One of the craziest Rotten Tomatoes stories in recent memories has to be the rise and fall of Wonder Woman 1984 last December. The movie hit the review aggregator with overwhelmingly positive reviews and was "Certified Fresh" before it fell from grace with a wave of negative verdicts that ultimately sent it to "Rotten" status with 58% and a completely different Critics Consensus.
Watching Eternals' score is proving to be every bit as dramatic; after debuting in the 70s, we've seen the latest Marvel Studios movie's percentage slowly reduce, becoming the lowest-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe release on the site (behind Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 2).
After briefly dropping to "Rotten" status over the weekend with 59%, Eternals has now slipped to 58% with 143 reviews. There are still plenty more to be counted, but it's clear now the movie will go one way or the other. Ultimately, box office is what matters, and a 61% score certainly didn't hurt Venom: Let There Be Carnage. However, a "Rotten" verdict isn't the sort of press Marvel Studios will want during opening weekend, and that could lead to a decrease in interest from moviegoers.
"An ambitious superhero epic that soars as often as it strains," reads the current Critics Consensus, "Eternals takes the MCU in intriguing -- and occasionally confounding -- new directions."
Marvel Studios has been untouchable with critics until now, and it's a shame a movie like Eternals - that appears to bring a lot of fresh ideas and diversity to the MCU - has been rejected in this way. Fan screenings start tomorrow, while the movie will begin rolling out in theaters on Thursday evening. Needless to say, seeing how regular fans respond to this adventure should be very interesting.