Eternally Grateful for Chloe Zhao! - Renegade Capes #16
Tonight, on a cosmic episode of Renegade Capes, our beloved Captain Kaye is joined by first timers Teresa and Taylor to talk about the Jack Kirby based epic from the MCU by director Chloe Zhao: Marvel's Eternals!
How’s it going, fellow Renegades? It’s THE DIRECTOR back once again to bring you the latest of discussions in the broader pop culture landscape — from our earth, to beyond the stars! And it’s fitting I say that, as we tap into the weirder side of the Marvel universe that doesn’t involve horned catholic crimefighters that fight crime, or green guys with major daddy issues and equally major anger management issues. That’s right, from the pages of Jack Kirby and even Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr., it seems Kevin Feige and company (and by company, I mean co-writer/director Chloe Zhao) are bringing the ETERNALS to the big screen! And while it’s gotten a pretty bad critical lashing lately, I think it’s only fair to see what we thought here at Renegade Pop Culture.
Well, with all of that said, I’ll kick it over to the Captain for his thoughts on the film. Take it away, Cap’n!
ETERNALS (2021)
“Listen, I know exactly why this film has become so polarizing, but I'm not here to debate whether or not critics were ‘right.’ Instead, I'm simply going to explain why I loved this film, and I sincerely loved this from beginning to end. I love that this is off the beaten path for both the MCU and Chloe Zhao. For a story that spans across thousands of years, it's a rather humanistic approach to the cosmic side of the Marvel universe. There's a reason why Zhao was attracted to this project, and even in the smallest details, her voice still shines through. The plot can be a little dense, and maybe the script can get a little exposition heavy for the sake of the audience, but at no point was I ever bored throughout the 156 minute runtime. The ensemble cast is terrific, but if I had to pick the one true standout, it's Gemma Chan as Sersei. She's about as close as we get to the audience POV protagonist, while still existing as the fantastic within the mundane (relatively speaking, that is). The very few criticisms I have are either in minor nitpicks at best, or breaching spoiler territory (and I'll elaborate on them later). For example, there's one character who almost feels shoehorned into the film for the purpose of setting up future MCU storylines, though that doesn't mean I'm not excited to see more of him later. Like any MCU film, there will be jokes for which your mileage may vary. Ben Davis is an amazing cinematographer, and this is the first film specifically in the MCU where he gets to stretch his abilities. Last things I'll mention before future spoiler discussions are Ramin Djawadi's incredible score, and that there are two post-credits scenes. The second one might be the most exciting tease for a character I wasn't expecting to be invested in. So on the whole, I'm a big fan of Eternals, and you might be as well, should you decide to give this movie a chance.” - Captain Kaye
Well, that’ll do it for today! Special thanks to Teresa and Taylor for joining, and for the Streamin’ Demon himself for editing this episode! Keep a weather eye on the horizon, and you’ll see a shooting star in the form of our next installment of our sprawling podcast very soon!
