Best Costumes – Eternals
If there’s any movie that crumbled under the weight of itself, it’s Chloé Zhao’s Eternals. Giving us what was supposed to be like an Avengers movie, across history, with characters we’d never met, proved to be too much. Still, while Eternals was being destroyed critically, at least it looked good while it was happening.
As well as some stunning visuals, Eternals wowed with its costumes – giving each of those rockin’ robots their own style. While Fox’s X-Men movies and the MCU have largely steered away from team costumes, at least the Eternals felt cohesive with their matching garments.
The outfits are the work of costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ, who gave Charles Xavier’s gifted youngsters their suits in X-Men: First Class. Differ hyped the elemental feel of each costume, and while Eternals fell short of expectations, the outfits made each member unique.
Best Cinematography – Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange has always been an “out-there” member of Marvel comics, and when he got his own MCU movie, it made the trippy 1978 TV movie look like a snoozefest. Going where the MCU hadn’t gone before, 2016’s Doctor Strange pushed the envelope regarding technology and cinematography.
Effectively a superhero version of Inception at times, Scott Derrickson’s movie looked glorious in IMAX. Before it was released, Doctor Strange was described as Marvel’s answer to Fantasia and we have to agree. Cinematographer Ben Davis said he was inspired by the psychedelic artwork of M. C. Escher – whose influence you can see throughout.
Strange still retained the swinging ‘60s style of his origin while moving with the times and adding just a dash of The Matrix. Aside from its 2022 sequel, the MCU really hasn’t done anything like it.
