A few months ago I watched Eternals and upon my first viewing, I thought it was a good movie. Nothing overly special but nowhere near the searing Rotten score it garnered by critics. Yesterday evening I rewatched it for the second time and I’ve got to say, I was a bit blown away.

Eternals is the type of movie that benefits greatly from a second viewing because so many things make more sense. Like Ikaris’ robotic behavior and his unwavering duty to Arishem, the nuances between the heroes and their conflict with Arishem’s grand design, and so much more. I found myself deeply invested in the story and I’ve got to admit, I got a bit emotional a couple of times.

Eternals is at its best when Chloe Zhao dives deep into the epicness of this story. At times, the humor that mainly Kingo brings feels a little forced or a bit out of place in the ultra-seriousness of the story but the humor is there to remind us it is, in fact, an MCU movie.

The action, when there is some, is more brutal than most installments in the franchise. I found myself wincing and quite worried during the Deviant attack in the Amazon. Zhao made sure to let us know at all times that the Deviants were predators and they viciously attack as such. It’s no surprise one of the Eternals died during that sequence.

Upon my second viewing, I was able to become invested in the love story between Sersi and Ikaris a little more. Is the chemistry between them a little off? Yeah, kind of. Watching them passionately kiss is like watching two humans trying to grab a grape out of one another’s mouth. It’s awkward to look at. But at the end when Ikaris couldn’t complete his mission I got teary-eyed for sure.

Thena remains my favorite character. You can tell she’s the only one among the bunch who’s gotten an Oscar nomination for acting because she runs circles around everyone else in that department. She brings so much strength and vulnerability to Thena which is really nice to see. She’s not just a total bad*** but instead, a flawed individual, and I LOVE THAT!

So yes, Eternals isn’t a perfect movie but dang it’s nowhere near the worst. In fact, it’s quite masterful and I am SO READY for the sequel.

I thank you for reading and I hope you have a tremendous day.