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Sam Raimi cut his teeth doing horror movies such as Drag me to Hell but was more popular for his work on Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man franchise than for the work he did on Darkman - another great comic book franchise.
He brings his horror sensibilities into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (MoM), and it's one of those where you either love it or hate it kind of situation.
Let's dig in...
He takes over from Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Strange movie and stays on as one of the executive producers.
Raimi doesn't waste any time in slapping his trademark style onto the movie - we get frantic camera pans, jump scares and a highly exaggerated Danny Elfman score within the first 10 minutes of the film.
If you haven't been watching Wandavision, MoM does not care. The film kicks off and keeps moving at a breakneck pace, which makes the two hours pass by very quickly.
The movie is filled with incident on top of incident, but shines for me whenever it leans into the horror tropes that are all Raimi.
I don't think I've ever seen so many jump scares and blood in an MCU movie before and I love the film for it. Yet the horror element is not the only shinning light about MoM. Even though the film is action packed, and the pacing is quick, one feels as if there are characters at the heart of the story.
The characters being Doctor Strange, Wanda and America Chavez, and the film explores how these characters see themselves, how others perceive them and the grey area between the two points.
It uses the idea of power as a jump-off point to examine the characters. What does power mean to each of them and what do they want it for?
The film not only exposes what power does to Doctor Strange but also to Wanda Maxinoff aka The Scarlet Witch, who is basically a god level mutant.
What happens when these super powerful people have to make decisions that are influenced by human emotion and ego?
This exploration I found very intriguing and I love that the exploration is in the background whilst the quest/journey of saving America Chavez is foregrounded. So you could miss it and just follow the explosions and creepy horror tricks that Raimi brings to the movie.
I feel MoM is one of thee most comic book movies we've had in a while, from America Chavez's power, to the idea of sleep walking, to how the multiverse is used to bring in cameos that are sure to delight hard core MCU/Comic book fans.
My only gripe was that Spider-Man: No Way Home was able to use the characters to feel more than just cameos, whilst MoM keeps them at a featured cameo level.
This is a pity but it makes up for it in how it treats the multiple Doctor Strange's we meet. Even so, it could have done more with all those delicious cameos.
That's my only gripe with a movie, which really feels like a nice roller-coster ride, with thrills and dips.
I personally can't wait for the third movie to see where the MCU is going with its multiverse story line: is it heading towards a multiverse war ala what the series Loki forebodes? Or is it building towards a battle world situation with all the heroes from different universes ending up on one planet? Only time will tell.
Others might have a gripe that there is no hand holding - if you didn't watch Wandavision that sets up a lot of this story you might be at a disadvantage.
The other issue might be that MoM ditches the standard Marvel villain trope you've seen in Black Panther, Shang Chi et al. MoM almost harkens back to Winter Soldier/Civil War story arcs. Sometimes mass audience's don't like grey... but I do.
For now, we have a great character study that showcases that the greatest danger the Marvel heroes face in Phase 4 is not from without but from within.
I hope that thread is explored more. It's the failures or shortcomings of these heroes that are more dangerous than the big bad out there.
It felt like: Marvel's first horror movie for kids with great character work.
Rating
***1/2
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* junk ** you are on your own *** not bad ****almost perfect *****Instant classic
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