Eternals
A new gang of highly individual Marvel superheroes looks on as the future of the Earth is threatened.
Endless love: Richard Madden and Gemma Chan
Is human kind worth saving? With our planet teetering on the verge of extinction (cf. Cop26), the sins of our legacy do not stack up well: from the rape and pillage of the Vikings to Hiroshima and now the mercenary deforestation of our land. And after centuries of so-called civilisation, we are still declaring war on each other, closing our borders to immigrants and choking our oceans with plastic. Yet, viewed from space, our vulnerable home remains a miracle in the vast cosmos of endlessness. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” notes Sersi, an immortal looking on from the planet Olympia.
Having said all that, when was the last time a $200m Hollywood movie was directed by a Chinese woman? Long before Chloé Zhao won an Oscar for Nomadland, the Beijing-born filmmaker had completed shooting this eye-wateringly ambitious epic. A massive manifesto on the human condition, love, collaboration and our cultural legacy, Eternals takes an almighty bite of the Liberal apple. The Externals themselves represent an identity parade of diversity, made up of an Anglo-Chinese woman (the London-born Gemma Chan), a Scot (Richard Madden), a Pakistani stand-up comedian (Kumail Nanjiani), an androgynous 12-year-old (Lia McHugh), a gay black man (played by Brian Tyree Henry), a deaf woman (Lauren Ridloff), an Irishman (Barry Keoghan), a Latino (Salma Hayek), a South Korean (Don Lee) and an American woman with a habit of adopting children from developing nations (Angelina Jolie).
At times, it’s hard not to titter at the breadth of Chloé Zhao’s political agenda, while simultaneously applauding such inclusivity. It just seems all a bit much at once. When Ben Affleck played a blind superhero in Daredevil (2003), his performance was laughed off the screen – and he received a Razzie for worst actor. But times they are a ‘changing and Eternals ushers in a new breed of superhero – a varied, colourful bunch that, somewhat ironically, are defined by their humanity. The twenty-sixth chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film spans seven thousand years and dips in and out of key historical events, while borrowing liberally from the Greek myths for its characterisation. There’s something here for everybody. The Eternals themselves – lead by Salma Hayek’s noble Ajak (originally a male figure in the comics) – have always moved among the human race, yet, as the latter dabbled in genocide and despoiled their ecosystem, the Eternals were impelled to turn a blind eye, to refrain from interfering in “the infinite cycle of creation and destruction.” But things are coming to a crunch…
With a 156-minute running time to play with, Zhao has injected much humour into the material, poking fun at Sersi’s addiction to her mobile phone and Nanjiani’s vanity as a Bollywood star. Indeed, there is as much bickering amongst this celestial clan as there was in Natasha Romanoff's ragtag family in Black Widow, which only endears them to us all the more. Like many a film of such courage and conviction, Eternals is likely to divide opinion. To some, it will arrive like a profound punch in the solar plexus, an eye-opening call to hug a tree. To the more cynical it may seem like a woke spectacle too far, a hippy-trippy extravagance embellished with out-of-this-world special effects. Either way, Chloé Zhao has marshalled an engaging cast and has lent the series a new feminine sensibility. Many of the tableaux are truly awe-inspiring, from a confrontation with a demonic, sinewy monster (a Deviant) in Camden Lock to an invasion of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in the year 1521 AD. We are also treated to a Bollywood dance sequence (featuring Nanjiani) and a contemplative tête-à-tête between Ajak and Ikaris (Madden) in the wilds of South Dakota, where Zhao shot her first three films. As with so many of the starrier Marvel outings, there is a narrative congestion that prevents a true sense of visceral excitement, although the epic sweep and infinite variety provides more than enough bang for our buck.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Haaz Sleiman, Esai Daniel Cross, Lucia Efstathiou, Harry Styles, and the voices of Bill Skarsgård, Patton Oswalt and Mahershala Ali.
Dir Chloé Zhao, Pro Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, Screenplay Chloé Zhao, Chloé Zhao and Patrick Burleigh [sic], Ryan Firpo and Kaz Firpo, Ph Ben Davis, Pro Des Eve Stewart, Ed Craig Wood and Dylan Tichenor, Music Ramin Djawadi, Costumes Sammy Sheldon Differ.
Marvel Studios-Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK.
156 mins. USA/UK. 2021. Rel: 5 November 2020. Cert. 12A .
