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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
A treat for Raimi fans
I wasn't going to write a review for Multiverse of Madness, I had a good time watching it in theatres I'm a big Sam Raimi fan and I was satisfied. But then I started reading the reviews, and it pains me to say it but the marvel fandom is becoming increasingly toxic. This pains me for the last 14 years The Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed too to be a source of unity among fans of the rather inconsistent superhero genre. Phase 4 has been rather divisive among Marvel fans there have been some pretty high highs (Spider-Man No Way Home) and some pretty low lows (Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but as super hero fatigue has began to set in fans have began trashing films and shows that ultimately don't deserve it. After the ridiculously high quality of Avengers Infinity War and Endgame people have there expectations to high and don't seem to able to get over not getting exactly what they want.
Which brings to this film which sure doesn't exactly deliver the Multiverse Madness that the title promised (a title which was announced before the current creative team signed on so...) but taken on it's own merits it is an incredibly solid and delightfully entertaining movie which some may forget is the purpose of cinema to begin with, to entertain. It's so refreshing to get such a unique storyteller to give us there vision in a franchise which is almost 30 movies long, this movie allows Raimi to bring all his usual bag of tricks and gives him full freedom to just go crazy and though this takes a little while to kick in when it does it's immensely satisfying, in fact when the film moves to the more MCUy fan service stuff is the only point were the film seemed to drag. For an MCU movie this film goes a lot further than you'd expect with the horror aspects and this is were the decision to hire Raimi really pays off with some awesome horror visuals and though it doesn't even come close to matching the terror of his Evil Dead films this is not a film to bring younger children to see. The movie manages to successfully convert Wanda into a terrifying and unstoppable force (aided by a terrific performance by Olsen) without feeling forced and staying true to the character. Cumberbatch delivers perhaps his best performance as Doctor Strange yet as he imbues the character with such confidence and bravado while still feeling heroic and not at all like the man we first met in the medical room at the beginning of the first film, yet he still has lot of lessons to learn and this film manages to give him a very satisfying and important character arc as he learns that he doesn't always have to be the one holding the knife, an arc that fully leans into the benefit of see multiple different versions of this character. Overall I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who has there expectations in check, there are a few problems her and there, the pacing feels very off and the movie could have actually benefitted from another hour but these gripes don't distract to much from the end product. I'm disappointed that people didn't seem to enjoy this film nearly as much as I did put I hope this is a lesson to fans to keep there expectations in check.
Batman Returns (1992)
A Tragically Underrated Gem
Though it may be to weird and dark for some peoples taste Batman Returns holds up remarkably in an era were superhero movies continue to push boundaries, the more comicbooky and fantastical elements wouldn't be touch in todays era which adds to this films uniqueness and helps it stand out, the atmosphere more gothic and cinematic than the first and though this film has more villains it manages to focus more on Michael Keaton's batman giving him an emotional arc in the form of his relationship with Catwoman played phenomenally by Michelle Pfeiffer in one of the greatest batman villain portals of all time (topped only by Heath Ledgers Joker in The Dark Knight) who manages to be extremely captivating whether extremely unsettling or tragically sympathetic, there relationship is the heart of the film and is by far the strongest batman movie relationship (not that there's much competition) as they try to balance there human desires with there darker personas, rounding out the core trio of this film is Danny DeVito's Penguin who is generally terrifying and though comicbook purists make scoff at this very literal portrayal it is unquestionably a great performance and fits the tone and atmosphere of the film quite well even if not all aspects of it hold up.
Bring together this film is Tim Burton's superb direction which brings a unique gothic flair truly making Gotham a world of it's own with every shot oozing with style, the Christmas setting also helps as the snow provides a different look for a batman movie and gives it a special feel to it similar to what you get with a special episode of a TV show, as well as Danny Elfman's score which some how manages to top his score for Batman 89 and which elevates each scenes impact tenfold. I could talk about this movie forever but somehow I don't think you'll want that so I'll just say this if you haven't watched Batman Returns because you didn't like Batman 89 or you think it looks to silly or you watched it back when it came out and you weren't a fan I would strongly encourage you to watch it, as someone who's 17 and wasn't even born when this film came out I can tell you, it holds up.