Horror is a paradoxical film genre. You can be underestimated and overrated at the same time. It’s controversial and easy to get out of hand, but it can bring a unique atmosphere to any script, no matter how weak.
In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” the director Sam Raimi manages to transform the feature and fit it, for the first time in the history of Marvel in the “horror” genre.
The seed, however, had already been planted in the first film, directed by Scott Derrickson . The filmmaker, who helmed projects like “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), brought a darker tone to Marvel, but abandoned the “Doctor Strange” boat, citing creative differences with the studio.
Left for the director of “Spider man” (2002), who, for the first time in his career, won the inscription “a film by Sam Raimi” in a feature film he directed.
Well deserved, mainly because the filmmaker managed to draw a film linked to so many other works by the studio.
In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” we follow the hero’s story Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who must protect America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a teenager capable of traveling through infinite dimensions, from the threat of the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).
A classic hero’s journey, something we’re used to seeing in most blockbusters, but nothing is that simple when it comes to Marvel, right? To understand the main directions of the story, it is necessary to see, at least, the first film of “Doctor Strange” (2016), in addition to the series “Wandavision” (2021) and some episodes of “Loki” (2021) and “What If… ?” (2021).
That’s the difficulty of heading a Marvel movie.
Great directors like Chloé Zhao, Kenneth Branagh and Taika Waititi tried, but failed to print their identities amid so much fan-service and references.
Sam Raimi did it, kept the “demands” of Marvel, dared in psychedelic special effects and even paid tribute to his own career, marked by horror B movies, in the best trash style possible.
Doctor Strange zombie version? We have
You talk like “go back to hell”? We have, too.
Sorcery rituals for absorbing powers? For sure.
So much authenticity becomes a relief for those who love cinema and follow Marvel movies since the origin of the Cinematic Universe. The icing on the multiverse cake is the performance of Elizabeth Olsen, who plays a lonely Scarlet Witch, depressed and willing to rescue the thing she cherished most, her family.
More complex moral lessons, which avoid the “we-need-save-the-world”, do not have as much space in Marvel’s scripts, but it is possible to glimpse a deeper reflection in “Doctor Strange”, involving the characters’ personal demons and a question central theme, repeated several times in the film: “Are you happy?”.
It is not just this question that remained in the air. By the end of the movie, having been amused and surprised, I wondered if this atmosphere would carry over to the next Marvel movies.
Then came the infamous post-credits scene and brought me back to the canned reality of superhero movies.
Maybe in an alternate reality, my question will be answered…
Source: CNN Brasil
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