Eternals

Thanks to my having DISH Network and the FX channel, I finally saw Eternals. Of the post-Stan and Jack Marvel projects created by Jack Kirby, it's the one I know least about. I'm more of a New Gods person. Coming out during the height of the pandemic in 2021 and my god son not having very much interest in seeing it, I bided my time waiting for it to come out in an affordable format. 

Eternals isn't really a Marvel movie that you have to watch or else you risk losing your place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. If anything, it helps to explain how Earth has legends such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Icarus with his flying too close to the sun. Turns out it's all connected to the Eternals.

The Eternals are a group of powerful humanoid beings who are tasked by the mighty god-like Celestials to assist planets with their development. The Eternals have a monstrous counterpart called the Deviants that prey on humanity, preventing the natural evolution of things. Throughout the ages, the Eternals become the stuff of legend by the civilizations they save to the point of becoming the inspiration for the Greek gods as they claim to be from the planet 'Olympia'. 

Around the 1500s, the Eternals wipe out the last of the Deviants in Central America. With their mission seemingly complete, the Celestials haven't retrieved the Eternals back to Olympia yet. With nothing to do but wait, the group fractures into smaller cliques, assisting humanity until the the day they are called home. Now it's 2021 and when a pair of Eternals named Sersi and Sprite are attacked on the streets of London by a Deviant welding  encountered powers and abilities, they must reunite to end the Deviant menace once and forever if they ever want to return to Olympia.

Eternals is one of the lowest grossing and lowest rated of the Marvel live action films. One complaint I remember hearing was that it was a 'woke' movie. True, it's got a multi-ethnic cast that puts Sesame Street to shame. But I didn't feel like this was a movie that was preaching at me. I did however feel like it was a picture that was just way too long.

With a run time of over 2 and a half hours, it would be okay if it was action packed. But you've got 9 characters having to rediscover one another. Each time a new Eternal is introduced, you get an exciting introduction. And then you get about 20 minutes of each character lamenting how hard it is to be immortal. There is also a lot of melodrama with the Eternals struggling to accept the new reality they all face when it's revealed that the Celestials are not really whom they have seemed to be for millennia.

If you were to trim about a half hour of the repetitive speeches, you'd have yourself a fine little picture. I was excited to watch a Marvel movie that I knew very little backstory. I just wish it was a bit more faster paste. There's a lot of time jumps with flashback scenes lasting 15-20 minutes each. Plus not having any established Marvel characters involved makes for this movie to have a really odd pace to it.

But to finally see Jack Kirby get the solo credit he deserves for this film was long due in coming. Too bad there wasn't a tribute scene of a photo of him somewhere in the background. But at least, Stan Lee didn't steal the limelight from the King.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.