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'Eternals' (12A)



Director: Chloé Zhao 

Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Angelina Jolie

Where can I watch?: Eternals is in cinemas and available to stream on Disney+

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: When watching a Marvel film, you must suspend some level of disbelief to fully enjoy it. However, Eternals really does push the boat too far. I'm all for a bit of fantasy and a splash of sci-fi, but I found myself drawing the line at big red robot things floating around in space - and I'm not even going to try to explain (or remember!) everything else that was revealed during this strangely boring, yet rather beautiful, superhero experience.

Chloé Zhao, fresh from her Best Director win, helms the 26th film (yes, really) in the Marvel franchise, but she fails to make any sort of impact. At times, it feels as though we're veering towards something of a character study, but unfortunately all the characters are painfully shallow and one-dimensional, making the 'intimate' talky scenes quite torturous. When the action does come, it feels listless and unenergetic, as though it were filmed as an after thought. Similarly, the script, which Zhao co-wrote, is at times achingly woeful. Packed with clunky exposition, strained interactions and plenty of 'stating the obvious', it even misses the mark with the all-important Marvel quips. The 'twists' are also clearly signposted.

That said, Eternals in undoubtedly a visual treat. The iconography that accompanies the Celestials is beautifully realised and wonderfully ethereal, while the numerous landscape shots, harking back to Zhaoe's Nomadland, each look stunning, bringing a sense of worldiness to the film. The costumes, from Gemma Chan's emerald green outfit, to Angelina Jolie's pearlescent wardrobe, are similarly effective. It's just a shame that the beauty of the film is only skin deep...  

A Must-Watch?: It's definitely one of the poorer Marvel outings. Weighed down by a clunky script, an overly-long run time and too many characters, Eternals muddles along from formulaic set pieces to formulaic set piece in dry, uninspiring fashion. It does look good, though. 

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