Eternals (2021) β¦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-03-09 05:00:04 +0000 UTCHey hey hey! Up next in Phase 4... It was fun to see Robb Stark and Jon Snow together in an MCU film! π I knew they were both in the MCU at some point, just wasn't sure when or what (movie or TV). Now I want to re-watch Game of Thrones. π [Direct link here.]
I'm looking forward to your comments, please enjoy!
β¦ KL
Comments
I love the cast and the characters here, but find this movie towards the bottom of my favorites list for MCU. I think "whelmed" was an accurate description. Now, I think the issue is twofold. First the team has been on Earth for such a long time that there is a massive amount of backstory. And since this is their cinematic introduction, a lot of the runtime is spent on that backstory (backstory is good, but it is part of why the movie is so long). Second is the overall pacing being slow. I can appreciate a slow paced movie if it is made up for through an engaging story. This story unfortunately is not on that level. My hope is that next time, as the characters are now known to us, the story and progression can be more focused. This is only the third time I've watched Eternals (initial watch + two reactions) and last time I actually fell asleep about 2/3 through the movie.
Rune
2024-04-13 23:16:55 +0000 UTCSo this one gets some hate. It's not one of my favorites, but I don't think it's bad either. Gemma Chan is spectacular in the lead, and the rest of the cast is really damn good. For me, it was a story structure problem. I think the movie would've worked better if they just showed the eternals being the eternals in more-or-less chronological order, instead of jumping back and forth. It would've allowed the audience to get to know them, and care about them. Ah, well. Going to watch your reaction nevertheless.
Steve Mercier
2024-03-17 18:41:00 +0000 UTCI really love this movie, which obviously I am in the minority on. The concepts touched on and the storytelling, visuals, sound design and everything else in this movie is really great to me. The story is serviceable, not my favourite but the rest outshines that by so much in my opinion. I do agree that the scale of the threat feels a little bit ridiculous, but I can get over that. Either way, I can accept that people don't love this one but I do /shrug
BratPfanneTV
2024-03-16 21:59:14 +0000 UTCthough this wasn't my favorite movie in phase 4 its still pretty good
Ronix
2024-03-10 18:54:27 +0000 UTCFor me this is my 2nd view of this movie I enjoyed it both times, yes its long and yes theres a lot of characters and a whole long storyline which they could dragged out in mutliple movies but they didnt, which I was fine with cause I personally followed it just fine. Even though the explanation of how celestials worked and how everything was made was brief its truly all that was needed, and the movie truly only needed to focus on a few of the Eternals which it did to make the story a whole imo. Would knowing more about each character be nice sure but its not needed in this case. I want to say more about the MCU in general but since you not fully up to date I wont make my general statement about how I feel about the major issue Im seeing with MCU :(
Chris Elkins
2024-03-09 20:05:13 +0000 UTCThanks for watching with me! I can understand the tired feeling about people always comparing. I will, naturally, because I'm new. But I'm still super open-minded about everything I'm watching! Still excited to see what I think of it all.
kaiielle
2024-03-09 18:09:58 +0000 UTCNo, this is fine! Thanks for the reminders. βΊοΈ
kaiielle
2024-03-09 18:08:08 +0000 UTCI donβt remember if you mentioned it in the reaction, but we have heard about and seen the Celestials before the Guardians of the Galaxy films. We saw a giant armored Celestial in the story the Collector told about the infinity stones in the first film. Also, the location of Knowhere is said to be the head of a giant Celestial being. In Vol. 2 we meet Quillβs father, Ego (Kurt Russell) and he claims to be a being known as a Celestial. In Endgame Nebula says the soul stone is on Vormir at the very center of Celestial existence. I also donβt remember if you requested that we not tell you connections to the past films so you can discover them on upon a rewatch π€π€π€
CheshireKat528
2024-03-09 16:31:10 +0000 UTCGotta agree with everyone else and you when saying this movie was alot to take in and kinda confusing at times. I still loved the movie just for the fact of how much mythology was used in this. The deviants being what we would see as mythical creatures(for example: the griffin and the large bull in Babylon). The names of heros and gods being the main cast. Tiamat is in Babylonian mythology as well. Im a nerd for these types of movies! Sadly, this was where I left the Marval fan base. Grew tired of the constant comparisons with this phase and the earlier ones. Almost like if you enjoyed ANY movie from this phase, than you weren't a true "fan". It got old. Quick. Figured I'd wait a bit to make a marathon out of it. But with your reactions now catching up and me being the procrastinator that I am (π ), I have a reason to start again! As always, loved the reaction and see ya in the next one! Have an awesome weekend!
Israel
2024-03-09 16:26:37 +0000 UTCTo echo others in the comments and your immediate review. My first impression was just kinda meh, but yet I wanted to see more of the characters. I found that I like this one a little bit more every time I do a re-watch or even just watch an edited reaction. I really enjoyed Makari & Druigβs flirtatious relationship. I liked it even more when I found out from interviews that it wasnβt in the script. Apparently the chemistry on set between Lauren Ridloff (Markari) & Barry Keoghan (Druig) bleed over into their performances and the creative team behind the camera went with it. Likewise, I enjoyed the soft and gentle relationship between Thena & Gilgamesh. It would have been nice to see more of their interactions. I didnβt agree with killing Gil off so early. I would have much preferred that they killed off all the Deviants in the 2nd act, and left the final battle just between Ikaris, Sprite and the rest of the team. I liked that Kingo left prior the final fight, it seemed realistic that at least one of them might feel that way. Phastos and his family was a highlight for me as well. I loved the diversity and representation in this film. It is definitely a beautiful film, with a lot going for it, maybe a little too much at times. Like all the projects and new characters that have been introduced post Infinity Saga, I am looking forward to seeing more of these characters and this storyline in future projects and am excited to see where the credits scenes lead to. With a franchise as vast as the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, the main goal is to leave the viewer wanting more, and this movie definitely succeeds at that, at least for me.
CheshireKat528
2024-03-09 14:50:44 +0000 UTCYes, the more I sit on this film, the more I think a series would have been better and more digestible. 6 or 9 episodes to tell this story, give us more insight into these characters, and more time to care about them and build up to the threat. Would have helped with the whole jumping around time and locations thing too.. not doing that so fast.
kaiielle
2024-03-09 14:12:19 +0000 UTCAnother fantastic reaction KL! I wish i liked this one, beautiful visuals and an interesting idea, but it's one of the only MCU films where i really don't like any of the characters, they're all just so boring to me. And some of the plot just makes no sense. They say they only interfere when a celestial being born is at risk... But im pretty sure Thanos' plan directly delayed the birth by a loooong time, so that excuse really falls apart lol This is definitely a movie where it would have benefited being turned in to a tv show, tbh, it needed more
Rhys
2024-03-09 13:07:00 +0000 UTCA lot of people did not like this movie when it first came out. Stacked cast so people did have a lot of expectations and the movie is a lot to take in for a 1st or even 2nd watch. I didnt really fully get it the first or 2nd time. People I have talked to about this movie have said this should have been a series rather than a movie and I tend to agree. Its just a whole lot of information and new characters thrown our way and I def think this would've been more liked if it was a series rather than a movie and especially with the MCU leaning towards Disney+ shows in this Phase of the MCU, it just would've made more sense there. You mentioned this in the watchalong that this really didn't feel like another MCU movie and to a lot of people that was a bad thing. For some it was actually a good thing. There wasn't any connection to the larger MCU story (not right now at least) and there are just some brief mentions about Thanos and the snap but apart from that, you wouldn't really be able to tell this is an MCU film. For the good, this was a breath of fresh air in terms of just the story. They didnt shy away from telling a story that was 7,000 years long and took place all over the planet. Now the execution on telling that story could have been better but im glad they actually went ahead with it. Runtime of the movie felt like it was another Avengers movie (like u mentioned) but they had to do that for the intro of new characters and all the lore and that was a big part of why people did not like it. For a first movie, its just too long and the stakes are really high on this for a group of characters we're watching for the first time and still learning more about. Overall, this is def lower in my list of fav MCU movies but it grew on me as time went by. There probably will be an Eternals 2 so im looking forward to where the story goes.
Waamiq Ali
2024-03-09 09:54:52 +0000 UTCAgree with most of these but I don't think the MCU connection is extremely lacking. It touches pretty much what it needed to about the MCU (their absence). Not quite sure what other connection would be appropriate here. Looking back to Phase 1 and even part of Phase 2, a lot of the movies are self-contained and connect with the larger MCU lore via mid/end credits. Phase 4 would likely be the same as while they are acknowledging things from the Infinity Saga, they are telling new over-arching stories and planting seeds for Phase 5 and 6. This phase has a lot of origin stories and new characters being introduced and it certainly suffers from that. At the end of the day Phase 3 (IW & EG) was great because of the necessary build-up done in Phases 1&2 even though there were some duds in there. I do agree that because of the number of projects in Phase 4, people are probably wanting to see some advancement/resolution for a lot of things sooner rather than later.
Isaac A
2024-03-09 09:50:57 +0000 UTCThe worst MCU movie for meβ¦Iβm still gonna watch the reaction though
HugoBoss435
2024-03-09 09:09:12 +0000 UTCGreat reaction! I agree with all your immediate comments during the credits. "Underwhelmed" and "It's a lot" certainly were the case for me too. I'm looking forward to your thoughts after the edit! π -=- I've grown to like this movie for what it does well, and forgive its shortcomings. But certainly, when I first saw it, my initial reaction was not great. And I wasn't the only one, it was not well received. This was the first MCU movie to receive a Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is also when it started to sink in for me (and a lot of people) that although the number of MCU projects was greatly increased, the amount of interconnectedness seemed to have dropped to near-zero. I don't like that. -=- Things I really appreciate about this movie: - They swung for the fences and told an epic story. That's also one of its faults, but I think it's admirable they tried. It's a story across 7000 years and all around the globe. - They filmed a lot on location and did a lot in-camera, with natural light. Marvel Studios is a bit too CGI-heavy sometimes, but Chloe Zhao really advocated for filming on location and it shows! - I think the visual design of their powers (and technology) is really cool! As is the design of the Deviants. - The cast is huge and diverse and extremely talented. Both the known and lesser known names did a great job. - The score is really beautiful and unique. I listen to the OST sometimes while I work, I think it's lovely. -=- Where I think they missed the mark: - This movie is SO much better on rewatch, when you actually understand everyone's motivations and ideologies. It feels like a shortcoming in the script that it requires a rewatch to understand the core of the characters. - Starting the movie with a text-scroll lore-dump, and then 2/3rds into the movie learning half that lore-dump turns out to be lies. I get that it is supposed to add intrigue, tension, and a "reveal". But it confused so many people that watched it first-time. I think if they had told the story more linearly, it would've helped make it easier to get emotionally connected to the characters. - Too many new characters to introduce in one movie It's just too much, they should've culled it down and had fewer characters so you can actually get to know them and care about them. - They went waaaay overboard with the scale of the threat and story We don't need every MCU movie to be an Avengers-level threat. The whole point is to have those be reserved for Avengers movies! - The MCU connection is extremely lacking They really failed to connect this one to the larger Marvel Universe. More a failure of the marketing than the movie perhaps, but the trailers and press releases really hyped up how this would affect the MCU. And then it's just completely its own thing, basically. π€·ββοΈ -=- All in all, I like this movie now, but I'd say it's probably an acquired taste, like very dark chocolate.
Onno Smits
2024-03-09 08:41:04 +0000 UTCWeird, for some reason the post was never published. Anyway, just did that!
kaiielle
2024-03-09 05:20:18 +0000 UTCThe link is dead for me? π
Onno Smits
2024-03-09 05:18:17 +0000 UTCWoohoo!!! This should be a fun one. π€πΌ
William
2024-03-09 05:12:10 +0000 UTC
