‘Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness’ (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, 2022) has arrived in theaters after a one-year delay, which has made the Marvel Cinematic Universe not the same as when the The premiere was originally expected in May 2021. Now we know the same as Loki in the multiverse, and we saw that in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ it was shown all the potential of the concept to please the most unthinkable fan fantasies.
In Sam Raimi’s new play, we have the appearance of benedict cumberbatch beside elizabeth olsen with a pinch of terror to the Marvel formula, giving an odd twist to what is another movie designed to be a box office hit. It is far from what the statements of those involved had promised and, as expected, the risks it takes are not too terrifying or risky at the level of cinematographic approach. Scott Derrickson’s opaque departure is further explained now, as much as Kevin Feige denies the older one.
However, once that illusion of Marvel doing something outside its comfort zone has been shaken, it must be recognized that since ‘Avengers: Endgame’ they had not achieved such a round and dynamic film, fun from start to finish, despite the fact that the CGI has become a plasticine anything goes to create its worlds, characters and variations that has created a layer of disbelief in which what happens does not impact in the same way as in more modest films. However, despite excesses of “lava effect” and other evils of the current pixel, the signing of Sam Raimi is much more noticeable than it seems.
A partir de aquí SPOILERS de la trama y revelaciones
After more than a decade and dozens of movies and TV shows, the last thing Marvel needs is to make life more complicated. And yet, ‘Doctor Strange 2’ manages to incorporate all the experience into a clear plot, a mixture of backgrounds and a lot of new characters within a story that is already complicated by its fantastic nature, which in the hands of director Sam Raimi, becomes a perfectly balanced balance of eccentricity, human drama and a neat narrative linesomething not as simple as it seems.
Far from the promised horror, but great dark fantastic cinema
And it is that Raimi, let us take into account his personal creations and his obsessions, is above all, a great director. His latest film can be blamed for a certain reluctance in interior scenes, counter-shot conversations and lighting or photography typical of a television series at short distances, as if it had not been directed by the same director as other scenes. The ghost of the reshoots appears in fragments that do not seem as polished as other intimate momentslike that subjective close-up from the glass of Strange’s watch at the end, which in addition to bearing the Raimi stamp, seems to be more aesthetically nuanced.
Forgiving those production tolls, at all times there is a weight of experience that is not noticeable in ‘Eternals’ or ‘Shang-Chi’. Behind there is an eye that has imagined from the ‘Infernal Possession’ saga (The Evil Dead, 1981) to ‘Spider-Man 2’, the film that opened and perfected the modern concept of superheroes in cinema, as we know it. All this with stops along the way for comic book westerns, macabre crime comedies, Disney fantasies, and other forays into horror. Raimi has managed to stamp his hyperkinetic comic book style on everything he has touched.
Now he has faced the immovable force of a major studio with an aversion to anything truly original, and while the hybrid is harmonious and not without all the Marvel strings, yes, it has recovered some of the meaning of the word comic within its staging and unapologetic spirit. The comics have something of a cartoon project, emotional interaction of the image with the shakes of what happens or feels the characters, and the way of understanding Raimi’s cinema here returns a lost nerve in the increasingly predictable installments of the MCU on a purely cinematographic level.
Raimi’s Style Resurrects Marvel’s Sequential Art
Nor can we say that ‘Doctor Strange’ is a return to pure Raimi, there is nothing from the first of the ‘Evil Dead’ saga here, except some squishy possession, some little terrifying scare and the presence of a zombiein a wonderful final resource that elevates the film, but all of it is more like ‘The army of darkness’, with the diabolical double of Ash rotten, the macguffin of the cursed grimoire, or an assault on a fortress of magicians that is not It looks so much like the skeleton attack from the first one, but it is a great fantasy action sequence.
The tone of terror that it seeks to approach is fun and witty, with some gore details like ‘Drag Me to Hell’, although it is not even remotely close to what the latter achieved with a PG-13 rating. However, despite all the limitations of the brand, a little bit of Raimi from ‘Spider-man’ and ‘Darkman’ is enough to inject dynamism into a storytelling unpublished visual in the last phases of Marvel, with there are camera movement solutions that count more than many exposition dialoguesfamiliar zooms, and a lean montage that tells everything briskly and smoothly.
‘Doctor Strange 2’ does not fall short in monsters, demons and other dressings that would fit in horror movies which, without being creepy, do bring the film closer to the genre, with a memorable almost Lovecraftian kaiju set piece courtesy of Shuma-Gorat and some less twisted and less well-designed beings than the great deadly sins of ‘Shazam!’ The strength of the special effects is more in the surreal horizons, abstract landscapes and kaleidoscopic scenarios, very beautiful, which complete a creative and quirky production design, although it always remains on the verge of doing something truly groundbreaking with its range of possibilities.
a real villain
Raimi applies his cinephilia by recreating the death of ‘Dracula, Prince of Darkness’, always with pulp sensibilities and clever ideas also in the magical combats, with that fantastic counterattack of musical notes, sometimes recalling the mythical duel to the death of magicians in ‘The Raven’ (1963) by Roger Corman, the most bizarre possible adaptation of the story by Edgar Allan Poe that, In fact, it is related to the history of the character, since it was released on January 25, 1963 and Strange’s first appearance was in ‘Strange Tales’ 110, in July 1963, with which Ditko could be inspired by Corman’s film and Price.
And one thing that doesn’t have as much to do with Raimi, as in Michael Waldron’s script, Jade Halley Bartlett is that the story poses some brave early decisions and dilemmas that the average current Marvel user may find controversial, that is to say, it dares with everything that the ‘Wandavision’ series did not have the courage to specify in its soft ending and it looks good. There are really dark points regarding the MCU, like letting the Scarlet Witch be really a deranged, bloodthirsty villain without fear of sacrificing young girls.
Everything has the explanation of a possession by the darkhold, but the idea of a mother capable of doing anything to be with her children is even controversial in her own definition of motherhood. Faced with the great expectation of cameos and crossovers, it is rare that anything surprises anyone after months of theories and leaks, but there is another point that may know little to some. It was even said that Ash Williams from Raimi’s films could appear, but only we see an always amused Bruce Campbell as a salesman, mimicking his self-punches of ‘Terrifyingly Dead’.
Of cameos, crossovers and presentations of what is coming
Nor is too much play with the possibilities within the Marvel universe, there is no great madness, despite a sequence that shows in a minute countless universes that are not taken advantage of and tarnish the idea of walking through different worlds that the premise itself put on a platter. However, the space with the Illuminati takes a long time, connecting with the series ‘What if?’, whose Strange episode has things in common with this plot, although it is much darker in general.
Thus, we have alternative versions of known superheroes, with Captain Carter or the leader of the inhumans, trying to correct the horrendous series of them, and the most important, Reed Richards of the fantastic 4, with a charismatic John Krasinski erasing in seconds the three previous elastic men of the cinemaand a familiar Charles Xavier, concretizing a scene of mental power to Wanda that seems to have rehearsed with the dark phoenix, which is undoubtedly one of the best cameos in the history of the MCU, crowned by the way with unthinkable deaths in another context outside of reusable multiverses.
In general ‘Doctor Strange 2’ is not a horror movie, but if a frenetic dark esoteric adventure with hints of psychedelia, ghastly demons and body horror –those unexpected eyes–, with vibrant narration from Sam Raimi and moments that will create ecstasy for Marvel fans. It could have been a full stop in blockbusters, but he holds back when he thinks it’s too acidic or bitter, so the result is frustrating for not daring to walk through all the doors it opens, but also a blast of fun from first to last. last minute that is capable of insufflating life in post endgame marvelleaving an exemplary sequel for what could be a great trilogy of fantastic films.