It’s not without its misses, but you have to respect Eternals far taking some big swings.

In addressing some of the bigger criticisms of the MCU, it forges a different path and pushes the franchise in a much needed new direction.

However, you can’t ignore the fact that these characters are, quite by design, less fun and interesting to be around than the supers we’ve known in the MCU to date… making it a little messy when they trade murky motivations and settle into the roles of heroes and villains.

Visually, it veers between good and bad too, with daytime scenes glowing and darker action scenes looking dim and washed out. The design of everything feels pretty fresh so that helps, but it does get a bit bland from time to time. 

Story-wise it starts strong and it definitely ends up in a pretty satisfactory place, but I have to admit there was a good chunk of the second act where I was outright bored and felt like everything needed a shot in the arm.

So, all in all, I appreciate this for what this is, what it reaches for and what it sets up for the future both tonally and canonically (particularly in the post credits). But as a stand-alone film, it’s level confidence doesn’t quite match its level of entertainment.