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

[Cat]

On 11/6/2021 at 11:10 PM, TupennyConan said:

ejaculatory dividends.

I hate when it's time to receive these. 

Worst time of the year. 

[drotto]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:19 AM, paperheart said:

CinemaScore grade for #Eternals has come in at B which is on the low side for #MCU and recent comic book movies.

'on the low side'

Other B grade Cinemascore movies. Granted I really liked Watchmen, I have not seen Eternals.  So everyone has different tastes. 

[Broke as a Joke]

On 11/6/2021 at 8:10 AM, drotto said:

Other B grade Cinemascore movies. Granted I really liked Watchmen, I have not seen Eternals.  So everyone has different tastes. 

Quite the list of peers.  

I think I'll wait till this is free on Disney +...

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

 

[drotto]

On 11/6/2021 at 11:32 AM, Broke as a Joke said:

Quite the list of peers.  

I think I'll wait till this is free on Disney +...

It will do well this weekend, but lower CinemaScore usually correlates with large drop off for the second weekend and short "legs". 

 

The predictions for 75 to 80 million domestic seem to be on target.

[Bosco685]

On 11/6/2021 at 12:23 PM, drotto said:

It will do well this weekend, but lower CinemaScore usually correlates with large drop off for the second weekend and short "legs". 

 

The predictions for 75 to 80 million domestic seem to be on target.

All I know is I feel bad if @@therealsilvermane ends up going to the same 3-D theater he saw Venom 2.

On 11/6/2021 at 9:58 AM, @therealsilvermane said:

Okay, because I'm all about accuracy, I did go look at the Venom 2 credit scene again on YouTube just now. I guess the hotel room scene does go to a different location from a city to a beach and I guess I remembered it differently. But the room layout itself is exactly the same. I guess as I watched it, I had no idea what was happening so I didn't really take notice (or maybe care?) until Tom Holland showed up on the TV screen and then I was like "oh that's kinda cool, I guess this wasn't a complete waste of my time then."

A 3-D screening of Venom 2 and it doesn't come across in the credits scene the room just changed (which was clearly on display)? I'd demand my money back.  Or email the torrent site he saw it on wanting his digital time back.

At least with Eternals he is actually going to the theater this time. 

[valiantman]

On 11/6/2021 at 12:28 AM, Oddball said:

On 11/5/2021 at 4:38 PM, valiantman said:

Are studios supposed to cater to people who illegally watch their movies? 

Why not? I can assure you The Eternals is not playing in a movie theater in my country. 

It's probably safe to say that no one, including all the people on this message board, and particularly not the studios are interested in the Marvel movie opinions of a proud digital pirate in a country too unimportant to play Marvel movies.  Let me guess, you don't own any CGC graded comics either?   I bet there are goats in your country, and I'm sure they keep clippity-clopping over the bridge above your house.  Ahhh, trolls, can't live with them... pass the beernuts.

Edited November 6, 2021 by valiantman

[▫️]

On 11/6/2021 at 7:59 PM, valiantman said:

It's probably safe to say that no one, including all the people on this message board, and particularly not the studios are interested in the Marvel movie opinions of a proud digital pirate in a country too unimportant to play Marvel movies.  Let me guess, you don't own any CGC graded comics either?   I bet there are goats in your country, and I'm sure they keep clippity-clopping over the bridge above your house.  Ahhh, trolls, can't live with them... pass the beernuts.

You assume a lot. About me and whether or not I have graded comics? Not sure how that’s relevant but if you say so. I didn’t realize a country’s status of importance relied on whether or not they play Marvel movies. Again, if you say so. And yes, there are goats here. Camels too although strangely I have never seen one. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Oddball

[Qalyar]

Honest appraisal? It's okay. I'd rate it above Iron Man 2 or Thor 2, but below a lot of the more interesting films. Most of the film is a lot different from the pacing of conventional Marvel films, with the threaded timeline and the greater reliance on introspective discussion than just pew pew all the time. That probably bored some fanboys, but I thought it worked well enough.

However, that's most of the film. For me, it's the climax where the film falls short. I'm not even going to bother using spoiler tags to say that it opts for a Marvel special effects tentpole combat ending, because everyone probably assumes that for all these films by now. That's disappointing here (even more so than it was for Shang-Chi). But also ...

Spoiler

The entire plotline with Cro, the "lead Deviant" was wasted in exactly the same way that GoT wasted the White Walkers. The Deviant/Eternal conflict was built up to be one of chaos vs order, all played out at the whims of Arisham. So I had hopes that as Cro stole essence from dead Eternals, including their powers and memories, we would have a moment of realization where he evolved beyond being just a predator, and the Eternals were forced to take the hand of what they thought was their greatest enemy in order to stop the schemes of their god.

Instead, Thena diced him into pieces, and that whole plot arc died with him. Oh well 

 

[WEBHEAD]

[Drummy]

Just saw it myself...would give it a 'B' overall.  Lots I liked, lots I didn't, including some too-quick endings to plot lines or even character appearances.  In the bottom half of Marvel movies, to be sure, but still a well-made and well-acted film.  I liked some of the relationships they established even though we only meet these characters for one film.  Some other characters, though, I couldn't come to care about.

Dan

[Frederic9494]

Saw it today, much much better than I expected. Felt like a more mature MCU movie. Less action but better characterization.

It will be interesting to see how this will set the stage for the MCU's cosmic arc etc.

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/6/2021 at 7:49 PM, Drummy said:

Just saw it myself...would give it a 'B' overall.  Lots I liked, lots I didn't, including some too-quick endings to plot lines or even character appearances.  In the bottom half of Marvel movies, to be sure, but still a well-made and well-acted film.  I liked some of the relationships they established even though we only meet these characters for one film.  Some other characters, though, I couldn't come to care about.

Dan

This resonates. I saw it yesterday, and again another long movie; although, like Dune, totally worth it for me. I had only read Eternals #3 that I had found at a used bookstore, and I thought then that Kirby had a sense of writing. All in all, I wondered what the point of it all was, I got answers, I didn't always like the answers in the movie. Compared to what I remember reading and liking of the writing in the "one book" I read  

That said, it was it's own flick and I'm curious where it will lead down the road. It was a lot of Kirby out of the box thinking, in moving picture form, which was a little jarring or overwhelming for this novice  

[@therealsilvermane]

Just got home from seeing Eternals in 3D XD (Cinemark's version of IMAX). I was going to go to the regular IMAX, but as Cinemark had theirs in 3D, I opted for the Cinemark. I don't regret it.

As for Eternals the movie itself (and I'll try to be plot spoiler free)...

How ironic for me that the lowest RT scored MCU film ever, is also now possibly my favorite MCU film. I know, I know, I'm a resident Marvel shill in these parts, however, I didn't think Black Widow was that great (and posted my thoughts over in BW), so with that, I can say I don't automatically love every new MCU movie. I did love Shang Chi, but I loved Eternals even more.

Eternals is the MCU movie I've been waiting for. It is the first MCU movie, I think, that is about things outside of the usually hermetic world of the MCU. In other words, while MCU movies are pieces of a larger whole, they also obviously serve their own story, usually involving a Marvel hero or heroes powering up physically spiritually and mentally as they try to stop whoever is threatening the world or galaxy. The stories, as good as they are, don't really exist beyond that. With Black Panther and Black Widow, I saw the honest attempt to touch on other things not necessarily MCUish  like themes of family, leadership and responsibility, etc. Now while those movies did touch on these themes I mentioned, they didn't necessarily affect the outcome of the story or the hero's journey. In the end, the plot of movies like Black Panther or Black Widow is still reliant on the hero themselves overcoming  odds placed on them by an adversary (I guess Killmonger is an abandoned royal family member) which leads to the hero powering up and stopping the bad guys, regardless of love or family or humanity. Eternals on the other hand, besides being about a group of super-powered beings and their journey to powering up and saving the world, directly deals with themes of love, humanity, family, and human history and evolution(in a fictional 2001 Space Odyssey sense) and has these themes at its core. Eternals as a movie takes these themes so much to heart that these themes affect the outcome and plot of the movie. And the reason these themes are so engrained to the plot of Eternals, is because the Eternals have spent an eternity living with humanity. I loved the story.

As for more technical issues: I thought the cinematography was great. I didn't see any plot holes to the story. I liked the music. 

I do have distinct theories why so many critics disapproved of the movie. I'll post those theories later.

But yes, I think I can honestly say that Eternals is my favorite MCU movie. Even over Captain Marvel.

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by @therealsilvermane

[@therealsilvermane]

My favorite Eternal in the film: Makkari. 

I liked them all really. Sersi and Ikaris as the leads were great. But Makkari was so understated in her role, in part because she's deaf I guess. Towards the end of the movie, her reaction to a particular incident and the way she reacted in the movie was so palpable that it really hit me in the gut. 

[Qalyar]

On 11/6/2021 at 8:52 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

My favorite Eternal in the film: Makkari. 

I liked them all really. Sersi and Ikaris as the leads were great. But Makkari was so understated in her role, in part because she's deaf I guess. Towards the end of the movie, her reaction to a particular incident and the way she reacted in the movie was so palpable that it really hit me in the gut. 

Makkari was criminally underused in this film. Even though I liked him well enough, I'd happily sell off half of Kingo's screen time for more Makkari.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:51 PM, Qalyar said:

Makkari was criminally underused in this film. Even though I liked him well enough, I'd happily sell off half of Kingo's screen time for more Makkari.

Or just add another 5 minutes or so of Makkari time to the overall the movie. Yeah, I really liked Makkari.

[Underground44]

On 11/7/2021 at 12:17 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

Just got home from seeing Eternals in 3D XD (Cinemark's version of IMAX). I was going to go to the regular IMAX, but as Cinemark had theirs in 3D, I opted for the Cinemark. I don't regret it.

As for Eternals the movie itself (and I'll try to be plot spoiler free)...

How ironic for me that the lowest RT scored MCU film ever, is also now possibly my favorite MCU film. I know, I know, I'm a resident Marvel shill in these parts, however, I didn't think Black Widow was that great (and posted my thoughts over in BW), so with that, I can say I don't automatically love every new MCU movie. I did love Shang Chi, but I loved Eternals even more.

Eternals is the MCU movie I've been waiting for. It is the first MCU movie, I think, that is about things outside of the usually hermetic world of the MCU. In other words, while MCU movies are pieces of a larger whole, they also obviously serve their own story, usually involving a Marvel hero or heroes powering up physically spiritually and mentally as they try to stop whoever is threatening the world or galaxy. The stories, as good as they are, don't really exist beyond that. With Black Panther and Black Widow, I saw the honest attempt to touch on other things not necessarily MCUish  like themes of family, leadership and responsibility, etc. Now while those movies did touch on these themes I mentioned, they didn't necessarily affect the outcome of the story or the hero's journey. In the end, the plot of movies like Black Panther or Black Widow is still reliant on the hero themselves overcoming  odds placed on them by an adversary (I guess Killmonger is an abandoned royal family member) which leads to the hero powering up and stopping the bad guys, regardless of love or family or humanity. Eternals on the other hand, besides being about a group of super-powered beings and their journey to powering up and saving the world, directly deals with themes of love, humanity, family, and human history and evolution(in a fictional 2001 Space Odyssey sense) and has these themes at its core. Eternals as a movie takes these themes so much to heart that these themes affect the outcome and plot of the movie. And the reason these themes are so engrained to the plot of Eternals, is because the Eternals have spent an eternity living with humanity. I loved the story.

As for more technical issues: I thought the cinematography was great. I didn't see any plot holes to the story. I liked the music. 

I do have distinct theories why so many critics disapproved of the movie. I'll post those theories later.

But yes, I think I can honestly say that Eternals is my favorite MCU movie. Even over Captain Marvel.

 

I’m glad you liked it also. I would also put it into my top 5 Marvel movies. I seriously can’t understand the negativity but I’d love to hear your theories on why you think it was disapproved by critics as they may align with my thoughts. I think that when the dust settles on this film, it will be regarded more highly that it is right now but regardless, I loved it and I encourage people to make up their own minds. 

[@therealsilvermane]

Before digging into my theories of possible issues some critics might have had with Eternals, I just wanna say that some critics are just dummies. I do think the low RT score does have a bit to do in part with groupthink, some critics just afraid to give the movie any positive thoughts in fear of looking dumb because they really don't know how to critique a comic book movie and everyone else is giving it bad reviews so there must be something there.

I also think that some critics might be scared to jump in the water with this movie because of Wonder Woman 1984. Remember how critics initially praised the movie only to have it backfire on them when the movie was almost universally ridiculed after its release? Like WW84, Eternals also isn't just about beating up people but about trying to find love and humanity and stuff at its core. Critics might have saw this and sensed another dumpster fire like WW84 and jumped on the bad reviews so they don't look dumb like they did last Christmas. Instead, I'm afraid they might look dumb again with Eternals, because Eternals is a good movie.

Edited November 7, 2021 by @therealsilvermane