‘Eternals’ has a lot of firsts but way too much else
You can tell “Eternals” is going to be epic right from the opening crawl line: “In the beginning...” That’s right, the film actually swipes language from the Book of Genesis. The Marvel Cinematic Universe just got biblical.
The reach sort of fits, in a way: “Eternals”
isn’t just another origin story for a clutch of new superheroes but the creation myth for the entire Marvel universe itself. The film spans from 5,000 B.C. to present day and describes god-like, gigantic beings shaping the galaxies. One almost longs for the good old days when a Marvel movie’s biggest drama was hoping Spider-Man could stop Doctor Octopus from wrecking New York.
It all starts simply enough. Directed by Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao, “Eternals” introduces 10 members of a race of immortal beings who have spent 7,000 years on Earth defending it from rivals known as Deviants, who look a lot like the beasts from “Aliens” on steroids.
The film jumps back and forward in time to key moments in human history — Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C., Babylon in 575, Tenochtitlan in 1521 and Nagasaki in 1945, among them. The Eternals watch warily from the sidelines as violence reigns, forbidden to interfere, helped along with a soundtrack of clever songs that includes Pink Floyd’s “Time” and Foreigner’s “Feels
Like the First Time.”
Marvel has reached deep into its archives for this film — the 26th film in the universe, after all — but has to be applauded for its inclusion. Four of the Eternals are white, three are Asian — one is the first Asian American woman protagonist — two are Black, and one is Latina. One is gay and one is deaf.
“Eternals” elevates all the Earth-based stuff into another dimension with the reintroduction of the Celestials, which first appeared in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” These are massive cosmic beings looking like giant toy robots that consider humans and Eternals mere playthings and have a hidden agenda.
The film never really finishes, merely setting up the next installment, as Marvel fans are used to by now.
“Eternals,” a Walt Disney Co. release that hits theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 for “fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality.” Running time: 157 minutes.