#multiverse of madness review

[elennemigo]

Benedict Cumberbatch´s year in review ✧ 2022.

"... your support (Sophie's) , your honesty, searing at times as it is, your style, your grace, your beauty, your generosity, and your love are extraordinary. And I’m just, I’m really enjoying this, but it wouldn’t be half the ride if I was on my own without you, that it is with you together, we’ve created an amazing, amazing family of three extraordinary little human beings. ... they’re amazing. They’re amazing...So thank you for keeping me grounded boys. I love you so much... you are my little stars and I adore you... I should say thank you to the fans as well. I thank you all for following me on this journey.... Lots of love. Good night. Goodbye. Au revoir. “

[the-haunted-star]

My humble thoughts on

Review (No spoilers.)

I'm sad to say I found it a bit underwhelming. I feel like the trailers were kind of misleading as well as showing way too much (and I only watched the first trailer!) The plot is rather simple with America Chavez essentially being the macguffin of the film whom the villain wants for her power to navigate the multiverse. America is an endearing new character portrayed by Xochitl Gomez and compliments Doctor Strange well in a sidekick, apprentice type of relationship as she helps guide Stephen through the multiverse while he in turn tries to protect her from the pursuit of the big bad.

Speaking of the villain, without spoiling things I can't help but be reminded of Daenerys' heel turn in Game of Thrones and how disheartening that was. Although to be fair I think the motivation of the villain in this film is more understandable than the Mother of Dragon's was which was purely more out of spite and revenge than anything else.

I also felt the potential for the possible multiverse realities that could have been visited was a missed opportunity. Like the first Doctor Strange film, much of the multiversal travel was presented in a quick but beautiful montage sequence. Unfortunately the "838 universe" that the film spends the most time in isn't drastically different visually from the 616 reality.

Overall it's a quick paced film with some excellent action sequences and visual effects. Elizabeth Olsen continues to shine as Wanda and although this is a Doctor Strange titled film it feels more like a Scarlet Witch movie as it continues her character journey from WandaVision. The film is entertaining to be sure and has some great surprises (if you avoided spoilers) but I can't help but feel this film had much more potential that was left untapped. ⭐⭐⭐½

[hithertoundreamtof23]

I really wish Marvel could pull off the multiverse like Everything Everywhere All at Once.

I just watched it and it's funny, confusing, fascinating, and incredible unique. It was a joy to watch and I highly recommend it. It's no wonder why it won so many awards. The actors and crew deserve it!!

That being said, Marvel could definitely learn from them. Not only did the movie explain the multiverse, it showed it and explained it with a mix of science and imagination. There are multiple moments where they jump multiverses (like they should have in Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness), but they still manage to develop the characters and give them motivations (which Marvel failed to do).

If you're looking for an actually good multiverse movie, don't look to Marvel- look to Everything Everywhere All at Once!

[digikate813]

Doctor Strange 2 was my most anticipated project form Phase 4. Did it live up to my expectations? Find out as To Infinity War and Beyond continues with my review of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Enjoy!

[dans-den]

My Top 5 Best Movies of 2022

Hey how's going everyone? It's Dan here and were approaching the end of 2022 so were ending with my Top 5 best movies of 2022!

I know I was suppose to do it yesterday but I got busy yesterday so I'm doing it now. I'll repeat this one more time, this is all subjective and my opinion, we can agree to disagree, okay? good, lets begin!

Number 5 goes to the Bad Guys from Dreamworks (7.5/10)

This movie is based on the children's book and the book itself is quite popular, even at my job we have one of the books for the kids. When I saw the movie trailer, I was an instant fan of the animation style. It's going for that 2D done like 3D style similar to the SpiderVerse movies and that's what makes it unique. I had given my thoughts about it in the review back in April so if ya wanna see that go check it out. The plot itself is the classic never judge a book by its cover as well as everyone can redeem themselves, nothing groundbreaking but I did enjoy the way it was executed in the film. The characters are what really made this movie memorable. My favorite character has to be Mr. Wolf since he's just charismatic and a likeable guy even when he's committing crime you just can't help but love the guy. The character interactions and dynamics are what sell this movie in my eyes. It's on Netflix right now so I'd say give it a watch, I also heard it has more projects in the work so I think it is safe to say that this movie helped bring Dreamworks back in a big way this year (with Puss in Boots: Last Wish following that momentum too).

Number 4 goes to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness from Marvel/Disney (8/10)

Wow! a Marvel/Disney movie I'm not disappointed in! I had given a review for this movie back in May so if ya wanna check it out, go ahead. To summarize that review, I love the VFX, just like the first film the VFX are what carry this movie and each one is like a trip. Now keep in mind this is part of the MCU so there are a lot of films and even some shows to watch so that you can fully understand the plot and the characters motivations for what they do. I gave what films and shows to watch during my review so use that as a base line on where to start for story. Even if ya don't watch any of the movies or shows, the plot itself is still rather decent and the characters are still who they are (besides Scarlet Witch) so it'll still be fun time and plenty of magic going on. I still think Spiderman: No Way Home is a better multiverse movie, but this is a good contender with plenty going for it. Though some VFX look a bit lazy at times, it's forgivable compared to what we get a majority of the time. I also wanna point out that Sam Raimi (the director of the Tobey Spiderman movies) directed this film and gave it some of his personal touches even adding Bruce Campbell in for a cameo so I appreciate that too.

Number 3 goes to The Batman from DC/Warner Bros. (8/10)

This movie is when I knew we were eating good this year when it came to movies. This film much like Morbius was in Limbo due to the Pandemic, Luckily it made it's way to theaters and it was a real banger! This was the first review I did back in march and if ya wanna see it go ahead and check it out. This is definitely one of the better Batman performances I've seen and definitely the better representation of Gotham City. Robert Pattinson gave a phenomenal performance as the Dark Knight and even though I feel his performance as Bruce Wayne could have been better, this is still in the early stages of Batmans crime fighting career so Bruce hasn't quite found that balance and secret identity aspect just yet. He is still figuring out what he needs to be for Gotham City and I do hope that they continue to build on this in the future, I would like to see the character growth and development of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Paul Dano as the Riddler was something I was pleasantly surprised with, this darker take on the Riddler was refreshing to see since traditionally the Riddler is one of the more comical villains in Batman's Rogue Gallery. I felt immersed into the City of Gotham and in the story of Bruce Wayne's family, they did well expanding on his history. The action was gritty and more martial art based (which I love) as well as showing off Batman's detective skills trying to solve the riddles. This film truly kicked off the year and I'd say this is definitely the best superhero film of the year, beating out any movies from Marvel and itself.

Number 2 goes to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 from Sega/Paramount (9/10)

I've said this once, and I will say it again, 2022 has been the Sonic Renaissance and were living it up, baby! This is the sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie that came out in 2020 and while the first film was pretty decent and it was more of a testing waters phase, it still did a great job and was one of the main reasons people started to lose that "Video Games can't be adapted to good movies" stigma. Now the sequel builds upon that success, I had given my review for this movie back in April but all the points I made still hold up and I'll support that with further evidence now. After the positive reception of the first film, Jeff Fowler and his crew went into the next phase and decided to build upon and dive into the lore of Sonic the Hedgehog. I also appreciate them having the humans take a backseat this time around and having the story more centered around Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Dr. Robotnik (aka Eggman). We got to see settings such as Angel Island and Gerald Robotnik's secret lab where Shadow is in suspended animation (post credit shows Shadow for the upcoming third film). We even saw the Master emerald which was made up of the seven chaos emeralds used in this movie and gave us the special appearance of Super Sonic! As I said earlier, this is the year of Sonic, with a successful sequel, a great game in Sonic Frontiers, a great show in Sonic Prime and the upcoming third movie, Sonic is going fast in the right direction. Hopefully, he continues to rise this momentum into 2023 and beyond, I'm a big sonic fan so it's great to see him doing well after a long time.

Before I get into the number one spot, I'm going to give a few honorable mentions

First mention goes to Top Gun: Maverick from Skydance/Paramount (7.5/10)

This was a sequel to the nearly 40 year old movie Top Gun, however unlike other random sequels, this one is actually far superior than the original. The original is definitely a cheesy 80's movie, but the sequel manages to build upon and create a real story here making Maverick a mentor with something left to give to the next generation. It's a fun movie to watch and it has plenty of charm to it. All the actors did a phenomenal job and I was pleasantly surprised that this movie was as good as it was.

Next mention is the Elvis Movie from BazMark/Warner Bros. (7/5/10)

This movie is yet another Biopic of a famous Celebrity/Musician, but what really shoots it up there as one of the better Biopics is the performance of Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. Austin truly did Elvis justice with his performance. His mannerisms, the speech, his moves, I can tell Austin gave it his all and I think we can all appreciate that. Tom Hanks as the Colonel was a true villain and foil to the story. I enjoyed the narration from him which added to the tone of this cautionary tale. I gave a review back in July so if you wanna see more head over there. But this is definitely one of the better biopics.

Last mention I wanna give is the movie Turning Red from Pixar/Disney Plus (7/10)

This is a true coming of age story I can get behind. I gave my review for this back in March so if you wanna see my full thoughts on it, go check it out. This film is unique for so many reasons and I can say I enjoy this film, I watched it twice and I enjoy the animation style and how it takes inspiration from anime as well. The characters are a fun to watch and the mature themes here are done well and respectively. I wish more Disney films were like this but you know them. Luckily Pixar is doing their best to bring us unique stories and great animation trying something new each time. I may not be the targeted audience for this film, but even I can recognize the passion that went into it and I feel it's a film for young teens and even adults to enjoy.

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for, the Number one movie of 2022 goes to....

Number one goes to WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story from Funny or Die/Roku (10/10)

I'm sure no one saw this one coming, you're likely scratching your head and asking "first off..Weird Al has a movie on Roku?! Second...Why is this the best film of the year?!". Well stop asking so many questions and I'll tell ya! This film is technically a biopic just like Elvis or other biopics from other celebrities...but its a parody of that entire biopic genre. As we all know, these biopics tend to exaggerate the truth for the sake of the film being dramatic and entertaining, some things in the film are not quite what actually happened in the real life of that celebrity but rather exaggerated. Weird Al cranks that exaggeration and dramatic antics to the MAX! Unlike those other films, this is not meant to be taken at all serious and you can tell. The first half was already kind of exaggerated but was still telling the truth of how Al got his start in music (to a degree). But once we get to the second half of the film....it just goes hog wild and turns the film into full blown insanity and it is without a doubt hilarious! I got some Bohemian Rhapsody vibes from this movie with how Al starts out good but then gets into hard drinking, gets into a toxic relationship with Madonna, confronts Pablo Escobar to save Madonna only for her to take over the drug cartel....You can see why I said this is not meant to be taken seriously. It's all just a huge parody of celebrity biopics and its meant to be a joke and I love it! Weird Al was heavily involved with making this since he's still alive so I'm sure he would want to have a say in how it should be done and he's the one responsible for getting the boy who lived to portray him. Daniel Radcliffe did a phenomenal job as Weird Al being hilarious, dramatic and both at the same time and Weird Al himself actually has a role in the movie as not himself...but parodying an executive at a record label. This movie is just a fun watch, I was laughing the entire hour and a half. Each of these movies on my top 5 have something special, the Bad Guys are the best animated film, Doctor Strange is best Visuals in a film, Batman the best superhero film, Sonic is the best video game adaptation film, but Weird: the Al Yankovic story is not only the best Parody film, but the Best film of 2022!

Thanks for staying till the end, Hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and I can't wait for the content to come out in 2023!

See ya!

[edenhasfeelings]

The Multiverse Saga (1/2)

I gonna need everyone who’s saying MCU Phase 4 was shit to shut the fuck up like actually. It was an experimental phase. It was an intro phase to a new saga. The only projects in my opinion that were actually pretty ass were Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and She-Hulk. If Phase 1 of the MCU were to come out now as it did back then, people would be saying the same thing. Phase 1 was an intro phase, mostly origin stories. “Phase 1 all pointed to Thanos!”  The Iron Man movies didn’t at all? and we didn’t see Thanos until the very end credit scene of The Avengers. “We didn’t even get to see the big bad in any of these!” Um, maybe if you’re blind or didn’t watch all of the projects like you’re acting like you did. Also, instead of their being a singular greater plot, there are several; Kang and the Multiverse, Intros and Origins, what I’m calling Interdimensionality and Space Stuff, Street Level/Classic Avengers heroes, and introducing Mutants and the X-Men. Let me explain (yes, this is my special interest, leave me alone).

Black Widow The amount of bitch fits I heard about this movie, mostly from cishet white men. This movie felt out of place in Phase 4 because it was supposed to be released earlier than it was. The entirety of Phase 4 was a lot more crammed together because of, well, idk, maybe the fucking GLOBAL PANDEMIC. But it stood on its own as a great movie and a great intro to Yelena. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings An origin story for a new hero, never mind the mind blowing graphics and digital effects, made this a great movie. And here we have a hint at a major plot point, mostly highlighted in the end credit scene with Wong, Bruce Banner, and Captain Marvel. The Ten Rings are the Infinity Stones of this saga. It also fits into the Multiverse/Interdimensional aspects of this Saga by introducing Ta Lo (unsure whether that’s space stuff, multiverse stuff, or both).

Eternals If Marvel kept consistently making movies in the same exact way with the same exact directors, people would be bitching about how nothing changes. But them adding a new director and film style sent everyone into an outcry about how out of place it is and shitty. I had a couple of problems with this movie, the main one being the awkward extended sex scene in a Marvel movie, but overall I thought it was a really cool and interesting way to introduce Black Knight and this new element of the Space MCU genre. Also, I loved Makkari and Druig  This movie also got a lot of hate because of Phastos having a husband and 2 second gay kiss scene that occurred. “They’re poisoning our children and forcing things down our throat!” some people cried in ignorance. So the awkward unnecessary straight sex scene was perfectly ok, but the 2 second gay kiss wasn’t? As other representation goes, the POC representation was phenomenal, as well as Makkari being deaf and using sign language.

Spider-Man: No Way Home This movie is self-explanatory. I don’t think anyone had a problem with this movie and if they did, then why. It literally fit right into the theme of the Multiverse Saga in the most mind-blowing, perfect way I didn’t actually expect them to attempt, was a wonderful closing to the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, and also gave a perfect explanation as to why we wouldn’t be seeing Spider-Man as much anymore (thanks Sony). Also a mild set up to Multiverse of Madness.

 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness Ok, I will die mad about how shitty this movie was. I was severely disappointed. I’ve not seen this movie getting as much criticism as it deserves, but people will rail on all the other female directed movies. Sam Raimi was not the man for this movie. They peddled it as “the MCU’s first horror movie”, but The New Mutants did a better job of superhero horror than this did. The special effects were unusually shit (and ik that quality suffers because of how Marvel is run and their artists are treated), but it was unusually bad. The “horror” aspect was weak jump-scares and overused horror tropes (Wanda coming out of the mirror all bendy, for example). Speaking of Wanda, they absolutely butchered her character and story in my opinion. We don’t see her corruption at all, we just see the end credits scene of WandaVision and now all of a sudden she’s evil. The “Wanda turns evil to get her kids that never existed back” was so much more compelling and fucked up in the comics. Her killing herself at the end felt really gross in my opinion. “There is no way possible to get my kids back so let me just kill myself.” They crammed way too much plot in, and the emotional scenes fell flat. Despite their plot cramming, they didn’t deliver the “mind-bending multiverse” aspects that were promised. And while killing off Black Bolt and Reed Richards in 5 seconds was yes, a terrifying display of her abilities, it completely undermined the power of this crossover and the respective formidability and intelligence of these characters. The last scene of the movie was weird and made no sense, and the end credit scene felt out of place and thrown in there just to introduce Clea. It leaves audiences with no specific adventure or movie to look forward to, just that something is going to happen. The MCU timeline being dubbed as Dimension 616 pissed me off, because, hello, main comic time-stream is 616, the MCU has to be different. Also, one more thing, at the end of the first Doctor Strange, they made it seem like main timeline Karl Mordo was going to be the next villain, but instead we got this weird Multiverse version of him. On a more positive note, the whole Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel, fancast John Krasinski playing Reed Richards, live action Captain Carter, and Professor Charles fucking Xavier was really, really cool. Professor Xavier’s presence was the first hint at the Mutant storyline, and the whole thing obviously prioritized the Multiverse Saga. It was also a great intro for America Chavez, and I loved that they didn’t at all try to erase the queerness of her character. 

Thor: Love and Thunder Phenomenal. A work of art. Taika Waititi hit it out of the ballpark once again with the same hilarious vibes as Thor: Ragnarok. This was very clearly a Space MCU  movie, as most all of Thor’s movies have been.  I especially loved the comic accuracy of Jane Foster’s Might Thor, and the ending her character deserved. Getting to see Heimdall in Valhalla was awesome. Gorr was a truly fearsome villain that we hadn’t seen in awhile, and he really made you feel for him, especially at the end. His character redemption made perfect sense. Love’s presence in the end was a little confusing to me, as she is a solely MCU character, but I am excited to see what they do with her character.  The representation hit home for me with Valkyrie being King, her blatant bisexuality, Korg’s comic accurate homosexuality, Heimdall’s son being seemingly transgender, and, something I noticed but didn’t see mentioned by anyone, was that Meik’s pronouns had changed from Ragnarok and Endgame.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever “They shouldn’t have given the Black Panther title to Shuri! They’re turning all the men into women to be woke!” Shut the fuck up please and thank you and pick up a goddamn comic book. Aside from No Way Home, this was the best fucking MCU Phase 4 movie, and is up there with the best MCU movies ever in my opinion. It was raw, and emotional, and gorgeously cinematic in every way possible. Surprisingly, we get a tie in to our Street Level/Classic Avengers characters by the presence of Valentina de Fontaine, who had only previously appeared in the The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Hawkeye. This was also a set up for Mutants. Namor states that he is mutated and different from his people, hence why he is more powerful, has different physical quirks, is essentially immortal, and is treated like a god amongst them.

I will be going into more detail about the TV shows and specials later in another post.

[jasonsutekh]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Doctor Strange seeks to protect a young girl who can travel across universes but an old ally has been corupted by a magical tome.

It was a refreshing change to have the main villain of a marvel film be a semi-ally rather than a slightly larger version of the protagonist, although they are comparable in terms of magic style. The playing field was levelled slightly by assistance from alternate univers cameos of other comic and movie heroes and villains which was fun.

Although most of the CGI was the usual Marvel standard like the alternate realms, there are some parts that just look too odd and they usually involve the faces of certain characters, such as Strange’s third eye. This is the result of exploiting creative designers and coders rather than paying some of the most important workers in a business what they’re worth.

There was some more lore and plenty of connections to other areas of the franchise which provided scale. It was good to see actors from the original film as well as alternate versions of Strange which proveded development without committing to actions in his actual history. It’s still unclear what Strange remembers about the Spiderman event since he references it but shouldn’t know who he is so it’s vague how much he remembers working with him.

Now that the multiverse has been cannonically added it sets things up to become a great deal more complicated and some of the overall lore has already become far too complicated, it’s set to become as undeciferable as the X-men timeline, which may even be loosely linked in now. The way to solve this without insulting the viewer is to hire writers that actually care about the franchises and pay them what they’re worth, and the same for the CGI artists.

6/10 -Just a cut above average-

-It took a week to install all the tree blossoms with wire as the sequence was filmed in winter.

-The character America Chaves has the the lesbian flag on her outfit which is cannonical to the comic book version and relates to her mothers in this incarnation.

-Earth 616 is designated as our Doctor Strange’s universe, this was also the universe designation Mysterio the MCU in Spiderman Far From Home (2019).

[multiverseofseries]

Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della Follia: la nuova formula dell’alchimista Sam Raimi

Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della Follia: anarchico, squilibrato e strabordante, il ritorno alla regia di Sam Raimi regala un cinecomic pieno di dolore, spettacolo e personalità.

Ci sono cose che non si possono aggiustare. Ci sono errori commessi a cui non si può porre rimedio. Deve farsene una ragione anche un uomo ossessionato dalla perfezione, che vive ogni crepa come una ferita insanabile. Apro la recensione di Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della Follia dicendo che per il suo ritorno alla regia di un cinecomic Sam Raimi si è nutrito di emozioni forti. Forti come i timori di un Doctor Strange che ha una paura atavica di sbagliare, di perdere, e così pretende di avere tutto sotto controllo. Forte come il vuoto incolmabile dentro il cuore di Scarlet Witch, una donna ancora alle prese con il lutto e la disperazione di chi ha fame d'amore. Si muove da qui Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della follia. Da due personaggi alle prese con le vertigini dei propri sentimenti. Perché hanno entrambi paura del vuoto.

Sam Raimi ha dato vita ad un cinecomic in cui ha fatto una scorpacciata di tante cose a lui care. Il risultato è un cinecomic anarchico, folle come il suo titolo, a tratti squilibrato ma con una personalità straboccante come una creatura tentacolare indomabile.

Con un colpo di fionda. Inizia così Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della Follia, con Sam Raimi che ci catapulta subito nel vivo dell'azione. Come se fossimo dentro una doppia splash page di un fumetto visionario, dove colori, forme e strane creature riempiono lo schermo. Senza perdere tempo ecco Strange alle prese con due novità improvvise: una nuova creatura e una ragazza con un incredibile potere da proteggere. Entrambe legate a quel Multiverso che non vuole proprio saperne di non sconvolgere la vita del nostro stregone. Il tutto avviene pochi mesi dopo i fatti di No Way Home. Dopo aver chiesto aiuto a una Wanda instabile come non mai, Doctor Strange si avventura nei meandri più oscuri e disagiati degli universi paralleli. Disagiati perché in questo film, più che il Multiverso della Follia, emerge la Follia del Multiverso. Una dimensione multipla destabilizzante sia per i personaggi che per il pubblico, i quali potrebbero perdersi facilmente al suo interno. Raimi, guidato dalla sceneggiatura di Michael Waldron (che col tema aveva già una certa familiarità avendo lavorato nella serie tv Loki), costruisce un film bizzarro e complesso ma mai complicato. Perché ogni passaggio del film viene spiegato dai personaggi che fungono da guida agli spettatori. Per fortuna Raimi non si sofferma più di tanto sugli inevitabili passaggi didascalici ma anzi preferisce raccontare attraverso le immagini e un'azione roboante e molto ispirata. Come dimostra una particolare sequenza (forse la migliore del film) dove fa emergere tutto il suo genio creativo. Un scena che si potrebbe definire "degna di nota" in tutti i sensi.

Ma il vero asso nella manica è l'uso "emotivo" del multiverso. Che non si risolve ad essere solo un pretesto narrativo per allargare gli orizzonti e le possibilità del Marvel Cinematic Universe, ma un modo per mettere Strange e Scarlet Witch dinanzi a uno specchio rotto. È solo grazie al riflesso distorto del multiverso che lo stregone e la strega vedono quello che sono, che sarebbero potuti essere o che potrebbero diventare. Un’acquisizione di consapevolezza dolorosa, che passa dal rimorso e da una serie di "se" e di "ma" che feriscono come schegge inpazzite. E il trovare se stessi dentro le proprie varianti sembra la vera missione del multiverso. E’ quindi un modo per lanciarsi non tanto dentro i portali ma dentro le coscienze dei personaggi. Succedeva anche in Spider-Man: No Way Home, ma se l'avventura di Peter Parker puntava dritta al cuore, questo film mira alla pancia e allo stomaco.

Se i Marvel Studios volevano un film di Sam Raimi e quest’ultimo voleva girare un film in pieno stile Marvel. Entrambi hanno avuto ciò che volevano. Perché la più grande sfida vinta da questo sequel è quella di essere sia un film coerente con il Marvel Cinematic Universe che un'opera in pieno stile Sam Raimi. Questo perché se il "cosa racconta" è in linea con lo stile impostato da Kevin Feige, il "come lo racconta" trasuda personalità da tutti i pori. Il tocco di Raimi si avverte di continuo: nei movimenti di macchina e soprattutto nella marea di sfumature horror disseminate in tutto il film. Partendo dai classici jump scare passando per mutazioni corporee con tanto di movimenti innaturali stile L'esorcista arrivando ad incubi visionari e soprattutto tanta brutalità. Il tutto dentro un universo Marvel che al sangue sembra quasi allergico. La sensazione che si ha vedendo il film è quella di un Sam Raimi con tanta voglia di distruggere e creare allo stesso tempo. Da una parte vorrebbe quasi sovvertire la formula Marvel, dall'altra la celebra con ironia, in modo quasi metacinematografico. Quasi come volesse dire al pubblico: "Adesso è così che funziona, tocca adeguarsi, cercate di capirmi".

In un film dove si parla di stregoni, streghe, magie e incantesimi, Sam Raimi è diventato un alchimista, alle prese con tanti ingredienti diversi anche se non sempre amalgamati con cura. Perché questo Doctor Strange è spesso squilibrato nel tono (poichè ironia e dramma non convivono sempre al meglio), eccessivo, straripante e godibilmente imperfetto. Un cinecomic anarchico, che se da una parte accarezza i fan con un paio di sussulti che faranno urlare qualcuno dallo spavento, dall'altra li scuote da un lungo torpore regalando qualcosa di diverso e familiare allo tempo stesso. Insomma, non tutto funziona alla perfezione come dentro un orologio svizzero ma lasciare la propria impronta nell'universo Marvel è possibile. E concepire il cinecomic come una matrioska di generi anche. Ma che sia possibile non significa che sia facile. Perché di alchimisti come Sam Raimi non ce ne sono molti. Anche se si rovista affondo nel Multiverso.

In conclusione Doctor Strange nel Multiverso della Follia è una via di mezzo tra una visione d’autore e una rigida formula commerciale. E bisogna prendere atto del piccolo miracolo firmato Sam Raimi, che è stato in grado di conciliare avventura e horror dentro un cinecomic capace di entrare anche nelle crepe di due personaggi. Strange e Scarlett Witch sono i due perni portanti di un film anarchico e strabordante, dove non tutto funziona come un orologio svizzero, ma dove i rintocchi di Sam Raimi si sentono eccome.

👍🏻

L'abilità con cui Sam Raimi ha rispettato la formula Marvel senza rinunciare alla sua visione e personalità.

Il coraggio di mettere Scarlet Witch come fulcro centrale di un film su Doctor Strange.

L'uso "emotivo" del Multiverso, ottimo pretesto per calarsi nel cuore dei personaggi.

Due sequenze entusiasmanti: una di puro genio creativo, l'altra un vero regalo per i fan.

👎🏻

L'alternanza di toni (comico, horror, dramma) non sempre funziona bene.

[reviewsbycinemafreak]

My Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (2022) movie review!

[thepunktheory]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Hello, my darling readers!Guess who went to see the Doctor Strange movie the moment it hit the cinema and then didn’t sit down to write a review for the longest time?! Well, I’m finally getting around to it, so let’s talk about the Multiverse of Madness! The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes): In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and…

[rookie-critic]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022, dir. Sam Raimi) - review by Rookie-Critic

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had a lot of issues. I, of course, can't go into hardly any of them without spoiling MCU stuff for people who haven't seen it yet, but a lot of them have to do with Wanda's character. I'm not knocking Elizabeth Olsen, she is an incredible actress and she did an incredible job with the material that was given to her, but with a movie that concerns itself so much with the events of WandaVision, it didn't really seem to care that much about the growth her character went through in that series. There's also the continued disuse of Wong as a character, and the complete misrepresentation and under-utilization of America Chavez as a character. Also, these MCU movies are genuinely starting to feel like comic books in the sense that you really, REALLY need to have seen most of them to enjoy these new ones. Well established character arcs and motivations are not retreaded at this point, and these characters are fully fleshed out, so if you don't know something you should, you're screwed. Whether that's good or bad is really up to the viewer. If you haven't been watching MCU titles by this point then they're probably not really your thing to begin with. With all this being said, when I walked out of the theater I felt like I had had fun. There's a certain charm and allure to Sam Raimi's bonkers, canted-angle horror proclivities that's hard to deny from a pure stylistic viewpoint, and there are sequences that are very well done from said viewpoint.

Score: 6/10

Currently streaming on Disney+.

Get ready for a sequence that's gonna feel really good, and then immediately feel really, really bad.

[chipcheesesandwich]

Eating Your Own Tail: The Falling of Marvel Studios (or, A Letter From A Concerned Film Fan)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a great film that tackled the harsh subject of the loss of a loved one and how we move on from it. The visuals were also beautiful, with the amazing VFX that definitely supported tremendously for the production that was done in the midst of COVID (including a antivaxer lead actor in the cast).

But, to be quite honest, this film gave me the same, or even more disappointment I experienced with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Sure, the tomato scores of the two films show a different story with BP2 having better reviews than DS2, and the cultural representation of BP2 is absolutely gorgeous throughout. But these two most recent films from Marvel truly showed the importance of editing.

-- SPOILERS OF WAKANDA FOREVER AHEAD --

I feel like BP2's editing was just, off. I can tell from the awkward jump cuts and pacing that this was a film that was meant to be a 5hr, or a two part, that they shaved to 2hr45m.

The most significant jumps and off beat I felt was during Ramonda's death. She died in the midst of a war, an attack from another country, in her own throne room by drowning to save another's life. And without letting us sit in the reality of a beloved, powerful character, just completely lifeless on the floor, with Okoye trying to deny the reality she is facing, we smash cut into a funeral. And it's a very similar setting of a funeral we see in the beginning of the film, showing the death of T'Challa.

Now, I understand that their aim was to have this, repetition of death happening in Shuri's life. But, because of the off beat, smash cut, no leeway for air to let us breath and suck in the moment, the death of Ramonda almost feels, cheated. Almost feels cheap. And these cheap, jump cuts kept repeating throughout the film.

These cheap edits felt like someone just grabbed a piece of cake and smashed it into your face to let you taste the glaze on top. But the cake is just all over your face, but not where it should be. What you need to do to actually taste the glaze, is to take a fork, scoop a bite of cake with the fork, carry it in your mouth, and eat it. And just, taste the cake. But the film didn't even let you taste it, and instead gave you a bottle of coke to wash it down your throat so you can get ready for the next cake.

What I'm trying to say is that the film never had a break. A break to actually feel the weight of a loss. The weight of Ramonda, dying before us. The weight of an end of an era and entering the new chapter. In order to feel the weight, you have to have time to hold it. And the smash cuts just, never let us hold it.

...

This issue of the two Marvel films of their lack of great editing deeply concerns me. Both directors of the films are extraordinary, and extremely talented. The actors in both films are extraordinary, and extremely talented. Then how did they fail so miserably? Well, have you seen the schedule of Phase 5?

Marvel Studios as a whole is having an issue with scheduling and seeing the reality that they are in. In Phase 5, Marvel is planning for 12 projects, combining both film and TV, in a span of less than 2 years. 2 years. Just a couple of years ago, having 2 movies and maybe 1 TV show in 1 year was an achievement.

This intense and unrealistic schedule is what pushes these directors off their rails. The studio asks them to crank out a film, that is decent in length (so they can keep playing it in theaters multiple times a day), in a short span of time to make way for the next.

This is the same with VFX companies and their crippling qualities in work. Compare the two films I've talked with Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and the answer is clear. They are simply not given enough time nor the amount of crew. Why no crew? Because the other crew are working on the 3 next projects for Marvel at the same time.

We tend to forget that the films we watch are actually simply made by humans like us. And also live in the same amount of time span like us. So if Marvel starts robbing away all people and their time, when they didn't have it in the first place because Marvel already took them in another project, collapse is truly one step away, literally. And Marvel, whether they know it or not, do exactly that.

I suspect, in the next 5 years, the film industry as we know it will truly be gone, including the people who built it. And the rapid pacing media output encouraged by Marvel is, as from what I see, the main cause.

[thera-daydreams]

SCARLET & SHADOW

ᱬ The Darkling x Scarlet Witch!Reader ᱬ

[aleksander morozova x wanda maximoff!reader]

Warning: This will be very canon-divergent, considering that it will be a fix-it fic for the Darkling's story. Will contain elements of violence, manipulation, and gore present in the series. Plus, mentions of depression, trauma, regret (as W. Maximoff) and the inclusion of possible adult themes in the later chapters.

Majority of this will also be based on the Netflix show since I haven't read the entire books yet. There may be inaccuracies and a whole lot of changes. You have been warned!

Otherwise, proceed and enjoy! ♟️🌹

(Sidenote: So... okay. I'm deciding to write this and make it a formal fanfic—as per previous post one and post two—because I seriously cannot sleep with the overwhelming inspiration I'm getting from shipping these two characters. Aleksander and Wanda are practically the same person in different fonts. They both did shitty, selfish things but I need to give them a happy ending. Together. Somehow. And hate it or love it, I firmly believe this idea should be shared to the world. If you know my other JJK fic, you'll know Wanda is an obsession of mine. Also, also, also! Please bear with me if updates are scarce. I'm juggling my academic review, work, another unfinished fic, and my daily fangirling. 🥹)

1. once upon a dream

Aleksander had dreams of you long before he even knew you. Maybe it was the stress of this neverending war. Either way, you weren't real anyway... were you?

(3.9k words)

2. coincidence

The Black General finds himself magnetized by the seemingly inconspicuous gardener in the Little Palace. He gets to know you, contemplating life. Just when he thought you were just a strangely wise, young otkazat'sya woman, he finds out why exactly you decided to work in the Little Palace.

(2.5k words)

3. reflection

You are confronted by a certain Shadow Summoner about your motives in bringing the kids to the Little Palace. He realizes that you've loved and lost so deeply, eerily the same as he had. Perhaps that's the reason why he was so drawn to you; he could see his reflection in your eyes. But the more answers the Darkling got, the more questions he had. Unfortunately for you, Aleksander was a patient and persistent man who would stop at nothing to get what he wants.

(4.8k words)

4. haunted

You were no powerless otkazat’sya, Aleksander finds out the hard way. He’s pushed you too far, and he’s left to deal with the aftermath of the new knowledge he half-regrets he gained. On the other hand, you see something bad about this new world that wished you had never seen.

(6.0k words)

5. ?

(tba)

... more chapters?

Synopsis:

"No more magic." You swore to yourself after the madness that you'd spiraled into; the chaos you'd wrecked upon the Multiverse under the influence of the Darkhold. Now, you had destroyed the Darkhold in every universe.

The last universe that had a Darkhold? Safe. Book of the Damned, gone. It was a land with no heroes, gods, or sorcerers... just... normal people and... Grisha? Either way, it was time for your atonement. Your repentance for your mortal sins.

But when you save and bring three orphaned Grisha children to the Little Palace, working as an otkazat'sya gardener to secretly keep an eye on them, it turns out that a certain Shadow Summoner begins to have his eye on you, instead.

taglist: @idohknow @robertthehoover @the-desilittle-bird @pearlstiare

[atopfourthwall]

To Linkara: Love your videos, especially when you review good comics. Also loved the Fortnite stream you did with other ComicTubers, it's nice to see you being a part of a bigger community again after that fiasco with the other site that shall not be named.

Been meaning to ask you something for a long time, but I couldn't think of what specifically. Problem is I'm a curious person by nature and I also like to ramble. However, while rewatching your Contest of Champions video (great arc, BTW, even if it took longer than expected), a decent question finally hit me. As someone who's a fan of Doctor Who, What If tales, the original Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths, do you think Hollywood has overused the multiverse idea? I almost got into an argument with someone on YouTube about the subject where I proclaimed the idea still has merit, it's just the folks running Tinsel Town were failed to be creative with it. Heck, to me the idea is like zombies: sure, it can feel repetitive, but that's only if you don't do anything new or original with it. Movies like Spider-Verse have proven as much. Then again, that's just me. Your thoughts?

I still love multiverse stuff and things like No Way Home or Deadpool & Wolverine have shown how the multiverse can be used to give fanservice, while Spiderverse, Loki, and Multiverse of Madness have shown the story potential of meeting alternate universe versions that reflect character development for our main character... but the problem especially with the MCU is that it feels like they don't have much in the way of a PLAN for it. Sure, Kang was being set up as the next big bad and they're shifting to Doom, but even before then it feels like there wasn't much of a story beyond "There are a lot of Kangs." Sure, with Thanos we didn't know his deal beyond the Infinity Stones being powerful until we actually reached him, but you could get the idea how dangerous it was even without that. Still, I think multiverse stuff is still fun and cool as long as it's used in creative ways... and hopefully people will feel the same with the next storyline once it launches. =)

[tilly-tilly-2827]

Benedict Bridgerton and the Multiverse of Madness

What always puzzled me (and adored) about the characterization of show! Benedict is his emotional maturity. Quoting the amazing Times article, he is a “loyal friend, a sympathetic listener with an open mind, a game and giving lover, and the emotional bedrock of his family”. (Lang, 2024) He’s very emotionally intelligent and sympathetic; the ability to sense his siblings and friend’s discomfort, and soothe them in his own way, the open-mindedness to Granville’s sexuality, the list is endless. I love him.

Now look at Book! Benedict. Although we have his character development/arc throughout the story, when readers first see him in 1817, he’s a complete dick. Arrogant, slightly abusive, manipulative, completely ignorant of Sophie’s insecurities, doesn’t accept Sophie’s rejection. His emotional immaturity toward Sophie is completely different from what show! Benedict is.

However, now that I’ve seen the first half of season 3, I could see how show!Benedict is changing into the Book! Benedict. As @the-other-art-blog (read her great review from here!!) has pointed out, his unnecessary hostility towards the debutants is slightly disturbing. He is bored and exhausted from the society, yet he doesn’t have a purpose in life, giving up on his artistic pursuits. In his season, He meets his love of his life at the masquerade, but she completely disappears from his world. His younger brother is happily married. His elder brother has two sons, so he’s no longer the spare. My guy is in absolute shambles and descending into madness at this point.

So as dickhead book! Benedict could be, he might not be relatable, but he is at least understandable. Benedict is at his lowest point when he reunites with Sophie in 1817; that is why he is so possessive and patronizing towards Sophie. He has to threaten and blackmail Sophie to London because he doesn’t want to let go the only light (Sophie) he found in his miserable life, and he’s already lost the love of his life, he doesn’t want to risk losing it again.

One of the most dickheaded moments in AOFAG?

The lake scene. Love that scene. Very Romantic. However, if you think objectively, seeing Sophie spy on him, Benedict proceeds to kiss her and asks her to be his mistress and tries to take her down on the ground? Knowing that she is a virgin? Absolute chaotic behavior and nothing like the soft, considerate respectful-to-women Benedict we saw in the past seasons. Why is he acting like this? Because at this point of his life, He is absolutely LOSING HIS MIND AND SANITY.

The aggressive “YES!!!” From season 3 Benedict? Oh we are slowly stepping in to the worst side of Benedict Bridgerton. Not the charming, respectful Benedict we have fallen in love with since the past seasons.

This is completely different from the topic that I rambled on, but I’m can’t wait to see the reaction when Sophie rejects Benedict during the pond scene. “I don’t see why not.” “But you wanted to just few second ago.” Imagine the look of confusion and frustration on Benedict’s expression. (In the past, viewers see that Benedict can bring girls to bed with one smirk and a flirty banter,) And as we all well know, Luke Thompson is the mastery of micro-expressions. Would love to see him deliver these lines.

Also, Benedict sleeping around with Lady Tilley, and also with the past ladies really heightens the tension between Sophie and Benedict, especially on the point of physical intimacy. For Benedict, he just likes to have fun, having sex is just light and breezy. So of course he would have no problem fucking an innocent girl who seems to like him back. In outdoors. On the FUCKING GROUND. However for Sophie, physical intimacy is almost like a sin; She can’t repeat the tragedy of her mother and make another human being suffer from the baseness of their birth. Ben and Sophie are perfect for each other, but Their polar opposite perception towards physical intimacy creates so much conflict and tension between the two. This point is also what differentiates Benophie from other couples, especially compared to Polin.

Benedict and Sophie are soulmates, two lost drifting souls finding solace, comfort and love in one another, but there is a deep rift between them that they have to overcome.

The angst in AOFAG is just pure drama.

Any thoughts? Love to hear your ideas too🥰🥰

I’m further rambling on in the comment section 🥶

References

Lang, Cady. Why Benedict is the Best Character in Netflix's Bridgerton | TIME, 2024