The Eternals

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The consensus seems to be "OK, but flawed"

 

[Nick]

Reviewers seem conflicted in how to review a Chloe Zhao Marvel movie. Many are calling it the most interesting movie Marvel will ever make and still giving it a rotten score. I think Zhao is held to a higher standard because of Nomadland, and because of that, they are criticizing the film for not using her properly and asking why it was necessary for her to direct this movie. The Marvel formula held her back and i'm not quite sure reviewers know how to grapple with that other than to be disappointed in Zhao's follow up effort.

I'll wait to see it myself before making any judgements.

 

[quinnmac000]

Reviewers seem conflicted in how to review a Chloe Zhao Marvel movie. Many are calling it the most interesting movie Marvel will ever make and still giving it a rotten score. I think Zhao is held to a higher standard because of Nomadland, and because of that, they are criticizing the film for not using her properly and asking why it was necessary for her to direct this movie. The Marvel formula held her back and i'm not quite sure reviewers know how to grapple with that other than to be disappointed in Zhao's follow up effort.

I'll wait to see it myself before making any judgements.

I also think the hype was too much....her prior success made them go into super high expectations.

 

[Nick]

Just an update... the RT rating is down to 61%, daring to be the MCU's first ever "Rotten" movie critically. It's the lowest rated MCU movie so far - yes, even lower than Thor 2, which was previously the lowest at 66%.

I'm very intrigued by this movie still because many people that say they like it have very positive things to say about it and say it expands the MCU in a big way. The problem (aside from the villain) it seems from what I can read into is that it supposedly doesn't feel like an MCU movie. I'm very interested at what the audience scores on this movie will be.

 

[quinnmac000]

Just an update... the RT rating is down to 61%, daring to be the MCU's first ever "Rotten" movie critically. It's the lowest rated MCU movie so far - yes, even lower than Thor 2, which was previously the lowest at 66%.

I'm very intrigued by this movie still because many people that say they like it have very positive things to say about it and say it expands the MCU in a big way. The problem (aside from the villain) it seems from what I can read into is that it supposedly doesn't feel like an MCU movie. I'm very interested at what the audience scores on this movie will be.

The issue probably is this isn't a popcorn flick unlike other marvel films. Because its a thinker, its making people not enjoy it as much because Marvel films are the easiest films just to watch and turn your brain off and enjoy.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

It's now rotten at 59%. Oof.

 

[Nick]

It's now rotten at 59%. Oof.

When you think about it though, it’s very impressive that they are what, 27 or 28 MCU projects in and this is the first one to be critically rotten.

 

[HalfGlass]

When you think about it though, it’s very impressive that they are what, 27 or 28 MCU projects in and this is the first one to be critically rotten.

Yeah but never in a million years did I think Eternals would be rotten at 54% but Black Widow would be fresh at 79%. Thought it would be flipped at the very least.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

The issue probably is this isn't a popcorn flick unlike other marvel films. Because its a thinker, its making people not enjoy it as much because Marvel films are the easiest films just to watch and turn your brain off and enjoy.

If we were looking at audience scores, sure. But the critics reviewing this movie are the same that review your more high-brow “thinker” movies as well…a good movie will get good scores no matter what the genre is which is why Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic exist. I think it probably is more “intellectual” than your average MCU movie, but not to the point that it’s actually good.

 

[Nick]

Yeah but never in a million years did I think Eternals would be rotten at 54% but Black Widow would be fresh at 79%. Thought it would be flipped at the very least.

Grace Randolph called it “screensaver: the movie” in that it’s just bland and nothing really happens for long portions… but not even in sort of a semi-entertaining way. I do think audiences will be kinder, but my over/under for Audience Score is 75% and I think I’d take the under.

The fact that one of the Producers has already come out and said a sequel isn’t necessary is concerning as well - but most movies don’t NEED a sequel. They are earned.

 

[quinnmac000]

‘Eternals’ Won’t Be Playing Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain & Oman

The anticipated robust overseas box office of Disney/Marvel’s Eternals, which posted a first day of $7.6M, will definitely not have Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in its future release plans. Eternals was originally scheduled to open in the region on Nov. 11. While official...

deadline.com

And still no China release....

In the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt Disney will release a version of the film will be released that removes all scenes of intimacy — be they heterosexual or homosexual. This is generally normal practice for these markets.

 

[HalfGlass]

Grace Randolph called it “screensaver: the movie” in that it’s just bland and nothing really happens for long portions… but not even in sort of a semi-entertaining way. I do think audiences will be kinder, but my over/under for Audience Score is 75% and I think I’d take the under.

The fact that one of the Producers has already come out and said a sequel isn’t necessary is concerning as well - but most movies don’t NEED a sequel. They are earned.

Yeah I thought the same thing. It’s like damage control before the fire.

 

[Nick]

Yeah I thought the same thing. It’s like damage control before the fire.

The thing is, why would you come out and say that before the movie? Audiences have gotten so used to characters getting multiple movies and seeing them over and over again. To just flat out say - before it's open to the public - that a sequel isn't needed seems like terrible advertising for your film.

I'll be seeing the movie tonight, hopefully I have more fun with it than the reviews suggest. However, if not, No Way Home is gonna have a lot of pressure as Phase 4 has been extremely mediocre so far. I think Eternals having these reviews also puts more pressure on Hawkeye, unfortunately. I think that should be good, but it's a street level show, so there probably won't be too many big action scenes.

 

[HalfGlass]

Easily my least favorite MCU movie. What a mess…this movie felt like Feige being drunk with power thinking anything he touches will work.

 

[Nick]

It's not all that good, but not bad either. Overly long (almost three hours!), yet too short to make me care about anything happening on screen since I had just met them five minutes ago in MCU time. Basically, the issues with something like Justice League/early DCEU are present here. No emotional attachment. Also very exposition heavy.

It's a different type of MCU movie and some people will like it. I do like that they took a different approach. I just wish the end result was better. This movie does have an epic feel to it, but to give an example of how it goes off the rails a bit, it looks as epic as Dune in a way, but feels like i'm watching Nomadland, except less actually seems to happen in this movie than in Nomadland at times. To make it as clear as possible, that is not a compliment.

 

[quinnmac000]

My friends saw it,

It's not all that good, but not bad either. Overly long (almost three hours!), yet too short to make me care about anything happening on screen since I had just met them five minutes ago in MCU time. Basically, the issues with something like Justice League/early DCEU are present here. No emotional attachment. Also very exposition heavy.

It's a different type of MCU movie and some people will like it. I do like that they took a different approach. I just wish the end result was better. This movie does have an epic feel to it, but to give an example of how it goes off the rails a bit, it looks as epic as Dune in a way, but feels like i'm watching Nomadland, except less actually seems to happen in this movie than in Nomadland at times. To make it as clear as possible, that is not a compliment.

Nomadland is not a fun watch at all.

Spoiler

I also think people and critics don't like realizing Thanos was right because the blip prevented the life energy for Tiamut to come and destroy earth...if it wasn't for the Eternals, the Avengers actually ended up dooming the planet.

 

[HalfGlass]

Spoiler

I also think people and critics don't like realizing Thanos was right because the blip prevented the life energy for Tiamut to come and destroy earth...if it wasn't for the Eternals, the Avengers actually ended up dooming the planet.

WOW! Did not think of that…

 

[Nick]

With the movie now in theaters, the critic rating has sunk even more with critics who didn't get to see it in advance now seeing it, with the score now down to 49%, which has it lower than Man of Steel now (56%) and is creeping up on Whedon's Justice League (40%).

Audiences and Critics seems to be split as audience score is at 86%, however that's opening day audience score. I think as time goes on and more of the general public sees this movie who aren't big marvel super fans, that number will go down to around 75%.

Non-spoiler, but i'll put in spoiler tag anyway:

Spoiler

Personally, i'm with critics on this as I just didn't think this was all that good of a movie. I didn't have fun watching it. It was bland as all hell. The cast was too big and I didn't really cared about moments that seemed like they should've been emotional. Instead of introducing all of them so quickly, I really think they should've started with just a few of the Eternals and made it so we could focus and get invested in some characters. That's a big problem with this movie is that there's so many characters, that there's not enough time (even at 2 hours and 40 minutes) to really become invested in any one character because we're constantly shifting so that they can give them all screen time.

I know they wanted this to be an epic (sort of like Dune), but it was just too much. Less would've been more imo. Not everyone had to have a side story. Sure, have the big moment that we've seen in the trailer where everyone is on screen, but then focus in on the main Eternals and in a sequel or something, you can give some of the other characters more time. I personally plan to watch this once on Disney+ again simply to understand it more and then never again. I honestly feel like this movie makes Thor: The Dark World seem not so bad.

Eternals | Rotten Tomatoes

Marvel Studios' Eternals features an exciting new team of Super Heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite...

www.rottentomatoes.com

 

[Brian G.]

Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it. Indifferent to it is the best description. Appreciate that it wasn’t a formulaic Marvel film but the first 2/3 of it was dull AF before we got to the final 45 minutes. I think if it was edited better and they trimmed down the fat, it could've been better.

Also, out of the 2 post-credit scenes.... the final one got my hype.

 

[Nick]

Opened about $13M under the low end of original projections from back in October before the wave of bad reviews