Westside Messenger - May 15th, 2022

PAGE 16 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - May 15, 2022
In Entertainment
www.columbusmessenger.com
Latest Marvel film felt like a rough draft
There have been 28 films released within
the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I
can no longer whip up any genuine sense of
excitement over the prospect of watching
another. However, I can admit to experiencing
a slight stirring of interest toward
its latest, “Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness.”
This exceedingly rare creation of a longlost
sensation had little to do with a particular
fondness for the title character —
despite wielding mystical powers, his personality
tends to run a bit dry — and more
to do with a love of a particular word within
the title itself.
WESTGATE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
61 S. Powell Ave., Columbus,OH 43204
614-274-4271
Come - Let’s Worship Together!
Worship Service 9:00 a.m.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Visit Our Facebook Page for our
Livestream Worship
www.spreaker.com - Kevin Orr Show
or Kevinsreflections.blogspot.com
westgateumc@sbcglobal.net
GLENWOOD UM CHURCH
2833 Valleyview Dr.
(Corner of Valleyview & Hague Ave.)
(614) 274-8469
Pastor Leo A. Cunningham
Join us for In-Person
Sunday Worship at 10:45 a.m. or
Join us for Online Worship at
Glenwood UMC YouTube
http://tinyurl.com/GlenwoodUMC
The multiverse, by definition, offers infinite
possibilities of infinite worlds beyond
our own. In some theories, a different version
of us is inhabiting these worlds — and
we don’t always have to be human or have
traditional human parts (see the hotdog
fingers universe in the utterly fantastic
“Everything Everywhere All at Once”).
Exploring the multiverse can bring forth
so much creativity to books, television, and
film, hence the reason why I was somewhat
looking forward to the latest entry in the
mostly same MCU. Upon watching “Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” I
can say it definitely has a style that sets
HOGE MEMORIAL
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
2930 W. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43204
Sundays at 10:30 a.m.
In Person Worship
Live Streaming Sunday Worship Service
at 10:30 a.m. on Hoge Facebook Page
Worship & Free Meal
Saturdays at 5:00 p.m.
www.hogemempresby.org
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Contact us today to secure your spot in our Worship Guide.
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community events
Veterans Celebration
The Central Ohio Military Museum will
host a Veterans Celebration from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. June 11 at the VFW is
Harrisburg, located at 1010 High St. The
event will feature reenactors, military
vehicles, kids’ activities, and live entertainment.
The cost of admission is $2 but
is free for veterans. For more information,
contact Bob Traphagan at 614-992-4110 or
email bob.traphagan@thecomm.org.
itself apart from its predecessors, but it
also continues to lack in true character
development and character continuity
through-lines.
Though still arrogant to a fault, Dr.
Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)
has been humbled and haunted since we
last saw him in a solo film; humbled
because his love Christine Palmer (Rachel
McAdams) has fallen for another, and
haunted because of the choices he made to
allow half the population to turn to dust for
five years. He believes a side effect of his
guilt is the terrifying nightmares he has
been having of being chased and eaten by
an otherworldly octopus-like creature but
he cannot shake the sensation that it may
be real.
While attending a wedding reception
shortly thereafter, a ruckus outside gains
his attention. During an initial investigation
of the cause, he sees a young girl from
his dreams being chased by the same otherworldly
octopus-like creature that was
the cause of his death. Fortunately for him,
things do not go as they were in dreamland,
but he does find out that this girl,
America Chaves (Xochitl Gomez), has the
ability to leap into any multiverse with one
caveat — it only happens when she is
scared.
She tells Stephen that another version
of him did, in fact, die via otherworldly
octopus-like creature but it is her that is
being haunted and hunted — not him. He
has just been helping her try to discover
who wants to steal her powers, while sometimes
betraying her along the way.
Determined to not end up like his
deceiving and deceased multiverse counterpart,
the sorcerer enlists the help of
Wong (Benedict Wong), now Sorcerer
Supreme, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth
Olsen), now the Scarlet Witch, to help him
find a powerful book of magic that would
allow them to stop this unknown adversary
before the multiverse is put into any danger.
But he soon discovers that sometimes
the enemy hides within plain sight.
Though the film follows many of the
familiar Marvel beats, “Doctor Strange in
the Multiverse of Madness” embraces darker
themes in a way its predecessors have
not, and maybe could not. There is a heavier
feeling to this
movie, a more sinister
vibe, and that is
mostly due to its
director, Sam Raimi.
Marvel has a reputation
for reeling in
some of the individualistic
flair of its directors, but they seemed
to have allowed Raimi to go a bit wild — to
a certain extent. While I think more could
have been done to establish off-beat multiverses
(we get a glimpse of a paint verse,
but it features more Earth-like verses), his
focus is instead on adding touches of visual
horror like bloodied characters crawling
out of mirrors, screaming souls of the
damned reaching out to choke the living,
and, on occasion, the snapping of a neck
and a clothed evisceration.
Watching this film was an amazing
experience, especially when we got to see
the awesome power of witchcraft and wizardry
but listening to it was a different
experience altogether. Some of the dialogue,
written by “Loki” scribe Michael
Waldron, was so bad that it nearly took me
out of the place of awe I felt while watching
the movie. It almost feels like the final
script was a rough draft, an unfinished
product that needed to pay more attention
to character development, character relationships,
and character motivation.
While there are plenty of things to like
about “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of
Madness” such as the horror-inspired visuals
and the acting from Cumberbatch and
Olsen especially, there are also plenty of
things that could have been better to make
this a truly exciting cinematic experience.
Grade: C+
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer
and columnist.
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