This article contains spoilers for The Eternals

After arriving in theaters everywhere November 5, 2021, both audiences and critics found the film The Eternals to be mediocre at best. 

Chloe Zhao, an award winning director, gave her first take on refreshing the Marvel formula with bold new ideas and characters that just does not entirely work well with the currently established Marvel universe. 

“I understand that the film takes place after Endgame and it involves certain people with special abilities and different backgrounds to unite once again to fight some type of evil,” senior Ian Facenda says.

While there are elements of a typical Marvel movie, much of it was very different. Many of the incredible actors and actresses that were cast as the different characters, of which had very interesting names but mostly forgettable personalities, were killed off early on or served very little to the overall story. Salma Hayek was killed off ten minutes into the nearly three hour movie, Kumail Nanjiani was completely absent from the final battle, and Angelina Jolie served very little to the overall story, having a few minutes of actual dialogue, it feels like there were too many characters with too much history to focus on. 

“Overall it was good. It definitely wasn’t the best Marvel movie ever, but it also did well as a stand alone,” Chino Hills High senior Allyson Riley says.

However, the actual story itself was incredibly interesting, however not well executed. What the Eternals need to do is stop the birth of a godlike being called a Celestial. The concept itself makes the viewer wonder about their own place in the universe. If sacrificing all the life on Earth for the creation of new planets is a worthwhile cause. 

“The diversity in the movie is pretty cool! Marvel’s definitely been doing a good job with that lately,” senior David Gorsage says. 

Another note would be the diversity of the enormous cast, having characters that represent several different ethnicities and cultures throughout the world. They also have representation for those who are physically disabled, such as Lauren Ridloff who plays a mute character. Regardless, it is a decent movie if you want to return to the theaters, and the final end credits scene will surely be a good surprise. 

“Though I am not as excited for the movie as I was with say Venom 2, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, or even Spiderman: No Way Home, I think at some point I will eventually see this movie and hopefully soon,” says Facenda.