Theatrical Reviews

Studio:
Walt Disney Pictures & Marvel   

What’s It About?
A race of immortal beings who live on Earth and whose role is to protect humans, find out that there is more to their mission.   

Who’s In It?
Gemma Chan (Humans, Fantastic Beasts & Crazy Rich Asians)
Richard Madden (Game Of Thrones, Bodyguard & Rocketman)  

Other notables include:
Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted, Changeling & Maleficent)
Salma Hayek (Frida, Tale Of Tales & The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard)   

Director: Chloe Zhao (Songs My Brother Taught Me, The Rider & Nomadland)   

Audiences Expect:
Launching a new superhero franchise with titans Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek topping the bill, with talented filmmaker Chloe Zhao in the director’s chair should surely make everyone sit up and take notice. Alas, there is not much more to get the pulses racing in this pedestrian affair.
There are indeed a range of superheroes in Eternals with diverse backgrounds including the first openly gay superhero in the form of Brian Tyree Henry, and the first deaf superhero with Lauren Ridloff. Aside from that and the two powerhouse women, the film is actually helmed by Gemma Chan and Richard Madden. There is also additional support from Barry Keoghan, Ma Dong-seok, Lia McHugh, Kumail Nanjiani and Kit Harington, but in truth there are too many actors and not enough story to go around. 
The story essentially revolves around this group of superheroes, or Eternals, whose mission in life is to live among us and protect the human race. Each, naturally, has a different set of superpowers and some are prone to rushes of blood to the head, while others like Chan and Jolie are slightly more sensitive, while Nanjiani is mainly the comedy outlet. There’s nothing inherently wrong with Eternals, but there is not too much right with it either – certainly not enough to lift it out of the vast collection of superhero movies for repeat viewing.  

In A Nutshell:
The characters may be new and diverse, but there is little more of interest in this pedestrian superhero movie.   

Highlights:
Strong cast
Trying to do something a bit different within the Marvel universe

Lowpoints:
Limited screen time for all concerned and a pedestrian plot
Largely underwhelming