Last of the Monster Kids

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Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Director Report Card: Sam Raimi (2022)



In the Marvel comic books, Doctor Strange frequently tangles with other-worldly entities, elder gods, and demonic evils. His adventures are characterized as much by cosmic horror as they are wizards throwing bolts of Balthakk at each other. The first big budget "Doctor Strange" movie – which I rather like, though it seems to be considered mid-tier Marvel by most – focused more on the latter than the former. This was set to change with the inevitable sequel, director Scott Derrickson hoping to return to his horror roots with the projects. For whatever reason, this didn't work out and Derrickson left the film... Only to be replaced, in the biggest cinematic up-trade in recent memory, by Sam Raimi. This took what probably would've been a standard Marvel sequel and made it a much bigger deal for a certain breed of film nerd. After a nearly decade long break from directing, Sam Raimi was finally back. "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" has him returning to the superhero genre he helped define and touching upon a character that always seemed like an ideal fit for him.

While ruefully attending the wedding of Christine Palmer, his ex-girlfriend, former Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Stephen Strange uses his mastery of the mystic arts to rescue a young woman from an interdimensional monster. The girl is America Chanez and she has the uncontrollable ability to leap through the multiverse. In hopes of returning her home, and stopping the creatures pursuing her, Strange consults former Avenger Wanda Maximoff... But she is the source of their trouble. The Scarlet Witch has been corrupted by the Darkhold, a tome of evil knowledge. She is determined to be reunited with her lost children and will tear dimensions apart to do it. Strange and America are tossed through the multiverse as they seek the Book of Vishanti, the inverse to the Darkhold and their only hope to stop Wanda. 

If there were any concerns that Raimi's playful style would be restrained by working within the massive Disney/Marvel machine, that's put to rest early on. While rescuing America from a giant green eyeball monster – who is obviously Shuma-Gorath but called Gargantos for legal reasons – there's a distinctive crash-zoom on the girl as she dangles from a ledge. From this moment on, "Multiverse of Madness" is packed full of Raimi signifiers. What might've been a dull expository conversation becomes a playful montage of overlaid images. There's stylized close-ups on people's faces, point-of-view shots, corny "Spider-Man" style dialogue, and even the occasional burst of wacky physical humor. There's absolutely no denying who directed this "Doctor Strange" adventure. Raimi goes full force. 

In fact, "Multiverse of Madness" doesn't resemble Raimi's previous superhero movies so much as it does his most cultishly beloved franchise. There's a key scene where, in an attempt to stop Wanda, Strange traps her in pocket dimension. As she escapes, the heroes listen for creaking sound effects. The camera slingshots around them. An eye glares madly from a puddle and hands leap out to grab people. This even includes a moment where Wanda touches a mirror and it ripples like water. Yes, "Doctor Strange 2" sometimes feels like the most expensive "Evil Dead" movie ever made. There's jump scares, shrieking wraiths that lunge at the camera, and a dilapidated, spooky mansion. The last act even features a blatant shout-out to "Army of Darkness" and a shambling corpse digging itself out of its grave. The resemblance to Sam's gore-soaked debut is even baked right into the narrative structure. The plot revolves around an evil book. The hero exits one bad situation to just be thrust into another. A macho one-liner is shouted before dispatching an undead foe. And not only does Bruce Campbell show up but he's smacked around by his own hand. Raimi using a mega-budget superhero gig as an excuse to return to his horror roots is unexpected and completely delightful.

In fact, "Multiverse of Madness" is so unapologetically a horror movie that it easily ranks as the superhero mega-franchise's grisliest adventure yet. A minor character is reduced to a charred, smoldering right on-screen. A bad guy gets impaled on a wrought iron fence. The story’s mid-point involves Wanda gorily dispatching a cadre of beloved Marvel superheroes. There’s way more exploding heads and bodily dismemberment in this scene then you’d probably expect from a movie marketed heavily towards children. While you can bicker about whether or not the movie is too gory or too scary for the young ones, Raimi definitely pushes against the borders of the PG-13 rating. There’s almost a sense of chaotic joy in these scenes, of an overgrown kid happily destroying his own toys. 

The "Doctor Strange" comics are maybe best known for their far-out visuals and trippy illustrations. The original movie definitely had fun with this, with its scenes of cityscapes tumbling in on themselves. With the sequel, Raimi and his team have even more fun doubling down on the wild imagery. Doctor Strange's spells, this time, seem to specialize in summoning all sorts of bizarre beasts. The opening fight scene features a giant cat head or a pair of huge, hairy hands popping out of portals to help fight a monster. This is exactly the kind of crazy shit that happened in the old comics and it's refreshing to see a big budget movie feature this kind of stuff, without ever commenting on it. In this regard, the highlight of the film definitely comes when Strange goes tumbling through a number of universes, rendered in quick succession as animation, paint, or a screaming mass of blocks. 

Marvel films are effects-driven action movies, of course, no matter how much this entry tries to move the needle towards horror. At their weakest, Marvel flicks can be indistinct collections of CGI clobbering. "Multiverse of Madness" at least tries to have fun with it. Strange's battle with Gargantos features some creative implementation of magical sawblades. A battle between Strange and an evil double has musical notes being rendered as neon-glowing shurikens, while the accompanying classical songs play in the soundtrack. That's exactly the kind of playful imagery comic book movies need more of. And it must be said that there's a pretty decent fist fight between Strange and an alternate universe version of his archenemy at one point, the kind of martial arts-tinged melees Marvel movies could use more of.

While "The Multiverse of Madness" seems most preoccupied with having fun with the sheer Raimi-ness of it all, the sequel does pause for some serious thematic concerns throughout. The multiversal premise allows the characters to see that certain elements of their lives are consistent across all realities. This can't help but bring with it a question of "what if?" What if the events that define our lives had gone a little differently? Would we be happy then? These are, I think, questions everyone can't help but ask about their lives. It's a good theme to nestle inside your superhero flick and it even helps redeem the Stephen Strange/Christine Palmer love story, which was one of the more anemic elements of the first film. The two happily have more screen time here, which helps the audience believe that the doctor really is in love with her. 

Trying to ground "Doctor Strange 2" in some universal themes is probably a good idea, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quickly approaching the point of continuity lockout. This is a problem familiar to comic book readers, as some stories and series start to become incomprehensible if you aren't literate in eighty years of Marvel history. "Multiverse of Madness" isn't that weighed down by lore but... This is a movie essentially operating as a sequel to the first "Doctor Strange," the last two "Avengers" movies, and the "WandaVision" streaming series. It would also probably help you understand things if you've seen the "What If...?" series, the last "Spider-Man" movie, "Captain Marvel," and some superhero movies that Disney didn't even produce. I've seen all this stuff, because I'm a huge nerd, but Marvel's movies may be beginning to challenge the average person's commitment to this franchise. 

And, listen, I like shout-outs to obscure bits of comic book lore or previous installments in this sprawling fictional universe. Yet Marvel is increasingly falling into the habit of padding their movies out with self-congratulatory bits of fan service. "Doctor Strange 2" features at least two cameos designed to make the fanboys in the audience hoot and holler. These don't just seemingly fold two beloved properties somewhere into the Marvel movie multiverse but also pays homage to a popular bit of fan-casting. How necessary it is to do this, to stop the movie cold to incidentally introduce a love letter to something barely related to this story, is certainly debatable. Did a "Doctor Strange" sequel need to explain to us who Blackagar Boltagon is? I don't hate these moments but it does lead to "Multiverse of Madness" feeling a little overstuffed at times. 

The sequel making room for stuff like this while potentially shortchanging some of its supporting characters is frustrating. Superheroes jumping back-and-forth between good and evil is not an unusual occurrence in comic books. Wanda has already made the leap at least once before in this Cinematic Universe. Though it is a little jarring, at times, to have this former heroine acting like such a ruthless villain here. Granted, the movie does everything it can to make this shift work. Elizabeth Olsen's performance is full of pathos. The script leans into the sympathetic motivations for her drastic actions. Ultimately, there's a tragic conclusion to her character arc here. I don't think the movie would be anywhere near as effective as it is with another Marvel character in the villain role. But it still distracted me sometimes.

This frustrating balance in the script is most evident in the character of America Chavez. Her multiverse leaping superpowers are, more than anything else, a plot device designed to keep the story rolling. This sometimes makes her feel like more of a prop than an actual character. Xochitl Gomez is charming in the role. Seeing America finally come into her own by the end is satisfying. Obviously, this is a character designed to have further adventures in other Marvel movies. Yet I would say, with everything else this sequel is designed to do, actually giving a compelling character arc to the future Miss America and likely soon-to-be Young Avenger gets lost in the shuffle.

Ultimately, despite some reservations I have about it, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is a massively entertaining motion picture. Raimi gets to play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sandbox without compromising his personal style. If anything, this is the most Raimi-feeling movie he's made since “Drag Me to Hell.” As these types of movies always must, there's a  scene teasing a sequel in the middle of the credits. While I don't want Raimi hooked to the Marvel machine for the rest of his career, I also probably wouldn't mind seeing him mess around with these characters for at least one more adventure. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” might very well be the best film to come out of Marvel's latest phase. [Grade: B+]

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