By Ben Hutchison

The latest installment in the MCU, Eternals, is about a group of 10 aliens that are sent to Earth around 5000 B.C. to defeat the Deviants, an alien race of monsters, and to ensure the success of the human race by Arishem, the leader of a group of god-like beings called The Celestials.

This movie is so beautiful in the diversity of the landscape – in one moment you’re in London, then the next you’re Mumbai and then you’re in the Amazon rainforest. The set design is astounding in that it has beautiful looks for the Eternals’ powers like the energetic gold outlines of Thena’s weapons or the way that when Makkari runs in super-speed she has her suit outlined in electric gold and she leaves a trail of the same colour when she runs and also how the Eternals’ ship, The Domo, looks super futuristic, but also like a relic of the past that inspired the historical designs of past civilizations. The acting had me feeling the emotions in the moment with the characters like I was a part of their little found-family. The acting performances that definitely stood out to me most was the portrayal of Ikarus by Richard Madden and the portrayal of Druig by Barry Keoghan, but they were all amazing. The fight directing done by Chloé Zhao was realistic in the way that the characters move and work together and made it truly seem like these were ancient legends worthy of  the myths that they became. The costume design is perfect for all the same reasons as the set design in that it has that familiar feel, but also feels so alien. My favourite suits were Sersi’s and Sprite’s because I really like how they had small pieces of fabric on their suits that acted as capes. 

The story expands the MCU while also creating an amazing self-contained story with some of the best character writing in not only the MCU, but all superhero media. This movie is definitely something that you should watch if you like comic book movies, giant stories, emotional writing and found-family dynamics between the characters. It is only in theatres now and will most likely be on disney+ by January 12.