Cosmic Marvel: “Eternals”

Chloé Zhao “Eternals” adaptation is a case study in what the MCU does to individualistic directors. This is not going to be a slam on either Marvel or Zhao, but it’s time to really evaluate the dynamics between the corporate vision and the individual auteur’s.

I’ll dip into this more as we go on, but I need to start off by saying that I completely disagree with Alex Dowd at the A.V. Club and his claim that Zhao’s work is just another boilerplate Marvel movie. Far from it; there is a tremendous amount of love in this film, there are actually moments when characters and the actors portraying them are actually given space to breathe, and I disagree strongly that it’s just as formulaically “quippy” as other films in the MCU. However, it’s just these strengths that point to the weaknesses in the film and while I personally don’t find them completely debilitating, those weaknesses are distracting and keep a film that could have been one of the best MCU offerings from being just really good.

I really don’t want to go into the plot, at all, but suffice it to say that this team of immortals were developed by the Celestials - an enigmatic race of civilization seeders - to ensure that the Deviants, a similarly seeded race of, well, monsters, are kept from harming humanity in its evolution. The Eternals seem to have a hand in our technological, military, and artistic development, while it’s also acknowledged that we came up with a few things on our own (such good kids are we.)

The names of our cast of characters are approximations of Greek and Roman myth names. Implicit in this is how the Eternals also informed the development of (at least) Mediterranean origins. A swift note here is that in Jack Kirby’s and subsequent authors’ telling, the Eternals were more far-flung, working with the Inca, the Aztecs, and one assumes other (all?) civilizations. I don’t want to go off on how the movie version differs from its source material except to point out some features I find interesting.

In both, there’s the question of why the Eternals stood by while horrible conflagrations, genocides, and Thanos, happened. Simple: they were told not to interfere in human conflicts - unless Deviants were involved - by the Celestials, principally Arishem. And yet, there they are throughout nurturing us. Additionally, Thanos wasn’t just a threat to humans; i.e., the Eternals themselves didn’t consider him a threat to their own well-being? The Celestials didn’t see Thanos as an issue that might compromise their world-seeding because, I suppose, his project was more about population control and reduction (still one of the worst and nonsensical ideas in cinema) and theirs is promulgation of intelligent life throughout the galaxies. Thus, while one is pruning, the other guys are planting.

However, this is what also makes the film interesting; it provides something of a critique on these types of plot points by directly raising the question. Zhao does more remarkable work throughout the film in introducing a gay couple where the introduction doesn’t feel forced or at the behest of a studio’s notes or as tokenism. Also, yes, there is actual romance and love-making (however brief) that makes you feel as though you are watching real adults doing what comes naturally. There is an astonishing tactile feel to the film throughout.

It’s not just that Zhao committed to filming in real locations, the cinematography by Ben Davis (go check out his credits; I’ll wait) feels as though it’s capturing real people (admittedly beautiful) with real emotions and conflicts. This is rare in the MCU, no matter how beloved we find the characters and while there are often strong performances in each movie, it’s rare to find one where the gravitas isn’t undercut by levity or special effects.

Well, almost. I found the battles soporific. I really, really did. More often than not, the fight scenes in the MCU (and for that matter, in most such epics) are weightless and difficult to take too seriously. They also take up far too much time and it is this that derails almost every narrative in the MCU. Not always, but most of the time.

The Deviants are essentially CGI cannon fodder here, that eventually begin to mutate. They are mostly presented as fascinating beasties with corded sinews and post-Giger biomorphism. They are canine and chiropteric, they have talons and teeth (sometimes multiple sets) and so on. They are, in their own way, really striking creations. This is a huge departure, by the way from Marvel Comics where the Deviants were the third race derived from the tree planted by the Celestials in a primate progenitor from which humans and Eternals also evolved. In any case, one Deviant, Kro, has evolved to be able to absorb the powers of any Eternal it can capture and hold. Eventually, he evolves language and comes to discovers a major betrayal.

And that brings us to another aspect of the film that Zhao handles so much better than most. There’s always a betrayal in there, somewhere. I won’t go into detail because spoilers, of course, but/and this is another departure from the comics lore that could have gone wrong. In the comics, the driver of the eventual confrontations between the Eternals stems from cross-purposes and a sense of shared survival. In the film, it comes to the fore as two factions where one is driven by loyalty to duty and the other by love of humanity. In this sense, Zhao and scriptwriters render the stakes more personal, more human. All too often in these things, said character turns feel ridiculously shoe-horned in to gin up more emotional responses and simply push us on to the next scene until the heel is found out or escapes for retribution in another film.

Having said that, the turns here are so well-done that when it does come to the usual third act fight, the seams start show again. There is no reason I can think of why this slug-fest dragged on as it did and added little to nothing about the characters that wasn’t already well-established. In some cases, those epic battles actually work to tell us more about and position the principles into new developments (think “Captain America: Civil War”, “The Avengers”, “Thor: Ragnorak”, and dare I say “Dr. Strange”). I genuinely don’t feel that way about the third act shenanigans here.

Get ready, though, there is another however. However, a key character really does internalize the results of his betrayal and takes it upon himself to atone as cosmically as anyone has done in a Marvel flick. And it’s touches like this that elevate the narrative yet again.

The film is replete with “touches” from some of the most gorgeous cinematography in a Marvel film to an ensemble of performances on par with the best of the MCU. And yet, and yet. There’s the clunky, expository dialog. There’s the rush to get from character beat to action beat that almost cancels out the very human drama seen before fists fly and eyes start shooting laser beams.

The Eternals themselves may be the most fully formed group since the X-Men twenty years ago. Similarly, this cast is as adept with dialog that goes from relatively genuine to arch in the extreme; adept enough that you don’t notice it right away, but you do catch it as the scene unfolds.

I could froth over each member of the cast. Gemma Chan pretty much walks away with every film she’s in because she’s so attentive, so still; this is also a different take on the original material where Sersi is the ultimate party thrower/entertainer. Here, she’s a museum curator dating ~~Jon Snow~~ Kit Harrington, a normal human being after being ghosted by Snow Harrington’s fellow Game of Thrones alumnus, ~~Robb Stark~~ Richard Madden aka Ikaris some 500 years earlier. Additionally, Chan/Sersi radiates a genuine sense of compassion that deeply informs much of the film’s characters, even when they stray very far from it.

Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos is similarly genuinely kindhearted and a pacifist. After having his heart broken by humanity’s continued development of increasingly deadly weapons culminating in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he does find love with his husband and son and retires from conflict (of course, only to be recruited back in when he realizes that the Eternals will need to halt “the Emergence” that will surely spell the end of the Earth.

Barry Keoghan also turns in a fine performance as Kruig, a mind-manipulator. He’s as understated as Chan and if he doesn’t have as much screen time, the time he does have is well-spent.

Much has been made of Kumail Nanjiani’s turn as Kingo and it is a charming turn. While it seems that Zhao let Nanjiani write his own jokes for Kingo, his dialog never devolves into coy or cute or worse, mugging. Sure, Kingo is full of himself, having found his voice in theater in film in India (and has gotten around the never-aging detail by playing over the decades, his great-grandfather on down to himself in the current age; this is far funnier than I’m making it), but there’s no grandstanding and he knows when to tamp down the wit.

Harish Patel as Kingo’s valet Karun is always a joy for these eyes, though I’m still not sure what the point was of having him tag along so far into the film. It might be more of a nod to the source material where the human lovers of Ikaris and Sersi found themselves dragged along, but while I enjoyed Karun’s presence, I don’t know that he added much to the film. It’s this kind of padding that also adds an element of drag to some of the MCU movies. The extraneous character is often more distracting, but here, even as a stand-in for - what, the audience? Humanity? - it may not derail the movie but I question the necessity of such a character, no matter how well executed.

Salma Hayek (the Eternals’ leader Ajak) and Angelina Jolie as Thena are on hand to provide some star turns. Hayek is a naturally sympathetic presence in most films and here she brings a depth to what amounts, really, to a glorified cameo. She’s not in the film much, but when she is, her appearance lends greater weight to Gemma Chan’s Sersi as Ajak’s chosen replacement. Jolie, by contrast, is damn near a scene stealer without really meaning to be. Her Thena is a regal warrior subject to what appears to be fits of madness (but appearances can be deceiving). She, too, doesn’t have much to do but look regal and fight like an Amazon (she would have made a fine Diana Prince, nothing at all against Gal Gadot). And then, she is given moments - like each of the characters - to shine a little brighter and you remember why Jolie is still so well-regarded an actress.

Because Thena is sometimes beleaguered by demons, she is supported by Gilgamesh (oh, look! A Babylonian!) played by “Train to Busan”’s Ma Dong-seok (here credited as Don Lee). Gilgamesh is a caring giant of an Eternal with some kind of energy-enhanced fists. “American Woman”’s Lia McHugh is Sprite, an eternally (sorry, not sorry) young Eternal frustrated that she’ll never know what it is to mature, to grow, or to have the love of another the way the others do.

Rounding out the ensemble is Lauren Ridloff as Makkari (Mercury, in case you needed to know). Again, as with Chan, Hayek, Tyree Henry, and the others, Ridloff exudes a real sense of caring that is by no means simpering or weak. She’s super fast and does not speak. While some might read this as a phony stab at diversity, I have another take on it; Makkari speaks through the acts of a brilliant mind. She’s swift of foot and intelligence and one would not be wrong I think, of saying rich in heart and wisdom.

It all comes back to Sersi, though. I can’t dwell too much on Ikaris for fear of spoiling the movie, but his is a tragic arc and plays counterpart to the group’s desire to see humanity survive. The love they had for each other is palpable but I found Madden’s take on Ikaris slightly wooden. It might be that he assumed a kind of reserved approach to the character for reasons relating to his character’s arc, but compared to what everyone else was bringing, his Ikaris seemed a wee flat. Nevertheless, I didn’t find it derailing, though it did create a distance for me such that I wasn’t surprised by certain twists in the plot. Foreshadowing and all that.

My last comparison between film and comics is that Zhao, Burleigh, and the Firpo brothers made some fascinating and decisions in switching out genders for key characters and altering the relationship of the Eternals to both Deviants and humankind. The mission of the Celestials is not so benign nor their relationship to the Eternals (or for that matter, Deviants). The reduction of the Deviants to more animalistic forms and with the exception of Kro, the Deviant that can absorb another’s powers may have deprived the narrative of the group of a highly intriguing plot point. Perhaps something of the source material will find its way back in future installments.

Other tweaks, like Kingo’s change from Japanese samurai movie star to Bollywood star and Phastos as a gay Black man are inspired. Neither would work, though, without writing and performances strong enough to sell those characters.

I think it’s important to recognize, too, that the Eternals were wholly Jack Kirby’s brainchild (brainchildren?). Kirby drew his career down at both Marvel and DC with characters drawn against a vast cosmic canvas, a move that few appreciated at the time. The New Gods/Fourth World Series at DC would grow into other pre-existing characters’ story lines while at Marvel, the Eternals would result in some retconning and reconfiguring of the Marvel universe over decades.

That the MCU is entering Kirby’s cosmos is inevitable and as rough as I feel this particular film is, they can do it (look at the Guardians of the Galaxy, how the Avengers/Thanos tale played out and the weaving of the Skrulls and Kree in “Capt. Marvel”) and do it well. The difference is that now comes the big juggling act between the infinite expanse without and the Quantum Realm within the fabric of reality.

What “Eternals” drove home to me more than ever is that I’m not drawn to the MCU because of powers - however magical - or even tales of good guys versus bad guys, but by the characters, how well they’re written (or not) and played. It’s reductive of critics to say that Marvel is characterize by heroes who crack wise at every occasion. They don’t. Sure, Peter Parker is a chatterbox and for sure, almost everyone in the MCU has some moment of self-awareness that they’re dressed in a funny costume performing outrageous feats of strength or superhuman ability. But none of that would work if that was all they did.

Take the funniest Marvel movie, which for me is “Ant-Man”. I don’t know what Edgar Wright was going to do with the character, but Peyton Reed deserves credit for balancing the plight of a newly released con trying to re-enter society with the ludicrous surreality of growing super small to both comic and dramatic effect as needed. What we ended with was a sweet little movie about a dad who doesn’t want to miss his daughter growing up. If it was all shits and giggles, it wouldn’t be memorable or meaningful within the wider context of what these movies and the various phases of Feige’s vision hope to accomplish. At the very least, too, if “Ant-Man” was just a knee slapping farce, Lang’s participation in the Avengers would likely be totally dissonant, if not disastrous.

With this new phase of the MCU now under way, I think Marvel Studios is trying to take chances that more than likely will pay off, but they are going to have address the balance between the corporate machinery and the creative demands for being truthful to individual artistic visions. Chloé Zhao is a treasure. “Eternals” is a very good film that could have been great and as groundbreaking as “Black Panther.” It’s a promising direction and my hope is that Feige and his team are able to grant freer rein to artists like Zhao. If you’re going to hire independent voices, let them speak with that independence.

One last and very tangential note. The composer was Ramin Djawadi who composed the soundtrack for “Iron Man”. It’s a brilliant score, as full of diversity as the cast, and I can’t help but wonder if his return is a nod to kicking off a new era for the MCU.