Is Eternals the best MCU movie ever? Do not trust Rotten Tomatoes. That is what I learned after watching Eternals. People predicted this movie would flop. Homophobic users review-bombed the movie prior to even watching it. And when the critic scores finally came out, expectations were at an all-time low. As of writing this, Eternals has a 48% rating from critics. But I thought Eternals was fantastic. It is not boring or dull or lacking in action. It’s an amazing character-focused Marvel movie with positive diverse representation. The audience score on RT seems to agree with me, currently at a solid 81% rating.
Why did the critics rate Eternals so poorly? Brie Larson, our Captain Marvel, may have predicted this in her powerful speech at the Crystal + Lucy Awards in 2018 where she pointed out how most movie critics are white men. So, movies about underrepresented groups are more likely to get worse reviews because the critics are not their target audience. She called for more diversity and inclusion among movie critics. I suspect that may partially explain why Eternals received such poor reviews from critics. It also may have received bad reviews because it isn’t a “typical Marvel blockbuster”. Eternals has action and a compelling plot, but where it truly shines are its characters. Spoilers ahead.
Each Eternals character in this film has a clearly defined power set and personality. Despite the large cast, they’re all easy to follow. However, also because of the large cast, we don’t get to delve as deeply into each character as we should. Yet, each character is still likable and compelling. I would love for some of the Eternals to have their own Disney+ shows. This film also does a great job of exploring the relationships between them. They have what the Avengers always wanted: a family dynamic.
