Chloe Zhao really held the film back. I’m wondering who allowed her to Direct and Write the screenplay for this. The film does have some beautiful shots, colors, and it has incredible acting, but Zhao put the dialogue and love story forefront, the action was secondary.
I wanna give a shout-out to all the actors, who give too performances, but mostly to Angelina Jolie. There is a scene where Don Lee’s character is murdered and her breakdown was moving. The sounds of her crying were so real and sad. I was moved. Also, Richard Madden killed this. He also has a scene toward the end where he breaks down in tears, and he is incredible, with a red face, looking like he was almost in pain, as tears ran down his cheeks. Lovely performances. Also, I think this is the best he ever looked. He looks STRIKING in the movie. And I’m one of the people on here always saying he’s not that attractive, but in this, he looked a 10.
Gemma Chan is beautiful! She is striking throughout the film, but she was not a captivating lead. She does fine, but she just isn’t an interesting actress. She’s bland. Everyone else was better than her in ever scene. She just blended in more than anything, while she is the lead.
Salma Hayek, like Jolie, elevates her scenes with her performance.
The film actually starts off great, with a quick pace that works. By the middle of the film, it slows down drastically, with a good 30-40 minutes of just speaking scenes and flashbacks showing the love story between Ikaris (Richard Madden) and Sersi (Gemma Chan), and they are broken up in modern day and she is dating human Dane (Kit Harrington).
We see that the Eternals are sent to earth to kill the Deviants, creatures who kill humans and wipe out the earth. They are led by Ajak (Salma Hayek) and are there to kill deviants only, they can not interfere with human interactions. They kill all the deviants but are made to stay on earth for 7000 years. After Sersi, Ikaris and Sprite are attacked by a Deviant in modern day (after having killed them all 7000 years prior) they go to find Ajak (Salma Hayek), and find her murdered. The power that makes Ajak the leader is now transferred to Sersi, who takes over as leader, despite being the “weakest” and most soft. After this, they decide to travel around to find the rest of the team. That is when things get slow, with tons of speaking and flashbacks. I personally don’t mind that, but I know many young people won’t like it. The biggest highlight during these scenes is Kumail Nanjiani, and his assistant, who are used for comic relief.
I will leave it at that, if you have any questions, ask.
It’s a good movie with some beautiful shots and cinematography, but too slow, the action scenes mostly tame, and the love story the center of everything.