Now only a week shy from its premiere, Eternals is having to fight off a threat far more menacing than the Deviants or Celestials: movie critics. That is because negative reviews continue to pile on to officially make Eternals the worst-rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes.
As the first wave of early impressions started rolling in, Eternals has found itself to be perhaps the most divisive title put out by Marvel Studios, with critics mostly being left to praise visual scenery and acting performances in a movie that’s otherwise lacking in other areas. The most prominent fault in Eternals appears to be its struggle to establish a large cast within a plot that is supposed to be just as big and world-threatening as any other MCU flick.
All of this has caused Eternals to slide from a 74% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, to hit an all-time Marvel low of 63% that puts the movie just below The Incredible Hulk (67%) and Thor: The Dark World (66%). Both aforementioned films are generally regarded as two of the weakest entries in the MCU. Rotten Tomatoes’ own review summary definitely captures the mixed reception the film has gotten, reading, “Eternals takes the MCU in intriguing -- and occasionally confounding -- new directions,” even though the film is just a few percentage points off from becoming “rotten” if it were to slide under 60%.
Despite having Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao at the helm of the movie, some pretty big star names in its cast, and a lengthier runtime of 2 hours and 37 minutes, it seems that might have not been enough to convince critics to buy into the story. The negative comments will not sit well with Disney and Marvel Studios, whose $200 million budget ensures Eternals will have a harder time turning a profit than what Black Widow or Shang-Chi did.
Although it’s often impossible to establish exactly how much money any given movie has to make to be considered profitable or successful, that industry number tends to be close to twice the budget after adding up promotional expenses, and Eternals has had plenty of that. Shang-Chi made $422.2 million worldwide on a smaller budget, yet unlike Eternals, it had ample positivity backing up its entertainment value for fans.
Eternals has been championed by Marvel for its many diversity milestones, but that large cast may negatively impact the general direction of the film if reviews are to be believed. In any case, Eternals can find some hope in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a film whose money-making and entertainment potential was completely unfazed by having a 60% on the Tomatometer.
Eternals will be released exclusively in theaters on November 5, 2021
Source: Rotten Tomatoes