Kevin Smith Reviews Eternals: "It Was Chunky"

By Nicole Drum

Marvel Studios' latest film to hit theaters, Eternals, continues to perform well at the box office with the film having crossed $300 million at the global box office, but even with the success of the film, there are some criticisms. The film is the worst-rated in the MCU on Rotten Tomatoes with one of the criticisms being its length. Now, filmmaker and pop culture fan Kevin Smith is weighing in with his thoughts on Eternals and he, too, has thoughts about the film's length. During a recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast with Marc Bernardin, Smith described the film as "chunky".

"Eternals I went to see while I was in Vancouver and you know, that's one of those movies too that I was like 'this movie doesn't have to be as long as it is'," Smith said. "It's a beautiful movie and Chloe is a far better director than I'll ever be so this ain't about that. It's just it was chunky. Two and a half hours, you know. Bring it in, man. I just don't understand. As a filmmaker, and not that I've ever had this choice, but I would rather give somebody like a non-stop 90-minute movie than a two-and-a-half-hour movie that lets people like, you know, their minds wander or something like that."

Smith went on to praise elements of the film, such as the film's "gorgeous" look as well as the performances noting that it had no weak links. He just asserted that his big criticism is that the film is very long and deals with characters that he simply isn't as invested in as he is other Marvel characters, such as the Avengers. For Smith, being invested in the characters would have made the length of the film more tolerable, as was the case with Avengers: Endgame which was longer than Eternals by just over 20 minutes.

Smith's comments are fairly well-rounded, but overall, Marvel Studios doesn't appear to be too bothered by the critical reviews for Eternals more generally. Marvel Studios executive Victoria Alonso recently referenced the reviews during a recent appearance at the Outfest Legacy Awards and said it's "okay."

"We have tried to stir it up and sometimes the critics are not with us," Alonso said. "That's okay. That's okay. We thank you for being a critic. We thank you for writing about us. And the fans will decide."

Eternals is in theaters now.

What did you think of Eternals? Do you agree with Smith's description of the film as "chunky"? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid! 

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