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Now that "Eternals" is available on streaming, what is your opinion on the film?

Asked by ragingloli (51966points) January 17th, 2022

Upon release, it received mixed reviews, with many calling it “boring”.
I thought it was one of the better MCU films, and I certainly did not find it boring. I would describe it more as ponderous.
I usually have the problem, as I am sure many others have, that I get easily distracted from a film when watching at home, but not with this one. I was invested during the entire runtime.

What I liked about the film, was that it is not just a film about “family”, because frankly, that has been done to death, but it is primarily an examination of the question:
Is Humanity good or evil? Is Humanity worth saving?
It is this question that drives the ‘family’ of the Eternals apart, with several scenes highlighting the atrocities that humans commit against each other, culminating with the scene of Phastos wailing among the fresh and burning embers of Hiroshima, concluding that Humanity is indeed not worth salvation.
The group ultimately decides to stop the destruction of Earth, not because Humans as a species deserve to live, but only the potential of individuals to do good has earned Humanity a second chance, a conclusion resulting not only from the actions of the Avengers and their defeat of Thanos, but the personal experiences that the Eternals had with individual humans, not the least of which being Phastos getting married and adopting a child.
The theme of Humanity’s worthiness continues to the very end of the film, when Arishem proclaims, that he will return one day to judge the human race.

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