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Movie review: Zhao’s touch
resonates in Marvel’s ‘Eternals’
By Katie Walsh
Tribune News Service
F
rom its inception, “Eternals”
was bound to be the black
sheep of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. Introducing a whole new
gaggle of cosmic superheroes to
the big screen is Oscar-winning
director Chloe Zhao, who has been
acclaimed for her lo-fi , almost
documentary-style dramas like
“The Rider” and “Nomadland.” How
she might adapt her approach to
the fantastical (and factory-like)
bombast of the MCU has puzzled
fans and speculators, and indeed,
“Eternals” is a strange fi lm, both
within context and on its own. But
in the lookalike, soundalike and cor-
porately synergistic MCU, perhaps
that’s not such a bad thing. “Weird”
means it’s at least interesting, and
perhaps worth all the fervent online
discourse it has generated.
The problem with most early
discourse is that it often elides the
fi lm itself, participants endlessly
batting around well-chewed nug-
gets pulled from early trailers and
reviews devoid of context, so let’s
get into what “Eternals” actually is.
“Eternals” is a dense, heavy
fantasy text that asks the audience
to suspend their irony addiction for
a couple of hours, which is perhaps
too tall an order. It opens with a
long scroll about the “Celestials”
(giant cosmic creatures), the
“Deviants” (bad monsters) and the
“Eternals” (sent to Earth by the
Celestials to defend humans from
Deviants). The crew of 10 human-
oid Eternals sent (presumably) from
a planet named Olympia include
the leader, Ajak (Salma Hayek),
weapons mistress Thena (Angelina
Jolie), laser eyes Ikaris (Richard
Madden), matter-changer Sersi
(Gemma Chan), engineering expert
Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), mind
controller Druig (Barry Keoghan),
super puncher Gilgamesh (Don
Lee), illusions caster Sprite (Lisa
McHugh), speedy Makkari (Lau-
ren Ridloff ) and fi nger guns Kingo
(Kumail Nanjiani).
Their mission results in a cool
7,000-year stay, during which they
must sit on their hands and not
interfere in any non-Deviant-related
business. The Eternals have to
stand helplessly by as humans
colonize, genocide and atomize
each other (yes, there is a brief
moment at Hiroshima in 1945 while
Phastos laments ever giving hu-
mans a plow). The ethical confl icts
between the group ultimately drive
them apart, and they carve out indi-
vidual existences for themselves.
“Eternals” is suff used with a
certain sense of (non-intentional)
surreality. Massive movie stars are
tasked with delivering reams of
goofy cosmic fantasy exposition
with a straight face. Hayek wears a
jaunty headdress; Henry is con-
stantly gesticulating as his hands
conjure spindly golden designs
in the air. Nanjiani and Jolie are
strangely muted. There are mo-
ments of humor and silliness that
peak through but the tone always
zips right back to earnestness.
The fundamental question at
hand for the Eternals is also what
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Sophie Mutevelian/Marvel Studios
Richard Madden, left, and Gemma Chan in the fi lm “Eternals.”
makes this a fundamentally Chloe
Zhao fi lm: Is a fl awed, and often
selfi sh, human race worth sav-
ing? This quandary is undertaken
by Sersi, who has been living in
London, working as a museum
scientist. When the Eternals fi nd
themselves in crisis, with Earth
and all of humanity in the balance,
Sersi has to weigh her mission as
an Eternal against her undeniable
fondness for humans, as well as
the happiness and fulfi llment she
herself might achieve with human
life. Her anguish is palpable.
Though the stakes in “Eternals”
are far more epic in scope, these
philosophical questions about
humanity are in step with the rest
of Zhao’s fi lmography. One can
almost imagine Fern from “Nomad-
land” as an Eternal herself, drifting
among the population but never
quite within it, trying to decide if life
among these people is worth the
eff ort required.
Some may argue that Zhao’s
voice has been subsumed into
the Marvel/Disney machine. But
the more interesting take is to
observe how she’s smuggled
her own perspective into this big
superhero movie (and it’s not just
the magic hour shots, though there
are plenty). As cosmic creatures
debate whether or not to save the
world, longing for the simpler days,
it becomes quite clear that “Eter-
nals” is a fi lm about climate grief,
and whether our little blue marble
in the great big universe is worth
fi ghting for.
Ultimately, with her human-scale
superheroes possessed of human-
scale emotions, Zhao makes the
argument that humanity, despite
all its fl aws and foibles, is worth
saving, so we should try and save
ourselves. Whether that’s a radical
message or merely lip service from
the corporate Disney machine, it
rings resonantly nevertheless.
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