Eternals Was No “Love Letter” to Jack Kirby

 by Ray Keating

Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 30, 2022

 

Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, declared the MCU movie Eternals to be a “love letter” to Jack Kirby, the great comic book artist and writer who created The Eternals, along with creating or co-creating a host of other Marvel characters, from Captain America to the Fantastic Four.

 

Unfortunately, the Eternals movie is anything but a love letter to Kirby.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November, at the premiere of Eternals, Feige, referring to Kirby, said, “The whole movie is a love letter to what one man was able to do with a pencil, sitting at a little desk on the East Coast.”

 

The Eternals arrived from Marvel Comics in July 1976. I probably read the books when they were first published, but I confess to not recalling if I did or not. So, I just finished reading (re-reading?) Kirby’s run on The Eternals. This is not Kirby’s best story work by any means. It’s uneven, with some inspired moments and others that just fall flat. However, as is almost always the case with Kirby, the artwork is strong and dramatic, and has something of a cinematic quality to it. It’s easy to see how Feige or others at Marvel Studios thought it would be a good idea to bring The Eternals to the big screen, despite the fact that the books largely fell into the unread category for many, if not most, comic book readers.

 

Unfortunately, the film in almost every way is indifferent to or ignorant of Kirby’s work. 

 

As noted in my DisneyBizJournal review, Eternals came up short in so many ways, such as flat characters; mostly poor performances (though with exceptions); contradictions and nonsensical moments in the story and for certain characters; poor special effects; and supposed attempts to deal with big issues that simply come off as immature and embarrassing.

And if this weren’t bad enough, any real link to Jack Kirby’s work is nonexistent. The moviemakers use the names of Kirby’s characters, but that’s pretty much it. There’s no resemblance between the original comic book characters and those in the movie. Debate and complaints always seem to materialize when characters from comic books are presented on the silver screen. More often than not, however, the debate or complaints are over matters of degree. For example, the 2013 Man of Steel movie still generates debate over certain actions by Superman, but there’s no mistaking that this is Superman. That’s definitely not the case with the Eternals movie. It’s hard to find characters in the movie grounded in any substantive way with Kirby’s original characters. Indeed, most of this is quite egregious on the part of the filmmakers, including a dramatic change in Ikaris, who serves as the central hero in Kirby’s books but is presented as something quite different in the movie. If Warner Brothers had done to Superman what Marvel Studios did to Ikaris, I hate to think what Superman fans would have done. Luckily for the MCU, few knew who Ikaris was going into the theater. Of course, Jack Kirby certainty understood the characters he created, and it’s hard to believe that he would have seen the Eternals film as some kind of love letter.

 

Finally, one of the most damning issues for a movie, though, is that the pages of The Eternals drawn by Jack Kirby possess more cinematic magic than does the actual Eternals movie seen in cinemas. The Eternals was far from Jack Kirby’s best work, yet those comic books still beat the Eternals movie.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Get more out of 2022 with The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution! It combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more. Also, “The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution” comes with a handy spiral binding for easy use. 

 

Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13^th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Again, get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – grab it at Amazon.com or signed editions at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Marvel Movies Saved the 2021 Box Office

 by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 11, 2022

 

Superheroes saved the 2021 box office – specifically, Marvel heroes did so.

 

The pandemic obviously has devastated the movie theater business, and while the 2021 domestic (U.S. and Canada) box office take was double what was earned in 2020, the numbers remained well off the pre-pandemic 2019 level.

In fact, the $4.58 billion earned in domestic movie ticket sales in 2021 registered the same level as was garnered in 1992, according to the Hollywood Reporter. However, that fails to factor inflation into the equation, meaning that the 2021 earnings were even less than the 1992 take in real terms.

 

Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the 2021 domestic box office was off by 60 percent.

 

As for a studio breakdown, CNBC noted that Disney led the way with 26 percent of the 2021 box office, followed by Sony’s 23 percent.

But let’s be clear, it was the Marvel Cinematic Universe that truly ruled. Five of the top six movies in terms of domestic gross were MCU movies, with three from Disney and two from Sony.

 

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) topped all domestic earners with $573 million, followed by $225 million for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney), $213 million for Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony), $184 million for Black Widow (Disney), and $165 million for Eternals (Disney). 

 

That tallies up to 30 percent of the 2021 domestic box office for MCU films. 

 

By the way, the Sony MCU movies outgrossed the Disney MCU films - $786 for Sony’s and $574 for Disney’s.

 

As for the other top films, F9: The Fast Saga was number five at the domestic box office (Universal at $173 million) and number seven was the James Bond film No Time to Die (United Artists at $161 million).

 

So, we’ve learned (or relearned) a couple of things about movies during a pandemic. First, big blockbusters (in particular, superhero blockbusters) will draw some audiences into theaters – mainly, younger moviegoers. 

 

Second, non-blockbuster, more adult-oriented movies, if you will, are having a very tough time, including The Last Duel (Disney’s 20th Century Studios) and West Side Story (Disney’s 20th Century Studios), which were both excellent. Part of this, no doubt, is less willingness among older moviegoers to sit in theaters while pandemic issues still rage on. To be less generous, such films also require more of an attention span than what might be needed for at least some superhero movies.

 

What does any of this mean post-pandemic? Speculation can, and has, run in all kinds of directions, but the safest take is that the pandemic has accelerated a shift among consumers to viewing more content at home. However, the degree of this shift and what it will mean for movies being released in theaters remains anyone’s guess at this point in time. The general direction of greater in-home viewing is great for consumers (who are ultimately driving the trend), and for content creators who are seeing and will continue to see increasing opportunities to create via streaming services.

 

But as anyone in the buggy whip industry would have told you with the arrival of the internal combustion engine, when these kinds of upheavals of innovation dramatically alter the economic landscape, matters of survival emerge for businesses who were entrenched in doing things the old ways. This all points to theater owners facing considerable challenges in creating an environment that will get people off their couches and into theaters.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Get more out of 2022 with The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution! It combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more. Also, “The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution” comes with a handy spiral binding for easy use. 

 

Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13^th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Again, get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – grab it at Amazon.com or signed editions at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Best MCU Movie Since “Endgame”

 by Ray Keating

Review (SPOILER FREE)

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 23, 2021

 

DisneyBizJournal.com Movie Rating: 4 stars out of 5

DisneyBizJournal.com Box Office Rating:  $$$$ out of $$$$

 

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has to grow up, and moviegoers are enjoying, and should enjoy, going with Peter Parker on nearly all of the 148 minutes of this journey. In fact, Spider-Man: No Way Home ranks as the best MCU movie since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

 

Unfortunately, given dubious recent endeavors, one has to actually pause to give a thumbs up to the filmmakers – director Jon Watts, and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers – for simply serving up a blockbuster story that makes sense, and isn’t riddled by story and/or character inconsistencies. 

Thankfully, though, No Way Home goes well beyond such barebones expectations. While the film starts off kind of pokey, moviegoers soon find themselves immersed in a story jammed with consequences, and packed with so many emotional wallops that I eventually lost count. (Writing a spoiler-free review of this movie is a mighty challenge.)

 

Watery eyes and a tear here and there were part of the viewing experience. There’s also a nice amount of humor sprinkled in, but a marked step up in wit and quips from some other recent efforts. Indeed, No Way Home is that rare superhero movie that is rich in both laughs and tears.

 

There’s a lot going on in this film, and that isn’t something to be criticized, but instead, it’s worth savoring.

 

Along the way, there’s plenty of action one expects from a superhero movie, but notably improved upon compared to recent MCU films like Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Unlike those two previous movies, even during times of mayhem the CGI holds up in No Way Home. This is rip-roaring good stuff.

 

No Way Home also rates as a full movie in a way that perhaps some other superhero films come up a bit short, including, to a certain degree, the previous Tom Holland Spider-Man movies – Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far from Home. That is, Peter Parker/Spider-Man goes on a full character arch, with game-changing consequences to decisions and actions along the way.

 

Finally, No Way Home serves up a more traditional – in the best sense of the word – take on superheroes and what they’re supposed to be about, that is, trying to do the right thing, trying to save others, and sometimes having to sacrifice to achieve such lofty goals. Yes, with great power comes great responsibility.

 

As for the business side of No Way Home, this film is turning out to be the biggest box-office hit of 2021. As of this writing (December 23), the film, which was released in the U.S. on December 17, had hit a global box office of $751 million.

 

It looks likely that No Way Home will top $1 billion during the Christmas weekend. That will make it the first and probably the only 2021 release to top the billion-dollar mark – and deservedly so. 

 

With a reported production budget of $200 million, that’s quite a Christmas gift for Sony, as well as for Disney and Marvel in that No Way Home is proving that audiences aren’t growing tired of superhero movies, and specifically, MCU movies. But given the under-performance of Eternals, for example, perhaps audiences are ramping up their demands for higher quality superhero movies. We can all hope that is the case.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

For you and a great gift! The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution is here! It combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more. Also, “The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution” comes with a handy spiral binding for easy use. 

 

Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13^th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Again, get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – grab it at Amazon.com or signed editions at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

“Dune” Lightyears Better than “Eternals”

 by Ray Keating

Review and Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

November 13, 2021

 

My expectations ran high for both Eternals and Dune when heading into the movie theater. Those expectations actually were exceeded with Dune. Unfortunately, Eternals turned out to be a gross disappointment, and as a result, the movie added fuel to a troubling trend emerging with recent Marvel projects.

Of course, both films have faced box office challenges with the ongoing struggle to emerge from the pandemic, as well as Dune being offered immediately via online streaming on HBO Max and Eternals expected to move rather quickly to Disney+ (perhaps just before Christmas). Dune opened domestically on October 22, and as of November 11 on BoxOfficeMojo.com, it had still taken in $332.6 million globally. After opening on November 5, Eternals registered $170.9 million worldwide. It is worth noting that the Eternals’ opening weekend domestic take came in behind the other pandemic-era MCU releases, that is, Black Widow at $80 million (along with an announced $60 million on Disney+), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at $75 million, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage at an inexplicable $90 million.

 

As for critics and audiences, on RottenTomatoes.com, Eternals has earned a woeful 47 percent critics score, with audiences coming in at 80 percent. Meanwhile, Dune has scored well with both critics (83 percent) and audiences (90 percent).

 

In general, I think that the critics got both right.

 

Dune ranks as sci-fi/fantasy done right. It’s a visually rich, immersive story, with interesting characters. The film offers hints of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and Lawrence of Arabia. The cast is spot on, and the director, Denis Villeneuve, gets fine performances out of each actor, including some who have not showed such abilities before, like Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista.

 

Throughout the film, my mind never wandered to thinking about when this would be over, but rather wanting the movie to go on, and pondering where the characters were headed and the implications of their actions. And given the ending, I found myself thinking that Legendary and Warner Brothers better greenlight a sequel with Villeneuve at the helm, and thankfully, they have. 

 

In contrast, Eternals was a bloated, uninteresting story, with characters that largely were flat, along with most of the performances.

 

And unlike Dune, Eternals was plagued by story points that made little sense, including glaringly contradictory moments for assorted characters (such as Richard Madden’s Ikaris, not to mention that his ending was way too on the nose).

 

Amazingly, there are some out there arguing that Eternals isn’t getting the love it deserves because fans are unwilling to deal with big issues being brought up in a superhero movie. My immediate reaction to such assertions is to laugh – and to be perfectly clear, to laugh mockingly. Big issues? The writers and director, Chloe Zhao, seemed to be striving to present some deep moral quandaries over which the characters and audience were meant to wrestle. Alas, though, these so-called big issues amounted to shallow or meaningless situations seemingly dreamed up by a group of college students believing that they had great insights on matters that in reality they possessed little or no knowledge of in the end. The so-called moral quandaries served up in the Eternals spoke more to the obtuseness of the filmmakers, at best, or to their amorality.

 

It also needs to be pointed out that the more the MCU goes in on CGI effects, the worse the results seem to get. Though not as bad as the end scenes in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings or what was offered in Captain Marvel, several of the scenes in Eternals came across more like crude animation, as opposed to interesting and/or immersive CGI.

 

Interestingly, the character and performance that turned out to be the most interesting in Eternalswas Angelina Jolie as Thena. Here was a troubled character whose challenges and reactions made sense, and there was some life to Jolie’s performance. Don Lee also was pretty good as Gilgamesh, and Kumail Nanjiani had amusing moments as Kingo, though most didn’t fit with where the story was at the time.

 

Regarding how the Eternals fits into the MCU, part of my high expectations going in could be attributed to an assumption or hope that this film would break the recent trend in MCU entries being poor-to-middling. WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had moments on Disney+, but came up miserably short in the end, while Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings were middling MCU movies (with Black Widow coming in ahead of Shang-Chi). The LokiDisney+ series has been the lone major MCU standout really since Avengers: Endgame. 

 

Eternals was supposed to get the MCU back to interesting, exciting and compelling storytelling and characters, devoid of plot holes and character inconsistencies. But that disappointingly was not the case.

 

My thoughts at the end of Eternals were pretty much the exact opposite of what I experienced with Dune. I was thankful that Eternals was over, and rather than wondering what would come next for the characters, I was left wondering where the heck the MCU was heading – and not in a good way.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Great Christmas Gift! The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution is here! It combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement and fun for Disney fans, including those who love Mickey, Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, princesses and more. Also, “The Disney Planner 2022: The TO DO List Solution” comes with a handy spiral binding for easy use. 

 

Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13^th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Again, get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story – grab it at Amazon.com or signed editions at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

Disney Announces New Movie Release Schedule

 by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 23, 2020

 

The Walt Disney Company announced a new movie release schedule, with Black Widow among the films getting rescheduled.

Black Widow is being shifted from November 6, 2020, to May 7, 2021. As for other moves among the current Marvel Studios slate, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings goes from May 7, 2021, to July 9, 2021; and Eternals moves from February 12, 2021, to November 5, 2021. Remaining in place, as far as we know, are Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022; and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Also, Black Panther 2 was scheduled for May 6, 2022, and officially remains there even with the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman.

 

As for other Disney films, the following moves have been made to release dates for 20^th Century Studios releases: The Empty Man is now scheduled for October 23, 2020 (actually moved back from December 4, 2020); Death on the Nile was moved from October 9, 2020, to December 18, 2020; The King’s Man is now scheduled for February 12, 2021 (also moved back from February 26, 2021); Deep Water moved from November 13, 2020, to August 13, 2021; The Last Duel went from January 8, 2021, to October 15, 2021.

 

And Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story (also 20th Century Studios) was pushed back a year – from December 18, 2020, to December 10, 2021.

 

Pixar’s Soul remained at November 20, 2020.

 

While these moves are not surprising given the ongoing pandemic challenges, it’s nonetheless brutal news for movie theaters.

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

Also, get the paperback or Kindle edition of Ray Keating’s new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York.