Author Topic: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**  (Read 1998 times)

Offline NCDS

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« on: April 06, 2022, 09:11:26 AM »
I got my tickets!!!  I was insanely shocked it was that easy, I thought this one had more of a draw to it.
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Offline Angology

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2022, 09:08:39 PM »
Yay!!!
We got ours too, but didn't get the best seats for opening night (Alamo Drafthouse). It was a bit more competitive here, maybe. Can't wait to see it!!!
Ang

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #2 on: Today at 02:01:27 PM »

Offline NCDS

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2022, 12:19:58 PM »
I will say my AMC has it showing in almost every theater, Alamo is more limited.  So I don't know that it was the location as much as the venue choice. 

Usually though Alamo people are all settled away why AMC has crashed for 6 hours.
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Offline perc2100

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2022, 09:30:17 AM »
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I will say my AMC has it showing in almost every theater, Alamo is more limited.  So I don't know that it was the location as much as the venue choice. 

Usually though Alamo people are all settled away why AMC has crashed for 6 hours.
Luckily for me my favorite local theater is pretty low-key and likely won't sell out until much closer to the opening.  There are still a myriad of good/not front-row seats available for opening weekend screenings for folks that want to go to a theater in 'central' San Diego that has the most comfortable seating + the best film presentation of almost any other theater in town (the Angelika)!

(also their food + booze selection is pretty awesome!!)

Offline NCDS

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2022, 10:31:22 AM »
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Luckily for me my favorite local theater is pretty low-key and likely won't sell out until much closer to the opening.  There are still a myriad of good/not front-row seats available for opening weekend screenings for folks that want to go to a theater in 'central' San Diego that has the most comfortable seating + the best film presentation of almost any other theater in town (the Angelika)!

(also their food + booze selection is pretty awesome!!)

YOu had me a Booze selection, buy me a ticket!  Mine is a weak booze selection. 
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Offline B.T. Handles

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2022, 04:54:51 AM »
Can't wait to check it out 👌🏽

Hard to believe that it's been 3 years since attending their panel and seeing it first hand in the 1st row of Hall H 😀


Offline Mistborn

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2022, 07:55:07 AM »
It was so good. But did anyone else feel like when America took Wong away from the Dark Hold to a world that looked a lot like Geonosis?!

Offline perc2100

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2022, 09:39:38 AM »
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS accomplishes what a lot of MCU critics seemingly want: a Marvel film that focuses mainly on its own story & characters, and looks VERY different than the average Marvel Studios film.  Director Sam Raimi, who has tragically directed only three feature films since concluding the original Spider-Man trilogy, brings his visual style front and center in a way that one could argue his flair is featured just as much as star Benedict Cumberbatch.  As a long-time Raimi fan, having fallen in love with EVIL DEAD 2 in the 80's when I was in middle school, there were a myriad of times I found myself chuckling aloud at some of Raimi's "signature" camera shots: a chaotic camera angle change from at least a 45 degree angle back to center; extreme closeups to underscore tension but in a fun, pseudo-campy way; a shot that is a closeup of a character's eyes, looking 'evil' or terrified or confused, superimposed on another wider shot of something else.  And if you're an Evil Dead fan, the original of which was Raimi's super low-budget feature film debut that starred his childhood friend Bruce Campbell, there are a plethora of seeming winks and nods to the franchise.  This film feels like 1) Marvel let Raimi pretty much do whatever he wanted (Raimi has said as much, that w/few exceptions story-wise he could do whatever he wanted story and character-wise) and 2) Raimi is having a blast dipping his toes back in the comic book pool.

The film is pretty much what you'd expect, though this feels more like a sequel to "WandaVision" than the previous DOCTOR STRANGE or even SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.  There are loose/minor plot points that are pertinent from those films, but this film is mainly about The Scarlett Witch being on a quest to find the universe within the Multiverse where Wanda can be reunited with her children from the Disney+ series.  The story kicks into gear within about 15 mins of the film, and only slows down occasionally to take a breath.  With a few exceptions, the bulk of the trailers and commercials we've seen are from the opening 20 minutes or so: we're reminded that Wong is the Sorcerer Supreme (much to Strange's disapproval), Gargantos (the giant one-eyed octopus-esque monster) is seemingly attacking New York City, and we're introduced to new character America Chavez, whom Gargantos is chasing.  We learn Chavez has a power to jump to different multiverses, though she can't control the power and only jumps multiverses when she's scared of something (though seemingly jumps to the exact multiverse she 'needs' to go to).

From there we're off to the races as Strange is on a quest to find a book of dark magic in order to stop the Scarlet Witch from destroying the fabric of the multiverses.  While jumping around multiverses he himself is perceived as a threat and finds himself in front of the Illuminati of _ONE_ multiverse.  To temper expectations, I feel the need t point out that this isn't so much a huge MCU-changing reveal, and more just one of many story developments. 

People are making a big deal of some of the cameo reveals. NOT A SPOILER thanks to commercials, we know Professor X and Captain Peggy Carter are part of this Illuminati, which also features
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.  Are these actors or characters vital to the MCU going forward? We don't know, but I think it's best either way to NOT get to excited or upset either way: remember this is just 1 of an infinite number of universe's characters.  While Strange looks like Cumberbatch in all the different multiverses we visit in this film, that doesn't necessarily mean these same actors play these same characters in the (absolutely established as canon!) 616 MCU we know and love; it's plausible John Krasinski, for example, was fun fan-casting for a one-and-done appearance and a future Fantastic Four will star a different actor.  Or it's plausible John Krasinski is indeed the Reed Richards of the MCU going forward: who knows?!  Either way, to say The Illuminati don't really feature heavily into the plot of MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS could be a bit of an understatement.

And that's OK, because this film has a lot to say about Strange, America Chavez, Strange's ex-girlfriend Christine, and especially Wanda/Scarlet Witch.  Strange is still wrestling with his feelings of physically abandoning Christine in order to save the world while also still flat-out loving her.  Christine is wrestling with her feelings of moving on with her life while maybe still having a thing for Strange.  Chavez has her own issues, from struggling with controlling her powers to guilt of feeling like she killed her two moms as a youngin accidentally sending them to some multiverse.

And then there's Wanda's issues: ooooh boy.  This is a point of contention for MCU fans after the fabulous WandaVision that saw Wanda creating an entire construct of a town in order to create a reality where she has a 'normal' family with Vision and their two boys.  When we last saw Wanda, she battled Agatha in a very witchy-fight, left town to live in seclusion, but was using Agatha's dark spell book to 'peek in' on her boys.  My interpretation of that ending was very much unknown: Wanda had indeed worked a bit through her grief, but had clearly turned to a darker power in pursuit of reuniting with her children.  I had no idea who the Big Bad of MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS would be, but it's made clear very early on it's The Scarlet Witch herself: using the full dark magic powers to try to kidnap America Chavez, jumping through multiverses to drain America of her powers in order to jump to the universe her kids are in.  She demonstrates the full powers in this film for the first time in the MCU and it's a scary but awesome thing: it's felt like through most of her run through the MCU her powers were...well... "whatever the plot needs in the moment."  It wasn't until WandaVistion that we starting seeing what she's truly capable of, and here she is one of the more formidable MCU characters we've seen so far: neatly explained via the powers of witchy dark magic.  She is often portrayed as a diabolically cold and ruthless being who will stop at nothing to reunite with her children.  As a parent, I understood immediately where she was coming from, and it felt bold of Marvel to take her to full-on villain mode.  As she tears through various heroes and multiverses, often with relative ease, her power display was a bit chilling.

Which brings me to the million dollar question: how "horror movie" did Sam Raimi take this?  I'd say pretty damned close to the edge, but definitely no where near a full-on horror movie.  This is a comic book movie, PG-13 and all (though remember Raimi's brilliant DRAG ME TO HELL was also PG-13, one of the more gnarly and tense PG-13 films in a long time).  There are several jump-scares, and things do get a bit intense at times.  But the film is centered around Strange having a heart and striving to do what's _right_ in order to protect everyone.  One of the more intense scenes, glimpsed in the trailer (and one of the only Act 3 reveals in any of the trailers) is the 'Zombie Doctor Strange' who utilizes literal Souls of the Damned: BUT, these are the Good Guys taking down Scarlet Witch!!  The Damned Souls spend maybe a minute being scary before Strange figures out how to utilize them for good in order to defeat Scarlet Witch.  It's a clever way of delivering the dark side of the Doctor Strange world without being too scary and I suspect THAT was the difference between Raimi's/Marvel's version of this film and the original plans from the DOCTOR STRANGE original director & writer who left this project over creative differences.  I think this film may be a bit intense for some younger viewers (and adults), but I wouldn't write it off out-of-hand for youngins.  I almost think it's too intense for my 50 year old wife, but OK for my 7 year old son.  Use your best judgement as parents, of course, but don't completely dismiss this before seeing it first.

I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout-out to Danny Elfman's wonderful score.  His music matches Raimi's visuals so well, I was endlessly happy that they two made up and are working together again.  Elfman rides the fine line between campy and actually intense as well as Raimi, and the marriage of visual to music is pretty perfect with Elfman impeccably able to capture Raimi's visual "mood."  Fans of the two will be happy to see/hear them recapture their Spider-Man/comic book magic again.

Overall this is a very entertaining movie that is tense but mainly a LOT of fun.  This is a rare MCU film that feels a product of its director, and just as ETERNALS before it feels like a relatively unique product in an ocean of nearly 30 Marvel Studios movies.  I think I can honestly say that knowing way back from Comic-Con 2019 that MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS would be "Marvel's version of a horror movie" that this film delivered & met my expectations.  I was never a fan of the character in the comics, but the Marvel creative teams of the films he's been in, as well as Cumberbatch himself, have crafted an endearing character that is somehow narcissistic as well as empathetic.  I'll know Sunday if this is indeed a film for 7 year olds (unless my wife kills me for saying it's ok when it's not)  :P

Offline perc2100

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #8 on: May 06, 2022, 01:38:13 PM »
Question for anyone who's seen this movie:

Obvs for MCU films, there are a myriad of potential land minds of spoilers: a reveal that the whole film hinges around (hi multiple Spider-men!), character/cameo reveals/surprises (Nick Fury in IRON MAN, where he was snuck onto set), or even something that Marvel studios strives to keep a huge secret from the press/public (for example, the big funeral scene for Tony Stark was a HUGE security hassle with Marvel telling many actors the purpose was something different).

Besides even the most broad spoilers, I honestly don't think there are any big "spoilers" in MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS that will make/break enjoyment of the film. Clearly someone could say that generally about any spoilers (does "no: I am your father" ruin the moment if one knows before hand? Maybe not), but to me the biggest "surprise" of the film is given away in all of the trailers/commercials: the Illuminati.  Of course, WHO makes up the Illuminati is a kind of fun guessing game for comic fans going into the movie, but the screen time and narrative purpose of The Illuminati within the film is really minor for the most part.  Philosophically, one could even argue "are these actors/characters the MCU canon Illuminati moving forward, or is this a very different situation on earth 616?!" but even beyond that debate the situation/characters are a fairly moot point for the duration of the film.

That being said, are there really any earth-shattering events/characters that are legit spoilers for this movie?  Most of us like to go in with as little knowledge as possible, so yeah maybe knowing the details of Bruce Campbell's inevitable cameo take a little of the fun off of the moment, though if someone described it to me explicitly, I'd still revel in Bruce's fun as hell performance - as I always do.  But I can't think of anything that a picture or 2 min bootleg video footage would radically spoil.  Am I wrong?

Offline accelerate

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #9 on: May 06, 2022, 10:46:41 PM »
Just got back from the theatre


I’m not gonna post any spoilers because I don’t want to deal with what I need to put behind spoiler tags. I’m just gonna give my impressions and maybe talk about spoilers in the broadest sense.

Overall, it was a wild ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, I think of the four(?) Phase 4 movies released thus far, this one was probably my favorite. But I will probably need a week to digest it to see where I end up placing the movie. I say this because coming out of Eternals & Shang Chi, I really enjoyed those too, but as time passed, those movies have fallen a notch or two. And I say this as an Asian who really wants more Asian representation in big budget movies.

Dr Strange was not the movie I expected it to be. I think the trailers I did watch did a good job of hiding the true plot. I kept away from spoilers, so all the surprises were really surprises to me. Like, I didn’t know the McGuffin / co-lead would even be in the movie. The rapid succession of reveals somewhere around the halfway point of the movie were also truly surprises to me, though I knew it was coming moments before when a there was a name drop for a certain group.

Oh, and being as vague as possible, I want to say here that there was death scene for a character that had me almost cheering. Not because it was funny or I wanted that character to die, but because it was in an extremely unique manner that I’m sure has never been done before, maybe not even in the comics. I was torn between gasping and swearing, but also giggling and clapping. 

One thing I think the movie did a good job of was balancing supremely powerful characters against one another. In comics, there’s always this sense of power creep where one character is shown to be the most powerful hero / villain, until another is shown to be more powerful, and then another becomes more powerful. This is most exemplified in the X-books, which at this point, every mutant might as well be Omega level by now (for non X-Men readers, Omega is more or less god-tier level of power). Back to my point, in this movie, a lot of characters are extremely powerful and do show off their power, but they’re all also shown to be vulnerable. And I felt by the end of the movie, there was a bit of a reset or de-escalation of power.

I’ll probably have more thoughts later.

Offline semigeekgirl

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #10 on: May 07, 2022, 01:44:06 PM »
I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but overall I was disappointed by the one-dimensional way they used Wanda as a villain. They revealed her as the Big Bad right at the beginning and from then on it was just Strange and America scrambling away through universes as she smashed her way through in their wake trying to get America's powers. I think Wanda is a really interesting character and I LOVED Wandavision so this one-note take on her was a huge letdown for me. I think they left a lot of opportunities on the table for more interesting character choices and team-ups of necessity (for instance, why not have her and Wong fight the temple gargoyles together before she realizes she can control them? Or even better, have Wanda fight alongside Strange and Wong for part of the movie... only to realize that in her grief she's sort of partitioned herself and she's been fighting against herself all along).

Overall it took a very simple story and dressed it up with a lot of fancy multiverse travel and wild cameos, and all of that was fun. But Wanda could have been so much more interesting. (Also I'm never a big fan of Raimi's style choices; I was glad to see Bruce Campbell but the long extreme facial closeups were driving me MAD. And Strange's hair and makeup team did him dirty - the hairline was way too pronounced and super wiggy, so distracting.)

Offline perc2100

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2022, 12:43:26 PM »
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I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but overall I was disappointed by the one-dimensional way they used Wanda as a villain. They revealed her as the Big Bad right at the beginning and from then on it was just Strange and America scrambling away through universes as she smashed her way through in their wake trying to get America's powers. I think Wanda is a really interesting character and I LOVED Wandavision so this one-note take on her was a huge letdown for me. I think they left a lot of opportunities on the table for more interesting character choices and team-ups of necessity (for instance, why not have her and Wong fight the temple gargoyles together before she realizes she can control them? Or even better, have Wanda fight alongside Strange and Wong for part of the movie... only to realize that in her grief she's sort of partitioned herself and she's been fighting against herself all along).

Overall it took a very simple story and dressed it up with a lot of fancy multiverse travel and wild cameos, and all of that was fun. But Wanda could have been so much more interesting. (Also I'm never a big fan of Raimi's style choices; I was glad to see Bruce Campbell but the long extreme facial closeups were driving me MAD. And Strange's hair and makeup team did him dirty - the hairline was way too pronounced and super wiggy, so distracting.)
Yeah, the part with Wanda for me was a bit of a dichotomy: I didn't mind it so much, but I agree with you that they could've done a bit more.  I kind of really dig the simplicity of the plot, but maybe they were juggling too much and Wanda got the short stick.  For example, as much as I dig The Illuminati stuff (in the way that it feels like a really cheeky troll), I wonder if they could've ditched that and given more for Wanda to do, for her to be more of a juxtaposition between inner-turmoil between the good & bad, etc.
That being said, they made it pretty clear that she was 'possessed' by the Necronomicon Darkhold and that consumed her/brought all of the darker parts of her brain (Scarlet Witch) to the forefront while stifling the good (Wanda).  Seeing this a second time w/my wife and younger kid on Mother's Day really underscored the motherlyness of it all, and as a parent I do understand that drive of a parent doing what they think is best for their kid/family situation.  The end of WandaVision kind of set the stage, with Wanda finally realizing the extent of her powers, and that's she's a witch and not just a mutant or whatever; perhaps Marvel just simplified her situation knowing it'd be "good enough/enough information" and moved on. 

When I first saw this Thursday, I legit didn't think that Wanda was gonna be the 'Big Bad:' I think I presumed there'd be an evil Strange, and prime Strange from 616 would team up w/Wanda & America to beat bad guy Strange.  I think Wanda's situation is the type of thing that works viscerally, in-the-moment, but thinking a bit about it adds a lot of questions/thoughts on an incompletely formed character ark maybe.
Even more fascinating question/thought is how the hell did Michael Stuhlbarg (Doctor West) get such a prominent credit: he had one of the fancy animated credits in the mid-credits for being in the movie, like, 90 seconds!  That dude must have an amazing agent

Offline Pyramid

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2022, 07:21:12 PM »
I am a big Sam Raimi fan and I knew this movie would not disappoint.  For me this movie was just plain fun!  The kind of MCU movie that I can just put on and have fun watching like Ragnarok.  It seriously is in my top 3 if not my favorite.  I'll know if my rewatches surpass Ragnarok.
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Offline perc2100

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #13 on: May 10, 2022, 08:38:09 AM »
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I am a big Sam Raimi fan and I knew this movie would not disappoint.  For me this movie was just plain fun!  The kind of MCU movie that I can just put on and have fun watching like Ragnarok.  It seriously is in my top 3 if not my favorite.  I'll know if my rewatches surpass Ragnarok.
This was a great reminder that it's been since 2013 since Raimi directed a movie: which I wasn't a fan of (OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL).  So going back to the last Raimi movie I loved, DRAG ME TO HELL in 2009, it's been 13 years since I've sat in a theater and enjoyed a Raimi movie!  Hopefully he doesn't go as long before the next one!!

Offline Pyramid

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Re: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness **Spoilers**
« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2022, 11:35:49 AM »
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This was a great reminder that it's been since 2013 since Raimi directed a movie: which I wasn't a fan of (OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL).  So going back to the last Raimi movie I loved, DRAG ME TO HELL in 2009, it's been 13 years since I've sat in a theater and enjoyed a Raimi movie!  Hopefully he doesn't go as long before the next one!!

I have been devouring any reviews, breakdown, or discussion videos on DS:MOM and was shocked to hear that he directed OZ.  Screen Crush did a review and pointed out the similarites between this movie and the OZ.   This is definitely on my list.
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