Sunday, January 9, 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) Teaser - Review/Reaction

doctor strange the multiverse of madness poster

The much awaited first teaser for this year's first MCU movie has arrived and has Benedict Cumberbatch returning as the Sorcerer Supreme along with the supporting cast (Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Stuhlbarg).
 
Check out the trailer:




Against Wong's advice, Dr Strange has used an incantation that has opened up the Multiverse. No wonder that we are introduced to an alternate version of our titular character who is not as benevolent as the one we are familiar with. The Sorcerer Supreme reaches out to Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for fighting this new threat.
 
Genre veteran Sam Raimi (Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire), replaces Scott Derrickson as the director. Astute movie fans would remember this reference to Dr Strange in Spider-Man 2:
 

Another nod was the fact that Peter Parker's workplace (Joe's Pizza) was located on Bleecker Street - Dr Strange's Sanctum Santorum is situated at 177A Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. Now the circle is complete with Sam helming this movie. Hopefully, he will repeat his magic again. Speaking of Scott Derrickson, it seems he was interested in bringing Namor in the sequel. Perhaps, this was the reason he left the project due to creative differences. Nevertheless the Sinister auteur has been replaced by one of the legends in the genre and we are getting our first Horror movie from MCU.
 
As I had mentioned in another post, Benedict Cumberbatch seems a bit off in his role as the Sorcerer Supreme. The fire and passion that he brought to the screen as Sherlock is missing here. We get a brief glimpse of Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer in wedding gown. The teaser promises a lot of action set pieces as can be expected from a MCU movie. I do look forward to the teaming up of Scarlet Witch and Dr Strange. Wanda almost singlehandedly defeated Thanos and was one of the few Avengers who have accomplished this. Wanda and Stephen working together would make for a very powerful combo.
 

Plus, I am interested to see what other surprises the Multiverse throws at us - may be introduce us to couple of X-Men....

Trivia
  • The Octopus like creature that Dr Strange is battling is Shuma-Gorath.
  • The movie also marks the live action debut of America Chavez. The superheroine is played by Xochitl Gomez.

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Image Sources: Marvel Studios, Truenorth Productions, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) Trailer - Review/Reaction

spider man no way home poster
 
The latest trailer for the webslinger's latest movie outing is out. And it promises to be the mother of all cross overs, even by MCU standards.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man has taken Doctor Strange's help to solve his identity crisis and the outcomes are far worser than anything he could have expected.

Check out the trailer:




As readers would know from the previous trailer, characters from parallel universe/multiverse have descended on Peter Parker's reality.
 
This includes Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), J Jonah Jameson (J K Simmons) and Sandman from the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire movies. We have Lizard and Electro/Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) from Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield movies. 
 
I am personally excited by the return of Green Goblin as Willem Dafoe is a terrific actor. Another noteworthy point is the comic book faithful depiction of Electro's costume this time. Alfred Molina seems to be genuinely enjoying his return to Spidey's Universe.

There are some aspects of the trailer that also raised my concern. Benedict Cumberbatch looks a bit bored in his role as the Sorcerer Supreme. There is a clear difference between this performance and what we have seen him do as the Sherlock in the BBC series.

Plus, most of the jokes fell flat (at least for me). Hope the other jokes in the movie are funnier.
 
Obviously, like most other fans, I am also eagerly anticipating the return of Tobey Maguire to his arguably most famous role. Did not enjoy Andrew's performance and would not care either way for his appearance.
 
Doc Ock seems to be on Spidey's side this time. It would be fun to watch the 3 Spider-Men/Doctor Strange/Doc Ock take on Green Goblin/Lizard/Sand-Man/Electro alliance.
 
And, let us not forget about a certain alien symbiote and a living vampire who should also pop up in Spidey's timeline soon...
 
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Image Sources: Pascal Pictures, Marvel Studios, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)