Dr Strange Vs Dr Stryker
Now it’s no secret, I’m a huge Marvel fan! I used to love all the cartoons as a kid and, much to the chagrin of my parents, I burned tons of money on the comics & figures in my teenage days (..ahem and maybe even now)!
My love for all this stuff was reignited when suddenly, out of nowhere, Marvel studios made the first Iron Man movie in 2008, transforming what was arguably the most boring character in the comics to the coolest thing on the planet!
Of course, Robert Downey Jr. had a huge part to play in the success of the character, making Stark / Iron Man something of a James Bond-esque icon for a new era, a character guys wanted to be and gals wanted to be with! Heck I even bought a Bulgari watch because of that movie!
Fast forward to 2022 and a lot has changed, most of the core characters have vanished and along with it, to be honest, some of the magic.
Stepping back into the cinema after these last couple of years of pandemonium felt great and no matter how much I love my home theater (more on my set up in a future post), there’s no denying that my 75inch TV can’t compare to an IMAX screen, it’s simply the best way to enjoy these action heavy blockbusters.
As the Marvel logo was sprawled across the screen, I was excited but at the same time there was a sense of trepidation.
While all of the original Phase 1 movies carefully setup the first Avengers movie and subsequently the impending doom that was the arrival of Thanos, here we are, in the middle of Phase 4 with Shang-Chi, Eternals, Disney+ shows like Loki, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Hawkeye and Moon Knight, and still relatively none the wiser regarding where things are going.
Multiverse of Madness is already dominating at the box office but is that because it’s really good or simply because we’re hungry for new Marvel movies?
Unfortunately, I think it’s more the latter!
Sure, Cumberbatch has grown into the character of Stephen Strange and for the most part, we’ve grown to forgive him for his terrible American accent, but the movie still never really takes off and reaches its full potential.
Having seen the animated What If…? series on Disney+, I figured I had a rough idea of what to expect in Multiverse of Madness but I was wrong and if anything, What If…? was actually far superior.
I won’t reveal any spoilers, but the plot follows a rather dull new character whose unique powers could prove devastating for the multiverse, that’s if Doc Strange doesn’t save the day!
The adventure takes us through the multiverse, which of course means some cool cameos, guest appearances and the trademark Doctor Strange mind-bending special effects but save for Doctor Strange and Wong, what’s missing are characters to really care and root for!
Director Sam Raimi of Spider-Man and The Evil Dead fame does a good job and adds his usual horror-flair and yes, a special guest appearance by you know who..
My main issue with the movie was the choice of villain.
You know that scene in the Loki series where that guy at the TVA (Time Variance Authority) opens his desk drawer to reveal the infinity stones being used as paper weights and how it kinda trivialized everything that had happened in all the Avengers movies before, Marvel’s choice of villain for Multiverse of Madness left me with the same kind of feeling.
Kudos for the misdirection on Marvel’s part, I didn’t see this villain coming. I thought things might continue where things ended in the first Doc Strange movie with a bitter Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) or perhaps the bad guy from the Loki Disney+ series.
But nope, they don’t.
Ultimately, Multiverse of Madness almost feels like a standalone movie and despite the intra and after-credits scenes, the movie remains mostly rather forgettable and does little to add value to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I’m waiting for Marvel to do something that’s gonna get us all excited again.
I know they can do it but they just didn’t quite do it here!
Let me know what you guys thought and see you in the next post.
Dr. Bobby Stryker
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