ETERNALS

Eternals might well be the most boring Marvel movie made so far, as it contains not a single character you’ll remember after the credits roll.

Fresh off her Oscar win for Nomadland, director Chloë Zhao takes the reins of new Marvel movie Eternals, but those who hope this results in an idiosyncratic, offbeat blockbuster will be very disappointed.

More concerned with backstory than actual plot, the film is an overlong mess, filled with derivative characters. The elaborate timeframe of Eternals, which spans about 7,000 years, saps the urgency from the muddled script, while the twists are rote and the final act climax once again lacks any true inspiration.

Admittedly, the picture doesn't make it easy on itself by trying to introduce a dozen new superheroes, each with their own special skill-set, and Eternals deserves extra credit for having one of the most diverse, inclusive casts I've ever seen in a film. But that's no excuse for the long, tedious stretches that might excite die-hard comic book geeks yet will mostly befuddle the casual movie fan.

Will audiences still lap it up? Probably. But whether they'll remember a single frame, line of dialogue or even character's name after the end credits have rolled, is up for debate.

release: 2021

director: Chloé Zhao

starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek