But Deadline brings word that she’s going to switch things up in a big way for her next movie, with director Eva Sørhaug (‘90 Minutes’) now rolling cameras on new dark thriller ‘Sunny.’
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The new movie will also see Jolie as a producer, working alongside the likes of Gramercy Park Media, A Higher Standard, and Nickel City Pictures.
Angelina Jolie as Fox in director Timur Bekmambetov’s ‘Wanted.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
William Day Frank penned the script from a story after conceiving the basic idea with Sørhaug.
‘Sunny’ follows a female gangster who fights to protect her sons — and herself — from an abusive drug kingpin. But when a devastating event occurs, she only has a matter of hours to plot their permanent escape.
Here’s what Nickel City’s Mark Fasano said about Jolie’s involvement:
“People are going to be shocked by what she brings with this riveting character. This violent world that Eva and Angelina have crafted is grounded in survival and family led by a mother doing anything and everything within her power to protect her two boys.”
Gramercy Park’s Nathan Klingher said this:
“Angelina has made this role uniquely her own. Strong, character-driven thrillers like this are rare, and the attention to detail that she and Eva have brought to the film is impressive to watch.”
Jolie was most recently seen in award-nominated biopic ‘Maria’ about opera singer Maria Callas, and also wrote, directed and produced war parable ‘Without Blood’, which has so far only been released in Italy following a festival run.
Next up for her in terms of release is ‘Couture’, written and directed by Alice Winocour, which sees Jolie as American filmmaker Maxine, who arrives in Paris for Fashion Week on a life-and-death journey, facing challenges and self-discovery.
And, as per usual, that’s just a sampling of what she’s either worked on or attached to. The busy filmmaker will also pop up being interviewed in documentaries including ‘World Food Programme’ and a variety of movies including ‘Anxious People’ and another action pic, ‘Maude v. Maude’.
Angelina Jolie is aboard to star in new spy thriller’ The Initiative’.
Doug Liman is directing the movie.
Universal has picked it up.
If it feels like 20 years since Angelina Jolie and director Doug Liman worked together, that’s because, er, it was! Yes, believe it or not, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, about married spies/assassins who discover each other’s jobs and are assigned to take each other out, was released in 2005.
While we’re busy pondering time’s endless march and chasing the darn kids off our darn lawn, Jolie and Liman are reuniting for a new espionage thriller, this one called ‘The Initiative’.
(L to R) Casey Affleck, director Doug Liman and Matt Damon on the set of ‘The Instigators’. Photo: Apple TV+.
Frazier’s new screenplay, according to the Reporter, is described as ‘Training Day’ set in the world of spycraft.
The story would see Jolie playing a rogue master spy named Bright who works outside the lines (not the newest concept in the world). When a new agent named Charlie joins Bright’s team, he soon finds himself in situations where he isn’t sure whether his new boss is trying to kill him or simply is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the free world.
While both Jolie and Liman have busy schedules, the studio is hoping this one can hit the fast track, and film early next year.
What else is Angelina Jolie working on?
Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Jolie was most recently seen in award-nominated biopic ‘Maria’ about opera singer Maria Callas, and also wrote, directed and produced war parable ‘Without Blood’, which has so far only been released in Italy following a festival run.
Next up for her in terms of release is ‘Couture’, written and directed by Alice Winocour, which sees Jolie as American filmmaker Maxine, who arrives in Paris for Fashion Week on a life-and-death journey, facing challenges and self-discovery.
And, as per usual, that’s just a sampling of what she’s either worked on or attached to. The busy filmmaker will also pop up being interviewed in documentaries including ‘World Food Programme’ and a variety of movies including ‘Anxious People’ and another action pic, ‘Maude v. Maude’.
When will ‘The Initiative’ be in theaters?
Universal, which is still putting the finishing touches to the deals for this one, has yet to specify a release date.
But if it does shoot next year, we’d guess a 2027 release isn’t out of the question.
Angelina Jolie as Fox in director Timur Bekmambetov’s ‘Wanted.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Premiering on Prime Video this week, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ loosely –– very loosely –– adapts the 2005 Doug Limanmovie that saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie playing married assassins unaware of each other’s secret job whose stale relationship is re-ignited when they’re assigned by their competing agencies to take each other out (and we don’t mean on a date).
But the new series shares really only the title and the most basic concept with the movie. Instead, here we have two strangers who apply for a job that sees them partnered up and moving through the various stages of relationships in their fake coupledom even as real feelings develop and the missions become more perilous.
Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ deployed monsters as metaphor for teenage angst, body changes, and concerns. ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ tries a similar trick (though hopefully without the problematic future Joss Whedon of it all), utilizing the central couple’s various experiences as a mirror for a developing relationship.
It’s not a completely 1:1 situation, though some episodes play to that much more than others (episode 5, for example, sees the duo forced into a situation where their charge, played wonderfully by a superbly grumpy Ron Perlman is effectively a substitute child) but in general, the idea works.
Sometimes the balance of character work to action can be off-kilter, and not everything about the main dynamic works (Donald Glover and Maya Erskine have decent chemistry, though it takes some time to find its groove). Which, we suppose is how all relationships start and end up working.
But on the whole, it’s an entertaining peek into the various marker points of the relationship and the series format certainly offers more scope to explore the character levels than anything in the movie.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Script and Direction
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Though Glover originally developed the show with ‘Fleabag’ creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creative differences saw Waller-Bridge depart and Glover instead create the show with his ‘Atlanta’ cohort Francesca Sloane (who runs the show here).
The writing for the series carries some of the hallmarks of Glover and Sloane’s past work (though none of its experimental, random nature which probably wouldn’t have worked for this). This time around, their focus is on the burgeoning relationships and using the spy missions/job as a giant metaphor for an evolving connection between two people is one that largely works well, even if it does mean there tends to be a larger focus on interaction between the two main characters rather than the action side of things. Jane and John are written decently, though they may end up testing the patience of some audiences.
As for the metaphors, they run the gamut from excellent to exhausting. One episode, where our main pair meet and spend time with another “John” and “Jane” is at times interminable (no fault of the actors involved). But the mission-of-the-week format means that if you don’t spark to one episode, you may well enjoy another.
Directors Hiro Murai, Christian Sprenger and Karena Evans (the first two have ‘Atlanta’ experience on their busy resumes, the latter has focused more on music videos and other TV series) bring a fresh, dynamic look to the show, and if the action moments aren’t quite up there with the likes of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ or ‘Bond’ franchises, that’s because it isn’t the main point here. This is a relationship drama with a side of set-pieces.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Performances
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
With the guest cast almost constantly changing (only one or two people beyond the leads appear in more than a single episode), the weight is very much on Glover and Erskine. As people who have both been the focus of TV series they co-created, they’re both more than able to carry the load of leading roles.
Of the two, Erskine comes off better, getting to show more development than the slightly more disconnected Glover. She’s excited for the opportunity to begin with, but you can really see the weight settle upon her as the season moves on. Keeping the metaphor of the relationship going, she becomes more and more disenfranchised as she realizes she’s holding up more of her end in terms both missions and personal life.
Which is not to say that Glover is bad –– his John Smith is a man who seems far less willing to leave his old life behind (a nod towards the usual commitment issues found more often in men than women) –– and he has some superb moments as the relationship develops and, at times, sours.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Neither of the main pair are natural action stars, but they do their best, aided with a decent stunt team.
Around them is an ever-changing roster of others: Paul Dano is a good-looking neighbor who Jane takes a shine to, while Wagner Moura and Parker Posey are the other John and Jane who share the double date that ends awkwardly (and dangerously). Again, as mentioned above, the actors are perfectly fine in their roles, they’re just let down a little by the episode’s script.
Perlman, meanwhile, is wonderful in his role as the mysterious man that John and Jane are assigned to protect.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Final Thoughts
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
If it sometimes stretches the concept a little thin, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ is an effective mix of spy thriller and marriage drama with the emphasis on the latter.
Those seeking the next ‘Atlanta’ won’t find that here, but then, that wasn’t the point –– and as adaptations of movies go, this at least has the confidence to truly be its own thing.
‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
Two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.
The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone.
Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?
Prime Video’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ has launched its first trailer.
The show stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
The series launches on February 2nd.
Once upon a time, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘ were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, playing married assassins whose relationship had begun to feel stale. But when they discover their shared, hidden sides, things spice back up –– even if neither might survive it.
In taking that idea, ‘Atlanta’ creator and co-star Donald Glover has given it a slight twist (see below), recruiting Maya Erskine to play Mrs. Smith to his Mr.
From the looks of the first teaser, the show certainly manages to bring both the funny and the action levels, so this is one we’re anticipating.
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What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
While it has a similar basic concept to the 2005 Doug Liman movie (famously the project where Pitt met and ended up married to co-star Jolie), the new series puts a fresh spin on the story.
Here, Glover and Erskine play two lonely strangers who land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.
The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?
Who also appears in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?
Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Glover co-created the series with Francesca Sloane, one of his ‘Atlanta’ colleagues. Christian Sprenger, a fallow ‘Atlanta’ veteran, is the main director.
Originally, ‘Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge was aboard to co-write and co-star, but because of creative differences, she left the show in 2021.
“I worked on that show for six months fully in heart and mind and really cared about it — still care about it. And I know it’s gonna be brilliant. But sometimes it’s about knowing when to leave the party. You don’t want to get in the way of a vision. Creative collaboration is like a marriage, and some marriages don’t work out.”
When will ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ be on our screens?
All eight episodes of the show will debut on Prime Video on February 2nd.
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
You can add to that list, ‘Maude vs. Maude’, a new action thriller that, assuming it all comes together, will boast the twin star power of Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry.
Warner Bros. is hoping it will, since the chance to pit two of the biggest actors in the world against each other is certainly an appealing prospect, one the studio thinks will get people into cinemas. It was enough that it took the project off the table after a bidding war between several possible buyers.
Halle Berry in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’
That’s the big question right now. At this early stage, the company is not releasing any plot details, though Deadline has heard from insiders that it’ll be a “Bond vs. Bourne” type of global action thriller with locations to be announced. We’d expect the budget to be considerable.
So far what we do know for sure is the script comes from Scott Mosier, who cut his cinematic teeth working as Kevin Smith’s producer (and podcasting buddy) and has more recently been creating his own movies, including writing ‘Free Birds’ and directing Illumination’s ‘The Grinch’.
Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry: Action credentials
Though they haven’t shared the screen before, both actors have plenty of action in their backgrounds. Jolie has starred in the likes of the first two ‘Lara Croft’ movies, starred in espionage film ‘Salt’ and did plenty of stuns/gunplay in ‘Wanted’.
In more recent years, she’s focused more on directing and producing, though has stayed busy in front of the camera, and did some fighting in Marvel’s ‘Eternals’.
Berry, meanwhile, cropped up in ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’, but before that had a run in the ‘X-Men’ movies and played NSA operative Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson in Bond movie ‘Die Another Day’, getting to do more action than many of her female predecessors in the franchise.
And she proved she still has what it takes to fight in her 2020 directorial debut ‘Bruised’, in which she starred as an MMA fighter finding redemption.
Given their clout in Hollywood these days, both Berry and Jolie will be producers on the new movie, along with Mosier, Liang, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Joe Roth.
Depending on the tone, this could always harken back to another Jolie back catalogue entry, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’, in which she played an assassin opposite Brad Pitt.
(L to R) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2005’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith.’
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’
Having seen success––at least in terms of buzz––with the likes of ‘The Rings of Power’ and ‘The Boys’, Amazon is breaking open its (admittedly huge) piggy bank for a new potential franchise.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company has struck a deal with Dmitri M. Johnson’s dj2 Entertainment for the rights to the ‘Tomb Raider’ game series.
Launched in 1996 on Sony’s PlayStation console, the ‘Tomb Raider’ series has gone on to be a huge selling title across various platforms, earning more than $95 million by last year and spawning a massive amount of merchandising.
The series gives the player control of fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artifacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
That most recent title came from MGM and Warner Bros., but there has been talk of a sequel, with first ‘Meg 2: The Trench’s Ben Wheatley and then ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green attached to make it, development stalled.
Amazon, of course, bought MGM last year, but the rights to the ‘Tomb Raider’ games had already lapsed from the studio because of the lack of forward movement on the new movie.
With the rights in Amazon’s grip, the plans have now shifted to building out an interconnected Lara Croft universe boasting a new game release and what will probably be another movie reboot.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge on BBC Studios’ ‘Fleabag.’
Perhaps most intriguingly, the new universe also features a potential Prime Video TV series from ‘Fleabag’ creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who recently renewed her deal with Amazon. While we might not have expected Waller-Bridge to be all in on a ‘Tomb Raider’ title, she’s apparently a fan of the games. and has had experience with action on the likes of ‘Killing Eve’ and recent Bond outing ‘No Time to Die’ (for which she provided script polishes).
No details have yet emerged on what Waller-Bridge’s show might look like (she doesn’t plan to appear, just write and produce) or how it might connect to any potential movie (or movies, you know Amazon will want to get their money’s worth). But it’s certainly interesting to ponder the idea of a Lara Croft with the writer’s trademark snappy dialogue.
Yet Amazon is not the only company with an interest in Croft––this will no doubt be disheartening for Netflix, which already has a ‘Tomb Raider’ anime series in the works following a two-series order. Or perhaps it’ll drive up interest in all things Lara?
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’
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If there’s one thing we know about DreamWorks Animation, it’s that the company is not one to let a successful franchise venture off into the sunset.
We’re not surprised, then, to see that the ‘Kung Fu Panda’ movie series will be coming back – but not until 2024.
So far, all we really know about the movie is the fact that it’ll be out on March 8th, 2024 as Universal and DWA stick a pin in that release date, which right now only has ‘A Quiet Place: Day One,’ and the new ‘Panda’ could well serve as family-friendly counterprogramming to the expansion of Paramount’s creature feature franchise.
No director or even a confirmation of the voice cast has been revealed about the latest ‘Kung Fu Panda’, but since the studio was confident enough to announce a release date, we can reasonably assume that production is underway, even if it’s still at an early stage. These movies, after all, usually take between three to five years to make.
We can reasonably predict that Jack Black will be back as Po, and since these job only involve turning up to a recording booth (or, in this pandemic world, setting yourself up in a closet or room of your home) a few times, the rest of the star cast are likely to be back alongside him.
What will Po face this time? That’s still a mystery, but it’ll be something to test his bravery and skill as ever.
The franchise, in terms of movies alone, has earned more than $1.8 billion since its launch in 2008.
Jack Black in 2008’s ‘Kung Fu Panda.’
‘Kung Fu Panda’, which was directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, kicked off the story of Po (Black), a wide-eyed panda who is mostly known for being lazy and having a huge appetite. He’s also a massive fan of martial artists and dreams of fighting alongside the legendary Furious Five.
No-one is more surprised than he, then, when he’s selected as the hero who can defend the Valley of Peace.
He’ll need everything he’s learned and the help of those formidable warriors for help when the scheming snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) escapes prison and wreaks havoc on the valley.
Since then, Po and the Five have been on various adventures across the three movies and their stories have also spread to TV.
Nickelodeon has ‘Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness’, which features a different voice cast, while Netflix’s ‘Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight’ boasts the talents of Black, James Hong (as Po’s adoptive goose father, Mr. Ping) and Rita Ora.
And they were just the tip of the iceberg, as Po and co. have been plastered over toys, video games, books and theme park attractions.
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’
Looks like Lara Croft will be off on another different adventure.
According to a report in The Wrap, MGM has lost the rights to make future ‘Tomb Raider’ movies after failing to generate a sequel to 2018’s Alicia Vikander-starring film by a strict deadline.
The company had had until May of this year to flash the greenlight on a new movie, but since that time has come and gone, a bidding war is now likely as other studios look to put in bids to nab the chance to bring the character to screens.
Created by game company Core Design in 1996, the title allows players to control fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
‘Tomb Raider’ (and, later, ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’) became a giant hit and pop cultural sensation, with multiple games across various platforms and any number of spin-offs. Square Enix currently controls the rights.
While they were both solidly successful, the movie franchise lingered in limbo for years until MGM partnered up with GK Films to nab the rights in 2013 and began to plot its own version.
That came to fruition in 2018 with the more simply titled ‘Tomb Raider’ directed by Roar Uthaug and starring Vikander as Croft. The movie made $274.6 million worldwide, and while it wasn’t a giant hit, it was enough to spark sequel talk.
Yet while the next movie cycled through a couple of directors (British filmmaker Ben Wheatley, who has created the likes of ‘Free Fire’ and ‘Kill List’ was attached for a while, before being replaced by ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green), nothing moved forward at any real speed.
The latest development is perhaps not too shocking, since Vikander herself admitted that a recent corporate move hadn’t helped matters. “With the MGM and Amazon buyout, I have no clue. Now it’s kind of politics,” Vikander told ‘Entertainment Weekly a few days ago. “I think Misha and I have been ready, so it’s kind of in somebody else’s hands, to be honest.”
MGM didn’t comment at the time, but now we know why. And it looks like Vikander will also have to hand the character off to someone else, as she’s no longer attached to the movies.
We could theoretically see Paramount looking to grab the rights back and return to the world of Croft since it produced the 2000s movies. But it’s highly unlikely that Jolie would want to squeeze back into the famous shorts and tank top. Time for another new Croft…
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in 2018’s ‘Tomb Raider.’
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Paul Dano at London Special Screening of ‘The Batman.’
There is new intelligence to be found about ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, the TV adaptation of Doug Liman’s spy caper thriller that has Donald Glover co-starring and co-creating.
Originally released in 2005 and written by Simon Kinberg, the movie of ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith, a married couple whose relationship has succumbed to ennui. They’re a little surprised, then, to learn that they’re both assassins and that they’ve just been hired by competing agencies to take each other out – and not in a date night sense of the word.
Exact story details of the TV version – which will show up on Prime Video – are still being kept largely confidential, though it sounds like the series will follow the characters from a younger age to their movie counterparts, tracking as they’re hired by a spy agency and figuring out both married life and espionage.
Maya Erskine, one of the creators and stars of Hulu’s ‘Pen15’ is co-starring as Jane Smith, but the character assignments for the new recruits have yet to be revealed.
John Turturro at New York premiere of ‘The Batman.’ Photo Credit: Dave Allocca/Starpix.
Turturro needs little introduction, having carved a successful career as a character for years, appearing in a wide swathe of movies and directing some. Though he’s primarily been known for his big screen work, he’s recently been receiving praise for his performance on the Apple TV+ series ‘Severance’.
Dano, meanwhile, was most recently seen playing the Riddler in ‘The Batman’, facing off against Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader (the film also featured Turturro, though they didn’t share a scene). He’ll next show up in Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated, semi-autobiographical drama ‘The Fabelmans’, playing a character loosely based on the director’s father.
Coel, who is a rising star, might be best known for creating and starring in the limited series ‘I May Destroy You’. She pulled double duty on TV series ‘Chewing Gum’. Movie-wise, she has a role in Marvel’s upcoming ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, in theaters on November 11th.
Though it originally intended to reunite Glover with his ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and she jumped aboard to co-write with him, creative differences led to an amicable split and Waller-Bridge departing the series.
Francesca Sloane is aboard to run the show, having worked on the scripts with Glover, but there’s no word on who might be directing it just yet. And given that ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ is still in pre-production, Amazon is yet to assign it a premiere date.
(L to R) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2005’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith.’
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Drowning in too many characters, convoluted plotting and disappointingly bad visuals, Chloé Zhao’s ‘Eternals,’ based on comic book characters created by Jack Kirby in 1976, follows a group of immortal aliens who have spent the last seven thousand years protecting the humans of Earth from evil, primitive, animalistic creatures called Deviants. They seemingly accomplish their mission, forcing the Deviants into extinction. As the film progresses the group learns more about the true nature of their mission, the Deviants return, bigger and badder than ever, and the heroes must learn to face the most human of all traits: free will.
Zhao’s cast is filled with mostly character actors who finally get an A-list treatment. At the center is Gemma Chan as an empathetic Sersi who can manipulate matter through physical contact. Chan is an intriguing actress who often brings complex emotions to her characters, so the casting is apt, though unfortunately the film rarely allows her the time to feel like a true protagonist. Same goes for Richard Madden, as her sometime love interest Ikaris, who much like in Greek mythology can fly, but also harbors some dark secrets. Madden is all brooding looks, an immortal Superman-esque sadboy.
Much hype was made of Kumail Nanjiani‘s physical transformation as Kingo, who can shoot cosmic energy from his hands, and for the last hundred or so years, has built himself up as an acting dynasty in Bollywood. Nanjiani is the actor best suited for the witty banter that has become a trademark of the MCU, but much of his one-liners land flat amongst a cast ill-prepared to match him snap for snap. Bollywood mainstay Harish Patel often steals the show as Kingo’s manager Karun, who is effortlessly funny, yet also adds some much-needed poignancy to the film’s more emotionally urgent moments.
Brian Tyree Henry does the best he can as Phastos, a scientist and the MCU’s first openly queer character. It’s a pity that he has absolutely no chemistry with his on-screen husband, and is mostly strapped with fairly hetreonormative ideas of queer life. In perhaps the film’s most absolutely ill-conceived scene, not only does he blame his technology for the bombing of Hiroshima, Zhao shoots the sequence with him being comforted amongst the bleak, blasted remains of thousands of nameless Japanese.
Also, for a film touted as queer representation, Zhao’s insistence on pairing off all the Eternals into heteronormative couplings, as if the only outcome of spending thousands of years together is that the male-presenting and female-presenting immortal beings will eventually end up together, feels like a slap in the face. I’d almost rather go back to a sexless MCU than this aggressive heteronormativity.
The biggest disappointment in terms of untapped potential is Barry Keoghan as Druig, who can manipulate the minds of others. Keoghan is a once-in-a-generation presence on screen. There is currently no one doing unsettling like him, and you can see glimmers of what makes him such a beguiling presence on screen every so often. Yet it seems Zhao is determined to damper the unique energies of her performers, to turn down their shine until they all feel like a similar shade of bland.
Lia McHugh plays Sprite, a pixie who can project life-like illusions but is forever trapped in the body of a pre-teen girl. There’s an episode of ‘Highlander: The Series’ that is more nuanced in the way it explores what it’s like to be an immortal child, if you’re interested in seeing this story done well. We’ve also got the MCU’s first deaf character in Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), who can run really, really fast. That’s pretty much all we get to know about her. Also, she’s after some green tablet, but we never find out what its significance is.
Then there is Salma Hayek, at the helm of the group, as Ajak. She communicates with their leaders, the Celestials, and has hidden the true nature of their mission from the heroes. She’s also barely given anything to do beyond a few stern speeches to her team. How you waste a star like Hayek would be the biggest mystery in the film if it didn’t also star Angelina Jolie. How can you cast a star with her megawattage as Athena – here called simply Thena – the goddess of war, and make her so dull is truly one for the ages. Aiming for shell-shocked and wise, Jolie’s performance is undercut every time she begins to do something remotely interesting, as Zhao’s camera cuts away to something else. Even her connection with fellow Eternal Gilgamesh (Don Lee) is so undercooked it’s hard to see why he’d sacrifice anything for her, and later why she’d be moved to seek revenge for him.
Hampered by too many characters, the plot is equally underdeveloped beyond the major beats. After learning the true purpose of their existence, suddenly our heroes have a ticking clock set before the actual end of the world. This is where American exceptionalism becomes human exceptionalism, and the safety of our planet is weighed as more important than thousands of other civilizations waiting to be born. Okay. Sure. I guess that makes sense when all the terrible things humans have actually done to the planet, like the melting of the ice caps, are easily explained away by the Celestials’ actions. It’s easier to see us as better than we are when there’s a big bad out there in space actually to blame.
More disappointing than any of the ham-fisted plotting or underdeveloped characterization, is the filmmaking itself. The stunning compositions and natural light that permeate Zhao’s earlier films made with long-time cinematographer Joshua James Richards are rendered flat under the weight of the Marvel house style, mostly lensed by Ben Davis. Even the shots in South Dakota have none of the majesty we know Zhao and Richards have brought to the location in the past. How everything that felt fresh and unique and uncompromising in her earlier films is completely lacking in this film serves as a testament to how important the collaboration between director and cinematographer can truly be.
Ultimately, ‘Eternals’ is a story about how empathy is the greatest strength of all, unfortunately that lesson is hampered by the physical strength-based action set pieces on which the MCU has built its style. One can only hope this is a failure solely based on Zhao being the wrong filmmaker to work within the confines of the Marvel machine, and not a sign of things to come from her in the future.
