MCU's THE ETERNALS (11/6/20) 8 8

[Chaos_in_Canada]

ILM VFX

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 6:26 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I did laugh at 1 Eternals' power defeating a Celestial, though.

The Eternals didn't really "defeat" a Celestial per se.

What the Eternals did was use the Uni-Mind (which has its origins in the Jack Kirby Eternals' comics) to not only amplify, combine, and channel their powers into the Prime Eternal Sersi, but also unknowingly combine that power with the emerging (baby) Celestial's power to make that Uni-Mind power almost infinitely awesome, allowing Sersi to channel that infinite power and use it to transmutate the emerging baby Celestial into a stone statue.

By themselves, the Eternals wouldn't stand a chance against Arishem or any of the fully conscious "adult" Celestials.

Edited January 14, 2022 by @therealsilvermane

[I like pie]

On 1/14/2022 at 9:09 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

The Eternals didn't really "defeat" a Celestial per se.

One often misses the little details when only watching 5 minutes

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 6:26 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I didn't laugh at any of the jokes, that's for sure.

Kingo was hilarious. Gilgamesh and Phastos were funny at times. For instance, even though it was at poor Sprite's expense, I laughed at how the Eternals would poke fun at her size and apparent age, like when Gilgamesh says he made her drink non-alcoholic for kids.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 10:15 AM, I like pie said:

One often misses the little details when only watching 5 minutes

One great thing about Eternals being on Disney+ now is I can rewind the movie to go over parts in greater detail or watch it in parts, as I've had to do so far because of my schedule this week. Eternals is so full of detail and nuance that I see new things with subsequent viewings. This is one reason I love this movie so far. While I obviously love the rest of the MCU more or less, those films don't really go beyond the hero's immediate story. Eternals is not just about the heroes, it's about human history (both real and in a science fiction Arthur C Clarke sense), it's about what it means to be human, and it's about the little details. It's a very rich movie.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:44 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I told my parents that this is on Disney+, and my dad decided to watch it prior to my comments. He texted me within 5 minutes saying, "wow, this is bad". My dad enjoys pretty much anything. Less than 5 minutes in, and this is comically bad. Let's see if it gets any better...

The first six minutes of Eternals is the opening scene in Mesopatamia at the dawn of human civilization. It was a good action scene opener but I really liked how it introduced the idea that the Eternals have helped humans advance visualized by Sersi giving the boy a bronze knife, perhaps starting the Bronze Age. The edit cut to a present day Sersi viewing a museum ad for the same bronze knife was sort of poignant in that it shows the passage of time (to Pink Floyd's Time) in a 2001 Space Odyssey kind of way. It reminded me of Jack Kirby's own take on 2001 A Space Odyssey in his comic book adaptation of the film and the short lived 70's Marvel comic.

I do think the weakest part of the movie is the next 15 minutes which shows Sersi and Dane Whitman's relationship in modern day London. The storytelling here does seem a bit awkward and expositiony. While it does introduce us to the life the Eternals are living in modern times, specifically Sersi, it also seemed as if Chloe Zhao said, "let's just lay down a few story facts by having Sersi give a quick run down of the past few thousand years to her boyfriend so we can move the story along to the stuff I'm interested in." Dane Whitman's main purpose here seemed to be the ordinary human witness that many MCU films have. The film picks up for me when it goes back in time to Babylon at the 20 minute mark and we truly see how the Eternals relationship with humans and with each other has evolved. I could tell Zhao was really passionate about this stuff.

Again, I think the movie's early scene in modern day London (about 6 minutes in to about 20 minutes) was a narrative speed bump for the movie and perhaps contributed to some of the movie's negative reviews. I personally didn't mind it, but I did notice the slight awkwardness of the storytelling here.

[@therealsilvermane]

I liked how the Eternals' powers are revealed through the film, both in action scenes and in more subtle ways, like Sprite telling stories to a crowd of Babylonians.

This made me notice that there are two types of Eternals:

First, there are the warrior Eternals who do most of the fighting and directly defend humans against Deviants: Ikaris the superman, Kingo who uses blaster weapons like a gun wielder, Gilgamesh who possesses super strength, Makkari who has super speed, and Thena who wields cutting weapons like swords and spears.

Second, there are the intellectual Eternals whose powers help humans grow and evolve(or not): Ajak the healer, Sprite the creator of stories and illusions, Phastos the engineer who gave humans everything from the plow to the atomic bomb, Druig who can control minds, and Sersi the transmutator who can turn dust into water for crops.

[theCapraAegagrus]

How did the Eternal (it was literally 1) not defeat the Celestial, when preventing its emergence was the entire goal of Act III...? I suspect that someone forgot the whole "unimind" thing was broken up, and Sersei was operating alone during the conclusion.

It's equally as ridiculous as a bunch of nobodies defeating a Celestial in GotG Vol 2. The difference is that James Gunn's movie was funny. An awful plot and story, for sure, but there was certified entertainment value there.

Edited January 14, 2022 by theCapraAegagrus

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 12:43 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

How did the Eternal (it was literally 1) not defeat the Celestial, when preventing its emergence was the entire goal of Act III...? I suspect that someone forgot the whole "unimind" thing was broken up, and Sersei was operating alone during the conclusion.

It's equally as ridiculous as a bunch of nobodies defeating a Celestial in GotG Vol 2. The difference is that James Gunn's movie was funny. An awful plot and story, for sure, but there was certified entertainment value there.

As Sersi is attempting to transmutate Tiamut, the Uni-Mind is being channeled by her the entire time. Visually, it went into full effect after Ikaris (SPOILER) decides not to kill Sersi, because his love for her is too great, and he and the other Eternals start to levitate and glow like in the Dark Crystal. It's concluded by Sersi and Phastos afterwards on the beach that because the Eternals are a part of the Celestials, that the Uni-Mind drew on Tiamut's untapped power to combine with theirs, which is what put Sersi over the top and enabled her to completely transmutate Tiamut. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by @therealsilvermane

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 1:02 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

It's equally as ridiculous as a bunch of nobodies defeating a Celestial in GotG Vol 2. The difference is that James Gunn's movie was funny. An awful plot and story, for sure, but there was certified entertainment value there.

It needs to be retconned or whatever that Ego in GOTGv2 is not a Celestial. If they don't, then Celestial is a broad term in the MCU. Either way, Ego is not the same type of cosmic being that Arishem and Tiamut are.

[bentbryan]

Eternals was probably the MCU  movie that I cared least about and was definitely not going to the theater for.  Watched it today on Disney and it was better than I expected. Not great but certainly enjoyable and worth a watch on D+. 

[A.Romeo]

On 1/14/2022 at 11:18 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

I liked how the Eternals' powers are revealed through the film, both in action scenes and in more subtle ways, like Sprite telling stories to a crowd of Babylonians.

This made me notice that there are two types of Eternals:

First, there are the warrior Eternals who do most of the fighting and directly defend humans against Deviants: Ikaris the superman, Kingo who uses blaster weapons like a gun wielder, Gilgamesh who possesses super strength, Makkari who has super speed, and Thena who wields cutting weapons like swords and spears.

Second, there are the intellectual Eternals whose powers help humans grow and evolve(or not): Ajak the healer, Sprite the creator of stories and illusions, Phastos the engineer who gave humans everything from the plow to the atomic bomb, Druig who can control minds, and Sersi the transmutator who can turn dust into water for crops.

One of the takeaways I had was that they introduced these characters in a way, all with different powers, and many people don’t know about the eternals, but made it work in a short timeframe.  
 

DC movies can’t even do this with characters that everyone knows! It’s mind boggling.  

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 3:22 PM, bentbryan said:

Eternals was probably the MCU  movie that I cared least about and was definitely not going to the theater for.  Watched it today on Disney and it was better than I expected. Not great but certainly enjoyable and worth a watch on D+. 

I absolutely love Eternals. I particularly love it when comic book movies deal with higher themes. The last Marvel movie to do that well IMO was Ang Lee's Hulk, whose theme was the freedom from repression, as it's the theme of every Ang Lee movie. The higher theme of Eternals was humanity. The fact that this movie was more than just an ordinary super-hero comic book movie makes it one of my favorite comic book movies ever, warts and all.

[Bosco685]

On 1/14/2022 at 5:21 PM, A.Romeo said:

DC movies can’t even do this with characters that everyone knows! It’s mind boggling.  

Sure about that? I've heard rumors there have been more than a few that even have far exceeded Eternals 2.0x production budget results and won awards.

[Bosco685]

Interesting to see where Eternals landed on the Marvel box office list. At least with Black Widow it at least supposedly had another $120M in Premiere Access revenue.

And yet it was the 26th film in a massively long franchise. But let's throw up smokescreens throwing shade at other films and franchises.

[kav]

On 1/14/2022 at 2:24 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

I absolutely love Eternals. I particularly love it when comic book movies deal with higher themes. The last Marvel movie to do that well IMO was Ang Lee's Hulk, whose theme was the freedom from repression, as it's the theme of every Ang Lee movie. The higher theme of Eternals was humanity. The fact that this movie was more than just an ordinary super-hero comic book movie makes it one of my favorite comic book movies ever, warts and all.

"Humanity" is not a theme.  A movie theme is something like "You cannot get what you want until you become a good person" (groundhog day) or "Dont settle for what doesnt make you deliriously happy" (meet joe black).

[kav]

On 1/14/2022 at 2:48 PM, Bosco685 said:

let's throw up smokescreens throwing shade at other films and franchises.

let' not-

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 8:06 PM, kav said:

"Humanity" is not a theme.  A movie theme is something like "You cannot get what you want until you become a good person" (groundhog day) or "Dont settle for what doesnt make you deliriously happy" (meet joe black).

What you listed above are actually examples of "moral of the story." A theme can absolutely be "humanity." It can also be "the exuberance of youth" or "hate." The theme of Batman Begins is "fear." The theme of The Dark Knight is "chaos." 

If you'd like me to be more specific, I can do that. For me, the theme of Eternals is what it means to be human. Each Eternal has a different viewpoint on humanity and relationship with humans, reflecting either their desire to be human (like Phastos or Sersi) or have nothing to do with them (like Ikaris). In the end, it's Sprite who actually gets to become a real human.

Edited January 15, 2022 by @therealsilvermane

[kav]

On 1/14/2022 at 5:14 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

What you listed above are actually examples of "moral of the story." A theme can absolutely be "humanity." It can also be "the exuberance of youth" or "hate." The theme of Batman Begins is "fear." The theme of The Dark Knight is "chaos." 

If you'd like me to be more specific, I can do that. For me, the theme of Eternals is what it means to be human. Each Eternal has a different viewpoint on humanity and relationship with humans, reflecting either their desire to be human (like Phastos or Sersi) or have nothing to do with them (like Ikaris). 

Nope.  as I said I read a lot of screenplay books.  "Humanity" would be the subject (altho a weak vague one).  theme is a sentence, not a word. "What it means to be human" is also not a theme.  A theme delivers a message or moral, for example "Being human means living with your weakness and forging it into a strength".
This may help:

 

[@therealsilvermane]

On 1/14/2022 at 8:23 PM, kav said:

Nope.  as I said I read a lot of screenplay books.  "Humanity" would be the subject (altho a weak vague one).  theme is a sentence, not a word. "What it means to be human" is also not a theme.  A theme delivers a message or moral, for example "Being human means living with your weakness and forging it into a strength".
This may help:

 

Look man, I'm not trying to get into a writing class debate here. Whatever. On a last note, below is a copy and paste from googling "themes of Anton Chekhov", who is considered one of the great playwrights and short story writers in literary history. If you want to reply, fine, but I'm not debating this subect. Anyway, below is a copy and paste from googling common themes in Chekhov's work:

Here we explore the themes, motifs and symbols inherent in Chekhov's works.

• Theme | Disease And Death.
• Theme | Frustrated Dreams And Unfulfilled Expectations.