“Eternals” is turning into an unmitigated critical disaster for Chloe Zhao. She should have never signed up for this movie. It was a peculiar decision on her part from the very beginning.
As it stands, Zhao’s “Eternals” has a 54 on Metacritic, this places it slightly behind the worst reviewed MCU movies, “Thor: Dark World,” (52) “Iron Man 2,” (53). Meanwhile, its 57 score over at Rotten Tomatoes makes it the worst-reviewed MCU movie of all-time.
It’s not like I was big fan of “Nomadland,” but at least it was an artful and risk-taking venture for her. Her previous efforts, “The Rider” and “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” were superior and beautifully made. She has talent. You’d think Zhao would decide to go back to her indie roots next (“Nomadland,” “The Rider”), but no, her next film will be a “Dracula” reboot.
I’ll say what other critics don’t want to even utter at the moment: Zhao has sold out. She’s been sucked by the big studio machine and there might be no looking back.l on her part.