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.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Ha, and you thought I forgot!

I got the 1 in 14 million and whatever the hell it was, and finally got to see the new Doctor Strange. I was pretty happy with what I got, had some things that could definitely be improved but overall a very good and enjoyable film. Now as you will see through my history, I haven't reviewed a Marvel movie since Endgame so I have no clue what transpires for Peter Parker after Homecoming. With that in mind, let's continue. So we pick up some time after No Way Home as Stephen is more or less dropped into this plot of a young girl who can traverse the multiverse and has to keep her safe from evil forces wanting to take her power, now obviously with such a mindwarping thing as the multiverse there is clearly going to be more than that. Which is one aspect I highly applaud, it is a multiverse of madness, it goes apeshit and gets wild quick which is what I loved most about the world of Doctor Strange, it cannonballs into the deep end of fantastical, escapist, beautiful nonsense and easily were my favorite parts of the film. Now there is one instance where I absolutely can see people getting pissed off and agravated at, but at the same time this does deal with alternate realities so I can excuse the stuff that doesn't work because that is how that universe works, it works in the film's favor. However what did not work for me is Wanda. Yeah, we're walking down this street again. However. However, Elizabeth Olsen's acting in this...10/10! She nails it, she's spectacular, she is not f***ing about, and I feel I need to make this point clear with my reviews. I don't hold grudges or hatred toward actors unless they have done some shittastic things in life, when I have a severe problem with a character, I have an issue with exactly that. The character. I could have written Wanda clean out of this movie and you wouldn't miss much besides a very strong performance, in fact it kinda drags WandaVision down even further for me. I never hated the Scarlet Witch until recently, so those parts actually took me out of the movie. The cast do very good work, and I like seeing them all again even with our new characters. I have no idea why but I just really loved that Wong was Sorcerer Supreme instead of Strange, it just made me happy. It almost feels odd to have Strange in his own film all the way through, I think he contracted a heavy case of sidekick-neosis but they focus on him in the right way and it reminded me of why I was pumped to see this. But the best of the best, man let me tell you what, Sam Raimi. God to the hell damn yes, this visual style...mm, it's sublime! Visuals alone, not just effects which were ropey at times but ultimately strong, but direction, framing, cinematography, editing, is king of the hill where this movie is concerned. I got a healthy bit of Evil Dead style, some highly recognizable Spider-Man moments, and he utilized the visuals to the best potential. Well done sir. And this movie actually reinforced something I was thinking about on my way to see it, I was having a rough day where nothing seemed to be going as planned, really got me bummed out man but on my way to the theater I was very happy because I got out of work and it was a lovely day and I was finally able to do the thing I like doing the most. You can't stress about that shit, life goes on man. Bad days pass, trials and tribulations end, and you still get to move on and enjoy something. 3 stars, a high 7.5/10 close to an 8, but still a recommended movie. Whew, what a week. You Marvel fans are superhuman I swear.