Marvel Studios' Eternals: An Unclassed But Unmatched Triumph

Spanning thousands of years, Eternals gracefully fits a remarkable story into a comparatively short 2 hour 36 minute runtime; with all the uncompromising elegance on show. Pacing is gracious and forgiving as Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao (Zhào Tíng; 赵婷) turned a Bentley of a story into a soaring spaceship, but judging from how massively underrated Marvel's epic has been thus far, it's going to need some time for most people to see how good the showing actually is.

Coming off her Best Picture and Best Director victories from the 93rd Academy Awards for NOMADLAND, I believe she has placed herself firmly in the conversation for yet another double swoop of the same categories at the upcoming 94th Academy Awards - however unlikely it may be due to the clear bias against superhero films shown by the Academy over the years. Personally I felt Nomadland was slow, drawn-out and mostly wearisome but I can appreciate the talent Zhao possesses and the appeal of Nomadland. Despite my disfavour for her last film, I was very excited that she had been chosen to helm Eternals. I didn't feel for a moment that Marvel's next outing would be at risk of bearing similar unflattering qualities to the previous mentioned title, for one simple reason: Kevin Feige. Marvel Studios' are not known for their boring, hard-to-sit-through films and they have no intention of starting to be. Giving significant creative freedom to Zhao was brilliant foresight from the Marvel Studios president, showing faith and trust in her from the early stages and supplying her with the arsenal she needs to tackle this behemoth of an idea.

The Understated Chinese has managed to create a beautifully orchestrated landscape of sublime magnificence and unwavering dignity, as well as humblingly organic-looking visual effects throughout. From start to finish, every shot is masterfully crafted by the unique partnership of Zhao and regular Marvel cinematographer, Ben Davis (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, DOCTOR STRANGE, CAPTAIN MARVEL). Together, they transcend the question of composing a narrative-driven feature film of grounded ancient science-fiction and shameless modern superhero spectacles as the 10 immortals (Ajak, Sersi, Ikaris, Kingo, Sprite, Phastos, Makkari, Druig, Gilgamesh and Thena) fight in various points in time from 5000 BC to present day 2021. The scope of this film is nothing short of breathtaking. The magnitude of complexities involved with making a film like Eternals feel as effortless as it does, is a doubtless credit to the ingenuity of Chloé Zhao, as she successfully constructs a Marvel epic as understated as she is. Her mark is not only cemented in the visual representation of Eternals, but also in the theoretical side; Ryan and Kaz Firpo wrote Eternals but taking charge with the creative freedom bestowed upon her, Zhao rewrote the script herself with contribution from Peter Rabbit 2's co-writer Patrick Burleigh.

I would rank Eternals in the top 3 of the MCU catalogue, which is befitting to its influence over the future of the MCU. The story is complemented by the extraordinary hirings of the casting department at Marvel Studios - yet again, I am amazed at how perfectly they have vesselled MCU characters. From the genius recruitment of Kumail Nanijani to the icing on the cake that is Angelina Jolie. Everyone 'from, in between and to' hit the mark once, twice, thrice and more; they don't stop until the credits roll. It's like beating a drum in perfect sync with an album by a band you've never heard before. In particular, it was a pleasure watching Barry Keoghan, Richard Madden and Lauren Ridloff's introduction into the MCU. I have for a year or two given great credit to Marvel for bringing in actors I have never heard of to play important characters and showing why these more-or-less unknown actors and actresses deserve bigger, more or even their first opportunities in the world of film. This is unique to Marvel Studios as insular Hollywood in general fail at taking such risks.

A feature in this picture is the triumphant, gentle and invigorating music tailored superbly for the titanic ensemble and their faithful dedication to the thousand-year mission. German-born Emmy-winning composer Ramin Djawadi returns to the MCU after 14 years and captures the soul of the film and shines it back onto us for a perfectly intoxicating exploration through the ages lived out by civilisation of the past to the one that links the present, and whatever civilisation comes next.

Marvel Studios' Eternals is about a race of immortal aliens emerging from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their ancient counterparts, the Deviants, who were thought to be extinct 500 years prior. The ancient heroes have lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilisation. They have protected the planet and its humanity from Deviants but not from themselves, as they are restricted from intervening with natural evolution. Starring the English Gemma Chan as Sersi, the Scottish Richard Madden as Ikaris, the Pakistani Kumail Nanjiani (ڪُميل ننجياڻي) as Kingo, the Irish Barry Keoghan as Druig, the South Korean Ma Dong-seok (Lee Dong-seok; 이동석) as Gilgamesh, the Mexican Salma Hayek (Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez) and the Americans Brian Tyree Henry, Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff and Angelina Jolie as Phastos, Sprite, Makkari and Thena, with the support of the English Kit Harington as Dane Whitman and the Indian Harish Patel (हरीश पटेल) as Karun. A multicultural force to represent the Earth they are destined to live on and protect.