - American Woman TV series etc), Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani - Stuber, The Lego Ninjago Movie etc), Gilgamesh (Don Lee aka Ma Dong Seok - Ashfall, The Gangster, The Cop and the Devil etc), Thena (Angelina Jolie - Those Who Wish Me Dead, Kungfu Panda trilogy etc), Druig (Barry Keoghan - The Killing of a Sacred Deer etc), Makkari (Lauren Ridloff - season 9 of The Walking Dead TV series etc) and Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry - The Woman in the Window, Super Intelligence etc).

At present day, they were living separately and had their own life. Sersi was even having romantic relationship with Professor Dane Whtiman (Kit Harrington - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World etc). However, their peaceful life was disturbed when the Deviants suddenly started to appear after 500 years. Now the Eternals have to reunite and fight against them. 

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in another nice one from Marvel Studios.

End of Brief Story Line

Like probably most of Indonesian audience, my wife and I were totally unfamiliar with the Eternals. In fact if it were not for the popularity of the movies produced by Marvel studios in the past, there is possibility we might skip this and wait for it to be available on streaming services. But as this movie was part of Phase 4 of MCU, obviously we prefer to see it in theater if we got the chance. Which is why when the movie showed us the really good part almost instantly, we were immediately excited by it. And what we both loved was during the course of the movie, even if it has slower pace in the middle, there was almost always some action sequence inserted every once in a while. This made the movie did not feel boring to me and my wife.

The characters in this movie was really a lot and I could certainly understand if some members of the Eternals did not get large screen time like the rest of them. But if this is considered a flow, I say it is a minor one, considering it is a movie which had to fit in the whole story in a certain amount of time. Heck if you want everybody to each has his/her own share of complete story development, then it should have been made into a series. However, I myself was feeling fine with what was shown in this movie. The duration of 157 minutes (uncensored version that is), felt adequate to me because the story was told in a steady pace and not that difficult to understand.

I am actually surprised of the critics rather low opinion of this movie, as I thought their poor reviews were a bit harsh. I felt Chloé Zhao did a good job in making the film (after all she had prior experience in directing critically acclaimed movies like The Rider and winner of 93rd Academy Award for Best Actress, Picture & Director: Nomadland). I cannot compare with her other works since I had not seen those movies yet, but suffice to say, I thought this one is still very decent.

The cast were generally fantastic. And what I love was each of the Eternals had maybe one or at max 2 special powers. So they were quite balanced. My wife's favorite character was Gilgamesh while I did not really have a specific one. I liked Ikaris who had amazing power but I did not really like his character. If I had to say, in term of character, I think it would also be Gilgamesh as the powerful but very gentle big guy. Btw, despite it felt a bit serious, there were still some lighter moments in certain times where audience including us would laugh out loud. Another character who was fun to see would be Karun (Harish Patel) as he provided some comical moments. 

As a Marvel superhero movie, this one still has all its characteristics like good story telling, some humor but most importantly cool action sequence and amazing visual effects. The monstrous villains Deviants were worthy of becoming their opponents. But it would not be suspenseful if there was no major villain, and we also got that here which made the finale felt intense. There were some nice music in here as well. Oh and do not leave your seats too early because there was one mid end credit scene and a post end credit scene (which could be understood if you are hard core Marvel comics fans, otherwise just read on the internet to find out more).

Overall this is still a fun and enjoyable Marvel movie for me and my wife. We were entertained by the story, the characters chemistry and the action sequence, despite it might not be the totally spectacular kind or the light and full of humor like in most other Marvel Studios movies. Btw, be warned that there were scenes which were cut by Indonesian Censorship Body (LSF) related to the gay relationship of one of the characters and all kissing scenes. Even though it might not seem important, but it did reduce the pleasure of watching the complete film. So if you are fans of Marvel movies, obviously this one is a must to see as part of the phase 4. No need to worry about what critics might say. As long as you keep open mind like we did, I believe you would still enjoy this one. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out 5 stars