Without spoiling anything, some of the shots in No Way Home are among the most iconic I've seen in any superhero film past or present. And the sheer amount of (justified) fan service in that movie was so, so satisfying.I'm glad you enjoyed it. For me, it just felt really unfocused. There were just so many elements and time periods and settings to that film that it felt like it could've worked infinitely better as an 8-to-10 episode TV series. I could picture each era they briefly flashback to as a whole (or half) episode. The abrupt change in tone as they cut to Kingo's introduction (the Bollywood sequence) is an example of a perfect place where a new episode would've begun. The Deviant villain had barely any time or space to develop, nor did Sprite's longing to be human, nor did Thena's sickness. They were such small parts of the movie that, by the climax, they ended up feeling like mere handicaps to stop the Eternals from winning as easily. Heck, they had so many characters to deal with by the end, that Kingo literally leaves for the third-act.
I also had small annoyances like the shot where Phastos was building the Uni-Mind, and the shot was backlit, so you couldn't see the glow the Uni-Mind was emanating, making the frame look flat. The score was also unmemorable for large parts of the films, especially in the action scenes.
So, despite Chloe Zhao's best efforts to dress the film with atmosphere and weight, it was ultimately a script that I felt bit way more than it could chew, which failed to make all its parts seem crucial and/or rich to me. I did love a lot of the cinematography and design. I especially love how they almost always shot the Celestials in an upward angle to emphasise their size, and I love the harsh lighting they used any time they were in space, which would be scientifically accurate. Lauren Ridloff was also a clear standout as Makkari, and I think a lot of her action beats were some of the best we've seen from a speedster in a while. Ultimately, though, I think bringing it to Disney+ would've been the better move. But, now that we have the weight of their origin story out of the way, we'll see how they move on from here.
P.S. 'Agree with you on No Way Home. 'One of those films where even its writers have agreed that the story logic (or conceit) barely holds together, but, man, was it worth it for all the emotion and thrills it brought to the screen.
Fully agree that Eternals would have made a better TV show. Way too much crammed in to the runtime, and too much skipped over to keep the story moving along.
Thank you for the wonderful list! I know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow 
