You never thought you would see it in the year 2021. For years, Marvel has had a hot streak with its films, which only get better and better with time. But like all good things, they must come to an end. And that hot streak has officially ended now that reviews for Marvel’s Eternals have begun rolling in.
As of this publishing, the critics’ score for Eternals on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 63 percent. That technically still makes it “fresh,” not “rotten,” according to the website. But as Entertainment Weekly points out, that score puts the film even lower than Thor: Dark World. That film stands at a score of 66 percent, and it’s long been the franchise’s example for what not to do in a Marvel movie.
Thor: Dark World was always criticized for, essentially, not being ambitious enough. Whereas this time, Eternals has been criticized for perhaps being too ambitious.
As we described in our review, Chloé Zhao’s film packs so many elements into a 2-and-a-half hour movie that there was just not enough time to let all of them breathe and brew. There are too many new characters and not enough to develop empathy for them. A weak antagonist means the stakes are too low and the proceedings too boring. The practical, beautiful, sweeping shots are just not enough to save a film that had both too much and too little substance.
Eternals could be a learning opportunity for Marvel
Perhaps Marvel can use this as an opportunity to learn and grow. The same goes for Zhao as well, who’s taking her first shot at a big-budget blockbuster film.
The last thing Marvel should be doing right now is rushing to react and completely changing their game plan overnight. And I think they have the coolness and calmness to be able to approach this with some distance and see for themselves how they can avoid these pitfalls in future projects.
Marvel still has so much in the pipeline, so I don’t think they’re ready to shift things around because one movie didn’t get a spectacular response. And with a diverse range of filmmakers working on those projects, I don’t think they’re quite morally bankrupt just yet either. They’re probably using this time at the top to be experimental and see what works and what doesn’t.
Plus, we’re still waiting to see the audience scores that will be rolling in once the film releases on November 5. With this film, I’m not so sure there will be a wide gap between the critics’ scores and the audience’s. But we’ll see how things shake after the film hits theaters on November 5.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels