geezer cinema: doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (sam raimi, 2022)

I liked the first Doctor Strange movie, although I don't seem to have written about it anywhere. Strange was one of the few Marvel characters I actually read in comics, we having bought the entire first series in the hippie days when the Doctor fit with our mental proclivities. I can't really remember any more why I liked that first movie ... and I only liked it enough to have fond memories, not enough to actually watch it again.

Anyway, I didn't much like this new one. I was excited ... I'm a fan of Sam Raimi, at least the Sam Raimi of the Evil Dead movies, along with the return-to-form Drag Me to Hell (has it really been 13 years?). Sure enough, the occasional Raimi touch breaks through. But mostly, In the Multiverse of Madness is a CGI extravaganza, impressive in its way, but not my favorite genre. Elizabeth Olsen makes a great Big Bad, and I'm always glad to see Hayley Atwell. But Xochitl Gomez didn't do much for me. I liked the goofiness of the Multiverse, but I think Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse did it much better.

My favorite Sam Raimi moment, and thus my favorite moment in the film, is the inevitable Bruce Campbell cameo, with its homage to Evil Dead Ash. He even (spoiler alert) shows up at the very end of the credits, one of the few times it's worth sitting around for ten minutes.

And for old times sake: