Reviews for Marvel’s Eternals are starting to appear online and it may be the most divisive film so far. The film currently holds a 73% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with reactions ranging all over the place. No critic seems to hate it. Most admire the sheer ambition of Marvel’s latest film. However, critics are also saying the ambition may be too much as a common critique of Eternals thus far is its massive amount of exposition as it sets up thousands of years of lore on a galactic proportion.
Many praise Chloe Zhao’s direction and the film’s visuals but say that the script causes the film to be somewhat dull. Steve Rose from The Guardian said, “It’s not exactly boring – there’s always something new to behold – but nor it is particularly exciting, and it lacks the breezy wit of Marvel’s best movies.”
Other reviews from critics also criticize Marvel’s Eternals for being overstuffed but appreciate the fact that it feels like something new within the MCU. Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy writes, “The scale of Eternals is unlike anything we’ve seen to date in the MCU, but it also ends up in a movie that just has too much on its plate.” A common thread is that Eternals is overstuffed and many critics are divided on how much that impacted the movie for them.
Some critics just flat out loved it with reviews that praise Zhao for bringing immense spectacle and a refreshing change of pace for phase 4 of the MCU. Neil Smith of Total Film writes, “Chloé Zhao gives the MCU just the kick in the pants it needs at this phase in its evolution.”
Critics are also praising the cast of Eternals which is star-studded and includes Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, and Lauren Ridloff. In their reviews, critics have various opinions on which cast members stand out but most say that the cast itself has great chemistry with one another throughout the film.
Rotten Tomatoes is going to have a tough time writing the critics’ consensus for Marvel’s Eternals as there doesn’t appear to be one. Some love it, some think it’s average, and some didn’t like it. At least it seems like no one flat-out hates it. It would be hard to believe that Zhao – who just won the Academy Award for Best Director for Nomadland – would direct a bad Marvel film and that seems to be the case.
Eternals opens exclusively in theaters on November 5.
