MOVIE REVIEW: ETERNALS

 

The Eternals, a race of immortal beings with superhuman powers who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years, reunite to battle the evil Deviants.

Director: Chloé Zhao

Cast: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie

Release Date: November 5, 2021

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence and action, some language and brief sexuality.

Runtime: 2h 37m

Review:

Chloé Zhao’s Eternals is one of the more interesting entries in the ongoing Marvel series.  The mash up of Zhao’s naturalistic style and superhero tropes results in a character focused film that’s more interested in the smaller moments than big action sequences.  As such, it has a different feel than most of these films do while still accomplishing the usual Marvel albeit at a glacial pace.  It has an odd pace that drains the proceedings of any urgency even though it’s literally dealing with end of the world stakes.  Intermixing flashbacks with present day events drains the film of any sense of forward momentum since neither section get enough time to gain any sort of real traction.  Luckily the incredibly diverse cast makes the slog more bearably with earnest performances.  Gemma Chan and Richard Madden do the heavy lifting for the majority of the film with each providing a steady stoicism to their duo. The large supporting cast each get their moments to shine during the film with Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry and Barry Keoghan leaving the biggest impressions.  Angelina Jolie does well as the tortured warrior whose being crushed under the weight of her memories.  Salma Hayek gets a scant few moments to shine but ultimately the film waste her with an underwritten role.  Eternals tries hard to be sweeping and epic but it never really achieves it, only skirting with it during it’s hefty runtime. 

B-

MOVIE REVIEWS: SALT

IN THEATERS

SALT

Director Phillip Noyce teams with screenwriters Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) and Brian Helgeland (Mystic River) to craft this thriller starring Angelina Jolie as dedicated CIA officer Evelyn Salt, who is accused by a defector of being a Russian spy. With each attempt Salt makes to prove her innocence, her mentor, Winter (Liev Schreiber), only grows more suspicious of her true motivations. The longer she eludes capture by ambitious CIA agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the higher the stakes get. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Phillip Noyce

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andre Braugher

Release Date: Jul 23, 2010

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and intense sequences of action

Runtime: 1 hr. 31 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Excessively ludicrous and obnoxiously stupid Salt is an action dud of massive proportions. Phillip Noyce directs this seemingly endless parade of shoot out, getaways and plot twist with dead set seriousness that can best be described as oblivious. Oblivious to the abject silliness of the entire proceedings with characters so poorly executed it hard to take any of them very seriously. Taking herself just as seriously is Jolie, whose stone cold demeanor makes you think she really believes this character is somehow grounded in reality. More surprising is that her action sequences are surprisingly unconvincing throughout and she shoots, punches and jump kicks with all the passion of a coma patient. Liev Schreiber is saddled with a character who given some of the most banal dialogue in recent memory. Poor Chiwetel Ejiofor just doesn’t seem to have any luck with summer blockbusters, in last year’s 2012 he got to be the scientist who was wrong all the time, as he’s given the unenviable task of simply looking confused throughout. The entire ordeal makes the Bourne movies look like real world documentaries and the Mission Impossible movie look incredibly plausible. Somewhere Tom Cruise thanking his lucky stars that he passed on Edwin A. Salt and it was redone as a vehicle for Jolie otherwise it may have proven the actual nail in his blockbuster coffin something which Knight and Day isn’t.

D