Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong. The film is directed by Sam Raimi and follows Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong who must team up together to protect a multiverse jumping child who is being hunted for her power.

It’s been a while since Raimi was in the director seat for a superhero movie. The last few that he directed were from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, which was almost 20 years ago. Those were my least favorite of the Spider-Man films and unfortunately Raimi’s filmmaking in this genre hasn’t improved much. Even with last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home perfectly teeing this up, I still found this movie to be a bit of a disappointment. 

The plot was supposed to be close to the comics, which I'm sure the purists will appreciate, however some of the visuals just don’t translate well to screen. There were quite a few bits that they could have taken out or toned down. Also, the cinematography was another Inception style edit, which is honestly getting a bit old. There was also too long of a gap in between the 2016 movie and this one. I had forgotten I lot of the backstory between Doctor Strange and his counterparts. And the attempt at filling the audience back in was weak at best. 

Regarding casting, I did like that they brought in Elizabeth Olsen, who played Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch. The script was able to fill in her past few years a bit, but I do think for those to fully understand her current arc, you would need to go back and watch the Disney+ TV show, WandaVision. It helps to fill in more of her complicated journey. I know that some felt like she was overacting but I thought it was more of a manic, desperate act, which made sense based off of the trauma she experienced with Vision and her children. Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor, he has definitely evolved the character of Doctor Strange to a more likeable hero vs the first film. For the rest of the cast, I liked the diversity in the group, there were some strong female characters that could hold their own, and there were some cool multiverse character introductions that will hopefully make some possible spinoffs in the future.

Overall Doctor Strange is a great character when infused in an Avenger movie or a Spider-Man movie. As a co-star I feel like he lets his serious guard down and is actually a lot funnier, but on his own, I’m just not as engaged in his story. This movie was better than 2016's Doctor Strange with an action packed and unpredictable plot but it still didn't meet the Marvel standard that I am accustomed to. It is unfortunate, with all the acting talent, that these movies aren’t better.

Ambulance

Ambulance is the story of a bank robbery gone badly that ended up turning into a hostage situation starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González. Directed and produced by Michael Bay.

Many say that this was Bay’s “return to form”. In the cinematography you could see his influence with the aerial shots and helicopter usage. At times I thought I was watching Bad Boys.

This heist movie was formulaic in the screenplay. It was a typical plot with nothing that was particularly original, but I still enjoyed the high action and suspenseful ride.

I liked the diverse casting of Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González. There was descent character development for the three main leads but I would have liked a bit deeper dive to have really been able to connect to each to them. Gyllenhaal commanded the screen as Danny Sharp; he was tactical, vicious, and was a force to be reckoned with. He gave a wide range in his performance which I really enjoyed. Yahya, whom I’ve seen in a number of different roles now, gave me a different side to himself by playing Will Sharp. He did great at playing the more kindhearted, down on his luck, wrong guy in the wrong place. Eiza who played EMT Cam Thompson, one of the only females in the film, gave a strong performance, she held her own, and she was resourceful and brave.

Ambulance reminded me of The Town mixed with Cut Throat City. It was a bit slow moving at times, I felt like they could have cut some of the chase sequences out altogether and I wasn’t entirely pleased with the end. Even though I wanted a bit more closure there I was still pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film.