"Eternals"

Judging Marvel movies these days is a little like comparing Twinkies to HoHos.  The films are like fluffy cotton candy which doesn't leave much of an impression.  They all tend to be too long, too short and/or have too much or too little action.  Every once in a while the whole thing comes together and you get a really great superhero film, but mostly it is entertaining pablum to watch when you don't want to think too much.  Not for nothing, Marvel films are great choices for long flights.  

All that being said, "Eternals" has possibilities.  Which are mostly squandered.  But before I slam it, let's talk about what works.  It's got a terrific cast and many of the "underwritten" roles work because the actors make them work.  There are themes which, if expanded upon, could be intriguing.  Quick mentions of war and peace, natural selection vs. saving those in need, and those nice grey zones where you aren't sure who the good guys and the bad guys are.

(SPOILERS)  The challenges begin with how much they try to stuff into less than two hours.  There is an entirely new foundation which has to be built, a culture to create, ten characters to introduce and an amorphous big bad.  The flashbacks to give context are both helpful and superfluous.  There are inconsistencies.  They need a spaceship to get to earth but apparently can breathe in space (and some can fly there).  In the final battle, characters take sides -- but one is conspicuously absent and nothing is said when he reunites with the crew at the end.  There is an unstoppable monster who gets stopped ... fairly easily.  Character development is extremely limited.  Good actors like Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Ma Dong-Seok seem to be oddly restrained.  Powerful female characters are beset by insecurity and self-doubt.  Angelina Jolie's character has more mood swings than "The Three Faces of Eve".  "The most powerful of them all" is killed in seconds, leaving the viewer to wonder if they were truly strong.  Lauren Ridloff is also a favorite actor, but it seems like the producers didn't know what to do with a deaf actor so she is literally relegated to Flash-like running and living in an abandoned spaceship eating junk food and watching DVDs.  Kumail Nanjiani manages to be truly funny, bringing needed warmth.  Lead Richard Madden is stoic and dour.  Actor Barry Keoghan is equally dour but not stoic.  The one bright star is young Lia McHugh, who is given a lot of dialog and makes the most of it.  Brian Tyree Henry is also good, when he is given a chance, being the voice of the superhero struggling to balance a home life.  And those scenes were the ones I liked the most.  When superheroes try to fit into the normal world.  If they had more of that, which is amusing and grounded, it would be more interesting to me than battling a big stone-like head in the sky.