“The Eternals" is a 2021 comic book superhero movie directed by Chloe Zhao and starring Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, and Ma Tong Seok. "However, during this period, the powerful Eternals were also divided by internal strife until they encountered the threat of invasion by their ancient enemies, and they had to unite to protect the safety of the Earth.
The Eternals" story background world view
The Eternals" is quite different from the opening scene alone, as an "origin movie" with many characters unfamiliar to the audience, because the origin of the "Eternals" is quite complex, and compared to those we are familiar with the Marvel heroes, they have been on Earth for thousands of years, so the director very perversely chooses in a black screen, first to text the background of the birth of the Eternals and the film story outline to make a simple introduction.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the universe gods "sky gods" one of the "Arishem" created a new race called the "mutant race" to maintain the ecological stability of the balance of the planets, but the mutant race of savagery and uncontrolled, so that the mutant race, However, the savagery and uncontrolled nature of the mutants forced them to transform some humans into the "Eternals" to fight against them. Over the years, the Eternals have been convinced by their creator, Arishem, and have worked hard to fulfill his orders on each planet, until they came to Earth, a seemingly innocent mission that changed everything.
Eternals' member characters' superpowers
The story of "The Eternals" begins in Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C. In the face of a massive invasion of human villages by the "Mutants", the "Eternals" descend from the sky like saviors sent by God, watching the fierce battle between the two sides, the audience can immediately Find that each of them has their superpowers. Whether it's laser eyes, firing energy bombs, high-speed movement, confusing illusions, fast healing, immense strength, manipulating thoughts, creating weapons, or transforming the form of objects, all help the "Eternals" to win in battle.
Although on the surface, the "Eternals" ability set part and "Justice League" or "X-Man" repeat similar, but the "Eternals" the most important part of the film is their boss "Tenjin" given the task. They must wipe out all the remaining "mutants" on Earth and save the humans whose lives are at risk so that they can continue to grow steadily in the future and eventually build a huge civilization that can expand in this world.
The Eternals" timeline jump
The interesting thing about "The Eternals" is that the director had to complete the test of telling the story of thousands of years on Earth in a two-and-a-half-hour film. From Mesopotamia in 5000 B.C., Babylon in 575 B.C., the Shado Dynasty in 400 A.D., and the Mayan Kingdom in 1597 to the modern day we are in, not only does the director explain the background of each character and their emotional relationship with each other, but also the main plot of "The Eternals" movie is laid out in a narrative way that intertwines the past and the present.
Although 500 years ago, the Eternals finally succeeded in wiping out the "mutants" on Earth, at the same time in completing the mission, the team was also divided by disagreements and conflicts. Therefore, under the instructions of the leader Ajak, the ten of them have been scattered around the world, hidden in the human society, each living their own life of longing. Until one day after the "Avengers 4: The Final Battle" snap of the fingers, in London, disguised as a museum curator of Cersei was suddenly attacked by a "mutant race", the resurgence of old enemies also let the "Eternals" protagonists face a new challenge.
The crisis facing the Eternals
Since the "mutant" has the unprecedented ability of "self-healing", Sersi and Ikaris go to inform their leader Ajak, who lives in seclusion in South Dakota, only to find out that Ajak has been killed by the mutant, and it is self-healing ability This is where its ability to heal itself comes from. Faced with the bravery of the Eternals, who have not lost a single life in thousands of years, they decide to gather their members from all over the world to solve the crisis of the Eternals, which they cannot solve alone.
From the film studios of Mumbai, the desolate deserts of Australia, to the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, The Eternal Race is in the process of "collecting" the lost members, but also allows the film's storyline to be interspersed back and forth between modern times and the past, whether it is the love-hate relationship between each other, or the clash of opinions on a matter with different views, each character's different personality, according to what they have seen and heard out of the different ideological values, all in the case of them as the eternal race with the ability to live forever, living for thousands of years, to bring out the fundamental core of the "Eternal Race" the whole film.
Are The Eternals rated well?
Although ostensibly an entertainment-oriented superhero film, "The Eternals" focuses on the characters themselves and the stories they experience, rather than the cool battle scenes. The Eternals are trying to stop the re-emergence of the Mutants, but they accidentally learn that they have been sent to Earth to carry out their true mission. To carry out the real mission, "Eternal Race" are these characters' state of mind and the inner dilemma faced by the contradiction to make a fairly detailed description.
From their doubts about their mission because they could not stop the human race from killing each other even if they succeeded in destroying the mutant race, to the realization that the life they have nurtured on Earth for thousands of years is just a sacrifice for the newly born Celestial Gods as sustenance, the sense of betrayal that they have been brainwashed and are just a pawn designed to accomplish their mission, all these powerful and immortal "Eternal Race" characters have a sense of betrayal. The "gods" who can live forever instantly fall into the mortal world.
The humanity in God
For a long, the gods to find their existence of "humanity" are "Wonder Woman" and other DC film's patent, but this time the director not only openly eat Superman tofu, but also directly moved this concept to reinterpret. We can see these gods in the "Eternals" film, as well as a variety of different inner confusion and longing, these relatively rare perspectives in past comic book movies, not only make the "Eternals" become a rather special work, but also further deepen the "Avengers 4: The Endgame" finger on behalf of the meaning.
The theme of "The Eternals" plot
Why do those Avengers have to pay so much effort and sacrifice, do everything to save those annihilated by the exterminator half of the population? Is it not because they understand the pain of loss, and want to save those in the "Avengers 3: Infinity War" after the snap of a finger to lose the beloved, deep in the trauma of self-blame? And back to the "Eternals", these have extraordinary power but also the existence of human "God" body, the face of this ignored the Earth is doomed to destroy the crisis, they will choose not to intervene as in the past, quietly waiting for human growth and development in the process of miracles?
After living on Earth for thousands of years, facing the team members who fought together beside them, and all the humans in the world with whom they had encountered, the "Eternal Race" these "gods" can stand by and watch others die like this? You may say that even though this crisis, still can not stop the self-destruction of mankind, although we can see the existence of war in the world and people for the destruction of the natural environment, more is like the "Avengers" for the cherished ones to pay the kindness and love.
The Eternals" and "Blade Runner
Eternals" can not help but remind me of "Blade Runner", and "Blade Runner 2049" two science fiction films, in a way "mutants" is actually like learning that they have years and rebellious "bad bionic man", " The Eternals" are the "Blade Runner" created by humans to remove the bad bionic man from service, these characters are faced with the same problem, whether it is whether the memories in their brains are true, or the dialectic of self-identity and self-existence value, both in correspondence with each other, giving "Eternals" more meaning to explore. The Eternal Race has more meanings that can be explored.
It is as if the bionic human head is designed to have human-like emotions, and I like the way Eternals shows the uncertainty and multifaceted aspects of everything in the world through these gods. What do we exist for? Is the decision we make good or bad? There is no absolute or correct standard answer to these questions, even if you have to confront your peers like the Zack Snyder version of the Justice League to stop the out-of-control Superman, you can only keep trying to discover and explore in the process.
The meaning of the ending of The Eternals
On the surface, the natural law of destruction and birth seems to be irreversible, but are there other opportunities and possibilities behind the scenes? Just like the line: "When you love someone, you want to protect them." The Eternals" ending has a similar thematic meaning to "Weatherchild", because Sersi loves this land and cherishes the people living on it, so even if it will change the fate of other planets that are about to give birth to live, and must fight against the Sky Gods, who are far more powerful than themselves and even their creators, she is willing to stand up for the protection of the Earth regardless of the consequences, from this point of view The Eternals is truly a work of romanticism.
From Asian, Mexican, Indian, and other ethnic groups, to deaf people and gay couples, "Eternal Race" will have such a diverse and rich casting, in addition to wanting to get exposure to famous movie stars such as Ma Tong Seok, Salma Hayek, and Kumail Nanjiani, but also to bring out through this team the true appearance of the various ethnic groups that exist in the world, and thus reinforce the theme of "Eternal Race" that the whole movie hopes The theme of "Eternals" is that people can be united.
Reflections behind the Eternals movie
Just as "Watchmen" showed us that the two camps of the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, with Dr. Manhattan as their common enemy, went from the tense state of an imminent nuclear war to the decision to work together and cooperate, "Eternals" also tells us that in an era when people are always at odds with each other because of unresolved problems, it seems that we should also try to find a way to unite. It seems that we should also try to find a "common goal" that both sides want to achieve so that we can temporarily eliminate differences and live together in peace, and unity and create a better future.
Eternals Review Conclusion
On the whole, unlike "The Avengers" which brings together many of the familiar Avengers, "Eternals" is a film that introduces the audience to the origins of the first heroes, and the director not only portrays the character backgrounds and relationships as many as ten characters through deep and delicate emotions but also starts from the realization of the value of humanity when the Eternals are facing the end of their lives. The whole film starts with the Eternals discovering the value of humanity when they are facing the end of their lives, and also with a skillful plot arrangement, so that "Eternals" has an inner meaning that can trigger the audience's empathy.
Despite its 156-minute running time, "Eternals" strikes an excellent balance between content and entertainment, and it is both meaningful and opens up more possibilities for subsequent films with its end credits and description of the universe.
However, as a different comic book movie compared to the past, I can still understand the reason for the low overall rating of "Eternals", after all, the Avengers group of superheroes have been with us for more than a decade, suddenly a new group of people to tell a story with the original correlation is weak, a time to fully accept is also a certain degree of difficulty, after all, the sentiment also needs to be paved and grow. But whether you like it or not, whether the level of entertainment makes you feel worth the price of admission, at least the "Eternals" is a qualified stage opening work.
The Eternals" end credits egg
The Eternals" movie ends with 2 post-credits eggs, both with "The Avengers" and the previous Marvel movies appeared not much related to the characters, all in the content of the sequel will make fans quite excited.
