Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

This is the newest MCU movie and is the second standalone Doctor Strange movie, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Vision), Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange), Xochitl Gomez (The Baby-Sitters Club), and Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers).

A girl who has the ability to travel through the multiverse winds up in Doctor Strange’s universe. She is on the run from someone trying to hunt her down and steal her powers, Doctor Strange must now put his life on the line to protect the girl. The enemy is closer than what he realizes.

This one picks up right after “Spider-Man: No Way Home” where he just gone done dabbling in the multiverse. No way home opened up a lot of doors by dabbling in the multiverse, and Doctor Strange takes the ball and runs with it here. One thing I love about the MCU movies is how they’re all connected and post endgame/infinity war, it always reference’s it and Thanos, I always get a kick out of it. I knew Wanda aka The Scarlet Witch was in it, it also teased to be star packed, including to be rumored were Blade, Ghost Hunter, Deadpool, Wolverine and others. Which we don’t get any of these. We do get a brief cameo from Professor Xavier, and John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic, so that was a cool little easter egg but that’s all we got. There’s no shortage of action, it’s just Wanda going at it against Doctor Strange and Wong. So it’s different than what I was thinking. It’s still a solid movie though. I give it a 7/10.

Morbius

“Morbius” is a 2022 Superhero movie, it’s Marvel’s newest movie, and it follows “Venoms” footsteps as the next anti-hero movie. It stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho), Adria Arjona (Emerald City), Tyrese Gibson (Baby Boy), and Al Madrigal (The Way Back).

Dr. Michael Morbius is one of the world’s leading doctors and scientists, he has won a Noble Peace Prize for saving countless lives with his invention of synthetic blood. However, his lifelong goal is to cure his rare blood disease, and his pursuits are funded by his lifelong friend who also suffers from the same rare disease. He finally discovers a cure, but at what cost?

If you look at my other Marvel movie reviews, I talk about how there isn’t a bad Marvel movie, and I think that still holds true with “Morbius”, so the real question is how does it stack up against other Marvel Movies? Marvel is the cream of the crop when it comes to superhero movies. Well, It’s the bottom of the barrel with “Morbius” when it comes to Marvel Movies, which doesn’t mean it’s bad. It has some pacing issues, it’s a lot slower than other Marvel films. It has some scenes here and there where it picks up pace but then it slows down again. Jared Leto who plays the lead role isn’t even the best actor in this, Matt Smith is the saving grace of the film. He plays the “bad” vampire, and honestly, he looks cooler and play a better vampire than Leto. Leto’s character is just flat. There are a few plot holes that bug me too, like after Leto secretly cures himself, and he’s no longer frail and on crutches, he can now walk and he’s buff, but no one questions it. Also, when he’s highly wanted but he’s eating in a restaurant midday in no disguise. Overall, it’s a good movie and worth watching, but stacked up to its fellow Marvel movies it’s towards the bottom. I give it a 7/10.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) is the newest installment in the Marvel Spider-Man series. This is easily the most hyped up Marvel movie since End Game and Infinity War, and is staying sold out everywhere. They bring out the big guns with this one starring Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), John Favreau (Iron Man), Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man), and Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man).

Like I said earlier, huge cast, and the biggest Spiderman to date. In case you didn’t know what it’s about, it picks up where the last one left off where everyone knows Spider-Man’s true identity. Peter Parker (Holland) turns to Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) to come up with a spell to make everyone forget his identity, Peter won’t quit talking and messes up Doctor Strange’s spell, which accidentally rips a tear into reality and opens up the multiverse. Meaning it opens up different realities bringing the majority of the Spider-Man villains from all the Spider-Man movies into this one. Also allowing the two other Spider-Man’s (Garfield, and Maguire) to enter this one and help. Can the three of them save this universe and send the villains back to their own realities?

This is huge for Spider-Man and MCU fans, this is the biggest same movie crossover to date, and is opening doors for the other superhero movies to follow suit. So, like any Marvel movie I review it’s not a question of is it good but how good is it? As I’ve already mentioned, it’s huge for Spider-Man fans. It’s a little different than what I was thinking, but it’s still great. I was expecting a little more mayham than what was delievered, but the Nostalgia factor alone is worth seeing it. The entire theater started clapping when Garfield and Maguire entered the movie. It was really cool to see all the villains together and their respected superhero, and like I said it opens the door for the rest of the MCU and the multiverse, so be on the lookout for that. *cough Doctor Strange cough*. Plus, the big fight scene was pretty epic. I give it a 10/10.

Venom: Let There be Carnage

‘Venom: Let There be Carnage’ is the sequel to the 2018 Marvel superhero movie ‘Venom’. This one brings back Tom Hardy (Lawless), and Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek). While adding Woody Harrelson (Zombieland), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later…), and Stephen Graham (This is England).

Cletus Kasady (Harrleson) is a notorious serial killer who wants to give Eddie Brock an exclusive interview before he is put to death. Eddie and Venom accidentally infect Cletus with a symbiote named Carnage. Now Eddie and Venom must stop Carnage, all while they are feuding amongst themselves.

There’s not many sequels to originals that I like better, but this is one. The first one I thought was a little bit of a let down for a movie about Venom. This one is the bigger, badder movie that we deserve. This one focuses more on venom himself, he even separates himself from Eddie for part of the film and we get just Venom. This one also ups more action and bigger final fight scene. In the first movie, the “boss” fight is a little underwhelming and is maybe a couple minutes long. This one is a solid ten minutes long of two symbiote’s battling it out, pretty awesome. It still brings the funniness of Venom, while adding Harrelson’s comedy. I highly recommend this one. I give it a 10/10.

Venom (2018)

‘Venom’ is a 2018 Marvel superhero movie starring Tom Hardy (Lawless), Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), and Jenny Slate (Bob’s Burgers). A disgraced reporter (Hardy) is taken over by an alien parasite known as Venom. Venom decides he likes earth and now him and the reporter must stop an alien invasion before earth is doomed.

So the Venom movie ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ is out in theaters, so I had to go back and watch this one before seeing the new one this weekend. The cool thing about the Venom movie is, he is the first villain to have their own solo movie in the MCU. Venom is arguably the biggest bad ass out of all the villain’s in Marvel, whose ever body he takes over not only do they posses Venom’s powers, but also still posses their own. So you can have a venomized Spiderman, Dr. Strange, etc. So Venom is a pretty cool character.

Tom Hardy is a great actor, and does a good job playing the guy teamed up with Venom. Like all Marvel movies this one does a great job of having a good mix of comedy and action. I was hoping for a little more though, it wasn’t quite as badass as I was expecting being the first solo villain movie. It’s still worth the watch. I give it a 7/10.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ is a 2021 Action/Superhero movie, and is Marvel’s newest addition to the MCU. It stars Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience), Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), Tony Chiu-Wai Leung (The Grandmaster), Florian Munteanu (Creed II), and Ben Kingsley (The Dictator).

The ten rings are ten rings that whoever posses them will have god like powers and immortality. Shang-Chi’s dad has possessed the rings for the last couple thousand years. Now Shang-chi must face his past and try to stop his dad from using the rings for evil.

I’ve never heard of Shang-Chi, but that’s not really saying anything considering most of the super hero’s I know from Marvel all come from Marvel movies, and the MCU. Honestly, if I didn’t know it was a Marvel movie, I wouldn’t have been able to tell. It looks and feels just like a Kung-Fu movie, it has the use of natural elements such as leaves, and nature and has a ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon feel to it. It’s packed full of action and has comedic relief from Awkwafina, and Kingsley. They do however do a tie in with ‘Dr. Strange’ which is pretty cool. So keep and eye out for Shang-Chi being with the Avengers in the future. Like all Marvel movies this one is good, just go in expecting more of a Kung-Fu style movie over their typical superhero movie. I give it an 8/10.