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.