*Sigh* I unfortunately did not enjoy this movie. I really liked the first one, but this one just wasn't for me. It had some very cool moments and the FX looked great
(Zombie Strange flying around was dope)
but the story and the characters did not captivate me much at all. I don't think I've checked my phone this many times during a Marvel movie ever. I think I will be in the minority with this movie, and that's fine. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I hope everyone else enjoys it.
The crowd I was with didn't make any noise or cheers and hardly any laughs. Very odd for a Marvel movie in all my experiences. Maybe I was with a bunch of grouches like me lol!
The same thing happened with my audience as well .
It wasn't the usual rip roaring ride like reaction I hear watching most MCU films.
There were some laughs and chuckles, but at the end, no one clapped.
The same thing happened with my audience as well .
It wasn't the usual rip roaring ride like reaction I hear watching most MCU films.
There were some laughs and chuckles, but at the end, no one clapped.
the only movie where i have had heard any cheering was No way home with Toby and Garfield . I live in the uk so maybe us brits are more reserved with that kind of thing. I saw this last night! I gave it 6 to 7. Mainly because it was just all special effects, from the first 2nd to the last. It was a bit too much like a cartoon to me. However at least they went all out complete fantasy! Which I kind of admired watching it. Because I'm getting older and more cynical I prefer a more grounded movie. If i was under ten I would i thought this was the best movie ever made! The horror aspects weren't that bad. I think younger audiences will eat this movie up. Some people walking out though at my screening were slagging it off! Some seem to hate it! I didnt at all.
It felt very much like a Phase 1 movie to me with poorly executed pacing, some questionable character decisions, and a ton of setup without feeling self-contained. 6/10
There hasn’t been much cheering in any of the recent Marvel movies (thank goodness). I vaguely remember one moment in Black Widow, nothing in Eternals, and there were a few cheers for MoM with Professor X, but nothing on the level of No Way Home.
the only movie where i have had heard any cheering was No way home with Toby and Garfield . I live in the uk so maybe us brits are more reserved with that kind of thing. I saw this last night! I gave it 6 to 7. Mainly because it was just all special effects, from the first 2nd to the last. It was a bit too much like a cartoon to me. However at least they went all out complete fantasy! Which I kind of admired watching it. Because I'm getting older and more cynical I prefer a more grounded movie. If i was under ten I would i thought this was the best movie ever made! The horror aspects weren't that bad. I think younger audiences will eat this movie up. Some people walking out though at my screening were slagging it off! Some seem to hate it! I didnt at all.
Same in Finland. The Avengers is the only one where I've witnessed cheering or applauding during (Hulk/Loki scene) or after the movie. I asked about it if a friend (who goes to movies more often) had seen something like that and he hadn't. His answer was, like mine: "Who are you applauding? The makers of the movie, who are not there to hear them? Or the theater staff for clicking play on a computer?"
I had a thoroughly good time with this movie. So, I have to admit I was a little worried going in, my expectations were lowered quite a bit due to the divisive responses from critics and from you guys on the hype so I kind of went into this movie LOOKING for flaws subconsciously.
But I thought this movie was a blast. Yes, the movie very clearly isnt perfect and has issues. This needed to be longer and bit more fleshed out. And yes, what they choose to do with
Wanda Maximoff
is either going to make you irate or you just roll with it and I rolled with it. The movie starts off with a bang and the first 30 mins just plunge you right into the action and story. Then it slows down a bit in act II and youre like "ok...where is all this going?" But then once we get to the Iluminati, Raimi takes the gloves off and goes nuts and I loved it.
I love that Raimi went full on horror and I really felt the suspense when our main antagonist starts unleashing themselves against our heroes and proves to be one of the scariest most powerful MCU antagonists we've ever seen. But again, I can see a lot of people inherently NOT being ok with the antagonist period and if you arent this movie isnt going to be enjoyable to you.
Cumberbatch was great, Olsen was a beast, Gomez was a great new addition and they gave Rachel mcadams a meaty role this time! Everyone pretty much did good in this movie. I'm seeing a lot of mixed reactions to the Illuminati scene and cameos but I was FREAKING out! The fan service there was so great especially when they introduced a certain musical cue for a character I was like "YAAAAASSS!!" I was so happy.
Overall I give this a solid 8/10. You do have to temper expectations, and i'm very very curious to see the online discourse about this film in the coming weeks. I think this movie drove home a lesson that we as fans tend to let our expectations get the best of us sometimes. We all ASSUMED this was going to be some giant epic, Endgame sized Multiverse conclusion but truthfully guys I dont think this movie was ever supposed to be that. We just assumed it was and to be fair, maybe thats due to the title...but i dont think Feige or Marvel ever promised that. We let the internet speculation get the best of us and ran with it. Anyway, cant wait to wait to revisit this.
So unfortunately I found it almost impossible to write a decent review without spoilers, so here it is:
I think I went into this having higher expectations for "the multiverse." When a movie is called "Multiverse of Madness" it implies a visit to SEVERAL other universes... but all we got was two... TWO! And one was at the end of its existence! Sure we got a quick little montage of "other" universes, but that's not madness.
Also, I thought for sure that this movie would help make sense about what happened in the LOKI finale... but no. With the events of Wandavision, NWH, and MOM, Loki's finale feels irrelevant. And that's a shame.
Finally, when in the H-E-double hockey sticks, are they gonna (formally) introduce mutants into the MCU!?!? This was the perfect movie to do it in... but again, NOTHING. (Scarlett Witch and a variant Professor X doesn't count.)
With these disappointments out the way, I enjoyed the movie overall. Especially the illuminati scene!! I don't understand the hate for that at all. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time! John Krasinski has been my favorite for Reed for a couple years now, and even though this variant got slaughtered within 5 minutes, I was bouncing with joy! And hearing that X-Men '97 theme when Xavier came rolling out was enough to almost make me tear up. So good!
Cast was great. I'm not a horror guy, but I enjoyed Raimi's horror touches. Solid 7/10.
the only movie where i have had heard any cheering was No way home with Toby and Garfield . I live in the uk so maybe us brits are more reserved with that kind of thing. I saw this last night! I gave it 6 to 7. Mainly because it was just all special effects, from the first 2nd to the last. It was a bit too much like a cartoon to me. However at least they went all out complete fantasy! Which I kind of admired watching it. Because I'm getting older and more cynical I prefer a more grounded movie. If i was under ten I would i thought this was the best movie ever made! The horror aspects weren't that bad. I think younger audiences will eat this movie up. Some people walking out though at my screening were slagging it off! Some seem to hate it! I didnt at all.
Here in the US, cheering is pretty common with action films , CBMs, comedies, etc, though the films have to be good of course. Same thing with plays , live productions ,etc.
Applause at the end is usually a good sign the film has landed with audiences here.
Certainly with many Marvel films, cheering and applause is common, but those films have been pretty well received for the most part in the US.
So ,MOM , not receiving that type of reception when I saw it is noteworthy for me given my experience seeing MCU films.
Overall I give this a solid 8/10. You do have to temper expectations, and i'm very very curious to see the online discourse about this film in the coming weeks. I think this movie drove home a lesson that we as fans tend to let our expectations get the best of us sometimes. We all ASSUMED this was going to be some giant epic, Endgame sized Multiverse conclusion but truthfully guys I dont think this movie was ever supposed to be that. We just assumed it was and to be fair, maybe thats due to the title...but i dont think Feige or Marvel ever promised that. We let the internet speculation get the best of us and ran with it. Anyway, cant wait to wait to revisit this.
Can you really blame that on fans and speculation based on everything this film was built as? Especially coming off the heels of No Way Home and how it sort of delved into the multiverse as well? Of course fans would have high expectations, with or without internet speculation. To temper our expectations would mean to expect just another run-of-the-mill MCU movie, which this movie is hardly selling itself as or promised to be.
Like, I'll temper my expectations for Ant-Man 3 because the first two, for my money, are so run of the mill that I don't expect the third one to be anything special. That's without any teasers or footage, sure, but besides Loki's ending, it's not coming off the heels of anything that promises it'll be something I'm looking forward to, the way Multiverse of Madness further delves into the multiverse after No Way Home did.
I admit , as fans we can write the movie in our own heads ,then be disappointed by it when it doesn't live up to our own individual expectations.
But, if a film is truly good, or excellent, it can overcome those type expectations, and still land with people.
I had expectations about who I thought would appear, and what I thought would happen, in NWH.
Yet I still love the film, even though it didn't turn out how I thought it might.
That's because the film for me worked on so many levels that I still gave it a 10/10.
So high expectations or fan theories don't automatically translate to being disappointed or underwhelmed by a film that doesn't deliver them .
In my experience, a good film can sustain those expectations not being met, if it's very good.
People are so conditioned by these movies having quips to undermine tension that when it doesn't happen, it's taken as a bad thing. I'm honestly glad this movie played it straight for the most part.
I would give it an 8/10. There are a few issues with it, but overall one of the better second entries for a title character, certainly way above Iron Man 2 and Thor The Dark World. I'd rank it right around what I did for Spider-man Far From Home and Guardians Vol 2 as far as 2nd entries.
One thing for sure, Cumberbatch wears this character like a comfortable pair of shoes. He just fits right in. There's no big preamble. I really like the tone they set between Wong and Strange as trusted colleagues and friends. It's so much better than the cringy master servant relationship in the comics.
The relationship and bond between Strange and Chavez is what sells this film. One of the few problems that I had with Spider-man No Way Home, was I never felt sold on the relationship with Peter and Strange. I'm not sure what they were going for, but Strange's line about "all of us who love you" felt so out of place there. At most I feel Strange had respect for Peter, but they probably didn't want to mimic the relationship that Tony and Peter had, so I somewhat get it. In this film, it's totally different. Strange is definitely the surrogate father figure, and there's a bond and a trust there. There's a thematic element here on what a parent would do for their children, that applies to both Wanda and Strange.
I don't want to deal with tagged spoilers, so I'm going to keep this at the 30,000 foot view. This is a continuation in many ways to Wanda Vision, but it's not what you think it is. Elizabeth Olson does a perfect job of playing the tragic hero. If you don't know the full backstory, it might be hard to see what's going on here, but Wanda has literally lost everyone who was near and dear to her. In Wandavision, it was her trying to deal with that by creating a fake reality. All I will say is when you watch this film, your take on what occurred in Wanda Vision will change on what exactly happened.
I will also say that Elizabeth Olsen is a fabulous actress, and did a fantastic job here.
My one disappointment is that we don't get much of Mordo. I liked that the first film setup that his goal was to rid the world of sorcerers. It was a good twist to a friendship that had gone south. I hope we get to see that play out in a future film.
Other things I will say. I loved Raimi's direction in this film. Watch for the Bruce Campbell cameo. I missed where the Oldsmobile was, I have to rewatch.
I'm going to be honest. I did not like Elfman's score. It's largely forgettable. Compared to Giacchino's score it severely lacks. The Giaccino theme is reused a couple of times in the film, as well as some other familiar themes, that I won't list for spoiler purposes. I have a lot of respect for Elfman's body of work, this just wasn't it.
I'm not going to tag or list any spoilers, but I want to issue a warning if you haven't seen this film yet, stay away from You Tube. This is the second Marvel movie that You Tube has just allowed large sections of the biggest spoilers on their channel. This stuff will just show up in your feed. It's sad and disappointing.
I would give it an 8/10. There are a few issues with it, but overall one of the better second entries for a title character, certainly way above Iron Man 2 and Thor The Dark World. I'd rank it right around what I did for Spider-man Far From Home and Guardians Vol 2 as far as 2nd entries.
One thing for sure, Cumberbatch wears this character like a comfortable pair of shoes. He just fits right in. There's no big preamble. I really like the tone they set between Wong and Strange as trusted colleagues and friends. It's so much better than the cringy master servant relationship in the comics.
The relationship and bond between Strange and Chavez is what sells this film. One of the few problems that I had with Spider-man No Way Home, was I never felt sold on the relationship with Peter and Strange. I'm not sure what they were going for, but Strange's line about "all of us who love you" felt so out of place there. At most I feel Strange had respect for Peter, but they probably didn't want to mimic the relationship that Tony and Peter had, so I somewhat get it. In this film, it's totally different. Strange is definitely the surrogate father figure, and there's a bond and a trust there. There's a thematic element here on what a parent would do for their children, that applies to both Wanda and Strange.
I don't want to deal with tagged spoilers, so I'm going to keep this at the 30,000 foot view. This is a continuation in many ways to Wanda Vision, but it's not what you think it is. Elizabeth Olson does a perfect job of playing the tragic hero. If you don't know the full backstory, it might be hard to see what's going on here, but Wanda has literally lost everyone who was near and dear to her. In Wandavision, it was her trying to deal with that by creating a fake reality. All I will say is when you watch this film, your take on what occurred in Wanda Vision will change on what exactly happened.
I will also say that Elizabeth Olsen is a fabulous actress, and did a fantastic job here.
My one disappointment is that we don't get much of Mordo. I liked that the first film setup that his goal was to rid the world of sorcerers. It was a good twist to a friendship that had gone south. I hope we get to see that play out in a future film.
Other things I will say. I loved Raimi's direction in this film. Watch for the Bruce Campbell cameo. I missed where the Oldsmobile was, I have to rewatch.
I'm going to be honest. I did not like Elfman's score. It's largely forgettable. Compared to Giacchino's score it severely lacks. The Giaccino theme is reused a couple of times in the film, as well as some other familiar themes, that I won't list for spoiler purposes. I have a lot of respect for Elfman's body of work, this just wasn't it.
I'm not going to tag or list any spoilers, but I want to issue a warning if you haven't seen this film yet, stay away from You Tube. This is the second Marvel movie that You Tube has just allowed large sections of the biggest spoilers on their channel. This stuff will just show up in your feed. It's sad and disappointing.
This the 28th film in the MCU and it kinda felt like a set up film for the next big upcoming event which I believe will be Secret Wars/Battleworld (A multiverse war). The amount of times the word “Incursion” is used seems to imply that where this is going. Kinda like Iron Man 2 was basically a setup to The Avengers.
The story isn’t as cohesive as I was hoping and there’s definitely cracks in the structure that suggests too many mandates were assigned. This is a Doctor Strange sequel, but it’s also a Scarlet Witch film follow up to WandaVision but also a deconstruction of Wanda’s character growth to being consumed by the Dark Side ala Anakin Skywalker. We tap into the Multiverse, but not to its full potential. We tease characters to come but are regulated to cameos. And of course the biggest is the genre of Horror and gore.
the pros
1. The actors: Everyone was great in their performance, the MVP is Elizabeth Olsen. She crushed as Scarlet Witch, Benedict continues to give rang and complexity to his arc as Dr. Strange. B.D Wong,
2. The cameos: I liked see them, Sir Patrick Stewart playing a version of Charles Xavier from X-Men: The Animated Series, Haley Attwell as Captain Carter, Lashana Lynch as Captain Marvel, Anson Mount as Black Bolt, and John Krasinski as Reed Richard aka Mr. Fantastic.
3. Easter eggs and references and things to come. There’s plenty
cons
1. Horror and gore: it wasn’t necessary, there were some very violent scenes that unfortunately were overblown and unnecessary. You can kill without it being borderline. Kids are going to see this and it’s not ideal.
2. The CGI : at some points it looked unfinished and even disjointed.
3. Continuity and character development: Wanda arc feels uneven and a full 180% light switch to the dark side. I think it might have served better if we saw a duel of her battling for control over the scarlet witch oppression of her.
I haven't seen it yet, but if you shoot for laughs, people complain. If you don't shoot for laughs, guess what happens? (By the way, I'm shooting for laughs.....<chuckles to himself> )
I'm of two minds on the film in many ways.
On the one hand, I liked it more than DS 1, but I don't think it's a better film than DS 1.
One the one hand, I feel like the scope should be more epic given it's subject matter, but at the same time, I feel it's too long given the actual focus and story and characters at hand.
There were parts I was engaged in, and other parts which dragged for me.
I think Olsen makes a great heavy and does a great Job, as usual.
Xochitl Gomez is also pretty good for a Freshman Marvel outing
I liked the easter eggs and shout outs to the fans.
I can see why fans may be mixed on it, but overall, i'd still recommend it .
I agree with everything you said except the score. I score based on how much I want to watch it again and I would watch again immediately. Admittedly, I am probably ranking high because Dr strange is an all time favorite though. 9/10
It seems to be getting a pretty good reception around here. About 70% are rating it good or better. About 90% of the GA seems to be liking it. Those aren't eye popping numbers, but are pretty good. I've always suspected that us Hypester types are a little more critical than most when it comes to the SH movie genre and this seems to back this up.
EDIT: Only 14% of us called it mediocre or worse. The rest (about 16%) say it's okay.
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