In Retrospect: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Please for the love of all that is magic, I better not have to wait another 6 years for the next Doctor Strange movie.




Not to say of course the wait wasn't worth it, I still very much enjoy Multiverse Of Madness but my opinion hasn't changed much since seeing it opening day. I think the movie has a solid plot that moves at a very good pace but I would have edited the sequence of scenes slightly different. Not really sure why there were so many fade to black moments like a made for TV movie but whatever, it doesn't hurt the film. What I did notice more this time around is, I would definitely say this is a movie that furthers the character arc of Stephen Strange. Obviously there was a big shift from the beginning to the end of the first film, but this movie progresses it even further with Stephen being more accepting of his emotions toward Christine, seeing other Doctor Strange's mistakes and learning from it, to be content with the life he has rather than substitute it for something "perfect". In fact the scene with Wong during the resolution I felt was immeasurably life affirming and something I'll take to my grave. Still feel completely apathetic to Wanda, hell more like I'm just over her shit and and have this contempt for her in all honesty. I'm sure I was supposed to see this as some horrible tragedy, that this character keeps losing and losing ones she cares about leading her to do some terrible shit but sorry (not really sorry at all though), she aggravates me. Which is beyond weird because my whole shtick is I'm a mark for villains, villains are infinitely more engaging and interesting than some goody two-shoed heroic ponce, but that is not so much the case for Marvel movies with ever so slight exception. But at the exact same time, I feel both this and Wandavision are more almost cautionary tales about living in denial when your reality faces a crushing blow and how you have to move on and better yourself, I understand that perfectly but woman.....GET OVER IT! Jesus H. jumping Christ on a fucking pogo stick! Elizabeth, may I call you Liz, you are acting your heart out here and performed amazingly, like strongest performance in this movie hands down! But oh my lord I cannot stand this character in any way. Awesome to see Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, though a small part it is I hope we get to see him again soon. As for other familiar faces, let's discuss that shall we? So, did Marvel create the Illuminati? Cause I might need to punch them in the face for doing so, fuck your conspiracy theories and fuck your secret societies even harder. Humans. Why am I stuck with humans? I'm sure this was a pants jizzingly big moment for Marvel fans and while it was pretty awesome to see Professor Xavier in the yellow dodgem transport thingy, I can't fully attest my amazement at the other members, they were just kinda there. I can understand the sentiment however of introducing so many fan favorite characters for them to be axed not 10 minutes later, I know in the grand scheme of multiverses and the MCU it really doesn't matter much but even I was kinda surprised and a touch disappointed at that turn of events. But I got way more positive things out of this than negatives for sure, from magic casting and dimension jumping to overall direction and character moments, it still stands firm and easily is one of my favorites of this franchise that I sense is significantly losing steam. It only took 15 goddamn years apparently. DC isn't holding much high ground either at this point, I'll be amazed if even Shazam 2 gets to theaters at this point. I'm pretty much turning my back on comic book movies these days, I'll stick with the older movies and call it quits. And on that disappointing bombshell it is time to end, very good movie that I still give a 7.5/10 to, and I will catch you tomorrow.

Second Viewing: Doctor Strange

Not my second viewing, but I couldn't think of a better title.

I can't believe how well this works as a standalone movie. Let's set the wayback machine to 4 years ago, I've seen two MCU movies, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, I hear tale of a movie with Benedict Cumberbatch and Mads Mikkelsen two of my favorite actors. The film is called Doctor Strange and the Marvel movies are barely on my radar, but I seek out the movie anyway and review it opening day, my opinions have not changed since then. This is still a high favorite of mine in the MCU, but going back to it after I've digested all this knowledge and inner continuity between films it works incredibly well as a standalone film. Sure Thor pops up at the end but the story and events are pretty disconnected from the other movies so perhaps it was just good fortune that this was the movie I watched above all others. And I felt it would be wrong not to talk about every film in this series even if I have done reviews on it before, and the same will go for Black Panther when we reach that. But Doctor Strange is still a very good movie, it's one of the most interesting, original, and entertaining movies of the series and one of only 2 Marvel movies I own on video. So obviously that out of the blue desire to see it left an impression. And what a perfect catalyst for me as a viewer, almost placed in Stephen Strange's shoes, a normal guy who gets thrust into this impossibly and infinitely large universe as he learns his way about it, now that holds even more meaning now that I've been viewing every one of these movies. Boy did my reaction mirror his when the term Infinity Stone was brought up, that could not have went more over my head if you shot it past the moon. This is a great beginner film for anybody wanting to get into these movies, maybe even more so than the very early films like Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk, I mean hell all you gotta do is turn it off when credits roll and boom, perfect cold opening. I like the villains, the visual style is mesmerizing at times, it doesn't rush things, the characters are easily understandable and have good writing to them, screw it I'm gonna say it. Despite my strong feelings towards certain entries, Doctor Strange upon rewatch is my favorite of the Marvel movies. Is it due to change? Quite possibly! We still have 9 movies left before the end, so it is entirely feasible that this could be toppled. I've written plenty about this movie so for my extended thoughts I have two seperate entries for you to read up on, but the bottom line is this is a very good movie, one of the best in the series (so far), and always a treat to watch again. 4 stars, 8/10! The Guardians Of The Galaxy returns tomorrow so let's see what wild shenanigans it has in store for us.

In Retrospect: Doctor Strange

More magic filled movies, what's not to like?

Doctor Strange might well be my favorite Marvel movie of all time, I mean it's got Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, a great retelling of an origin story, outstanding effects, surprisingly philosophical and spiritual overtones, all done so well. It's a really good movie, and the one good thing I can say about most Marvel movies is the fact almost every movie is a standalone movie. You don't need to watch all the movies from Iron Man to Doctor Strange, you could just watch Doctor Strange! Skip the after credits scene, and voila! A solid superhero movie that stands alone. The story is very interesting, mainly just due to the fact of Stephen Strange's training in the mystic arts. Doctor Strange, the only superhero who got powers from reading books. All jokes aside, it is the best part of the story in my opinion, and yes while the rest of the story is fine, that was the part that still grabs me and pulls me into the movie. All the main actors do great jobs, and the comedy didn't actually grate on me that much this viewing around. Not sure why, maybe I just accepted it and moved past it, knowing damn well there is nothing I can do to change it, so why complain? The really bad part is, I looked up the full list of films in the Marvel cinematic universe, and there was only....3 I would watch, and only one in the future that I want to see. Now granted, I'm not much of a Marvel fan, I hardly know anything about characters or certain stories first hand, 99% of my knowledge stems from comic reviews and these movies. But I will admit I do want to read the Doctor Strange comics from the 60s just to see what it was all like. Beyond that, it's just another Marvel movie but a damn good one that I can safely say I will enjoy in the future.

Alright, that's enough In Retrospects for awhile and this Friday it will be a new movie in theaters. Until then, catch you later on down the trail.

Doctor Strange

Wow. Okay, first Marvel movie I have seen since Iron Man 2. Boy howdy was that different.

Doctor Strange, very good superhero movie based off of a lesser known Marvel character, how does it hold up? Well it's no secret the visuals in this movie are brilliant, with colors, and patterns, and psychedelics creating a truly mind bending experience. Casting was quite good, Benedict Cumberbatch is a no brainer in my head for a hero like Doctor Strange, although he's very Sherlock in places which makes me laugh that much more, Mads Mikkelsen was a treat to watch as always, dare I say those are the main reasons that I wanted to see this movie. It's not a big surprise that I am mainly a DC fan and not a Marvel fan, obviously I have been several years late to this cinematic universe, so I was trying to acclimate myself to this with mostly sound success. I sympathized with Stephen, was interested by the magic, blown away by the visuals, liked the mythos, but sometimes...the comedy just rubbed me the wrong way. Now I get it, Marvel is very lighthearted, it cracks jokes, I get that but there is a difference between comedic relief and shattering the mood. Several times I got thrown off, just by the excess humor during what should be a serious scene. Is that a thing in most Marvel movies nowadays? Cause...we might be having problems with that. I appreciate humor, I laughed several times, but they need to work on balancing humor and drama. I'm not saying it should be completely serious and dark, far from it, just tone it down a bit. Beyond that one little issue, I enjoyed the movie. It's not going to make me a Marvel fanboy, I barely stayed past the credits, I know, blasphemy!! Heretic! Don't care that much! The story was well put together following a very Cumberbatch surgeon (Is that a noun now? That should be a noun.) who following a brutal car crash, has lost the ability to use his hands. He seeks a man who has overcome an impossible medical disability who tells him to search for a temple. He travels there and slowly learns more about everything he knows about life is merely microscopic compared to the innerworkings of the multiverse. He learns spells, fights corrupt magic users, and even throws down with a multi-dimensional conqueror of worlds. It's pretty thrilling. Final sum up, go see this movie if you are interested. I know I was and am quite happy to have seen it, so I say go for it. You never know what you may learn...