Doctor Strange and the Book of Dreams

This is one of those edits that resonated very strongly with me - particularly in regard with the restructured narrative. First, I want to just get through some visual and audio critiques to follow with what I loved about this edit.

The only visual issue notable to me was the quick cut after Wanda reveals her knowledge of America to Strange. We are hit with a signficant piece of information and I think it is critical that we have a couple of seconds to digest this information before moving on to the next scene. Other then that, visual quality was great. That includes portions that were regraded and recolored. In fact, it is a great achievement that I found it difficult to spot other issues with all the restructuring done in this edit, including inserting the animated dream sequences.

With regard to the audio, I noted right away the first dream sequence appeared clearly lower in volume right after the opening interview. To go on, I noted that nearly all the action sequences in the movie appeared to have a noticeable increase in volume that made it rather noticeable. Generally, I expect the action to be louder, but not to the point of it being noticeably louder then the rest of the movie.

The best work done in this edit was easily the narrative. It really made this a stronger movie versus the much more disjointed way it came across in the theatrical edition. Right off the bat, I loved the insertion of the contentious interview. It sets up the rest of the movie perfectly. We are shown Strange's desire for control and inability to let go of his power along with potential selfish motives for his seemingly righteous acts. These themes also strongly connected to Wanda's character as well.

If the editors intended this movie to demonstrate the growth of Stephen and Wanda learning to grow as people by the concept of letting things go and the need to know when to give up, then mission accomplished. This theme is something that is universal and everyone should be able to relate to. What really helped this message was the significant toning down of Wanda's evil actions. By removing a large portion of her cartoonish evil, she actually became more relatable and sympathetic versus the Wanda we got in the theatrical edition. Not perfect, but still a huge improvement.

The animated "dreams" also helped in promoting the stated goals ot the editors without disrupting the narrative and pacing. It also seemed to help Strange understand and relate to Wanda much better as well exactly as the editors intended.

Other things I really liked included the toning down of fan service elements with characters from other Marvel franchises that added nothing to the movie along with removing the extra eye on Strange. That eye really annoyed me. That might be my favorite cut to this movie!

I want to thank tremault for sharing the edit with me. Both editors really did a great job with this. It a solid movie for people of all ages and a theme that everyone can relate to.

I must be one of the few out there that mostly liked Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s a far from perfect film, I won’t argue about that, but for me it’s still the best of the bunch in the post-Endgame era (yes, I must also be one of the few that didn’t buy the plot hole ridden, cheap nostalgia-fest that No Way Home was!) and, I daresay, even better than some of the films of the pre-Endgame era. You see, I cannot help but appreciate Raimi’s personal style, these little touches of horror he applies among other things – even when it’s tainted by studio interference. But since there was a lot of room for improvement and Tremault has proven herself more than once when it comes to the MCU, I thought why not!

So, technically Tremault’s work is exceptional as always. From the new multiversal opening credits to the transitions to the animated parts, everything is top-notch. All except one, since the transition from the orchard meeting to Kamar Taj would have been too abrupt even if I didn’t know well enough that scene. More on that later. Moronic MCU humour like “Hidigy hidithere” is toned down, which will always get a thumbs up by me, and the same goes for Wanda’s omni-powers, who was OP as hell in the original film.

The highlight of this edit, however, is definitely the addition of What If’s Dark Doctor Strange story. Now, normally I’m not a fan of mixing live-action with animation, asking of the audience to pay no mind to the distinction of the two styles. It actually gets on my nerves every time I see some editor mixing Revenge of the Sith with Siege of Mandalore, yet Tremault’s editing here is phenomenal. The animated parts are well-inserted like dream sequences, setting them apart from the main story, and I must say it works like a charm – even more if you take into consideration that it’s supposed to take place in Sony’s animated Spiderverse! We finally get to see fully fleshed out how big of a threat could Doctor Strange potentially be and why the Illuminati feared him.

Unfortunately, this edit takes away a little too much of the things I liked about the original and leaves untouched a little too many of the things I didn’t. The Spider-Man joke in the diner, for example, or even Strange vomiting just as he’s claiming he’s used to supernatural trips would have been the first to get cut if it was up to me. The new Illuminati introduction montage felt somewhat uneventful and, as faulty as it originally was, I really liked how Wanda teared them down one by one. And coming back to the orchard scene, I don’t think that trimming that much of deranged Wanda really works for me. That could have been functional, I believe, if MoM was considered as Part 2 of the same story. Therefore, you could work some fan-editing magic unto WandaVision –which would obviously be Part 1- and have Wanda go from a sympathetic character to full villain mode. Food for thought, Tremault!

However, despite all my personal takes on the changes made, The Book of Dreams is a solid MCU edit which, objectively, gives to the audience more than it takes and a must-see if you’re still interested in post-Endgame MCU.

That's a little gem right there, the new color grading is eye candy. I dig the seamless inclusion of the What If episode, it gives more meat to Darkhold Strange. The opening logo was a touch, and while I found the deleted WHiH interview inconsequential at first, it makes a whole lot more sense more and more as the movie advances.

I had a blast with this edit, it was deep, emotional, and quirky in true Raimi fashion. Well done!

I had fun with this, the What If sequences really added a lot to the emotional arc in the movie proper, and I found it even kinda fit with Raimi's kookier sensibilities (compared to Marvel typically) for there to be animated sections at all. The new color grades were fun - maybe not better for me in some areas, but it really worked for me in the darker universe. Little things like the cutaways did wonders for narrative clarity, particularly early on.

My biggest gripe is just the jarring transition away from the orchard (and honestly quite a bit of Wanda's brutal, villainous antics throughout). The revelation moment doesn't get to sit like it does in the theatrical and how Stephen and Wanda move on from it can't even be implied. Maybe it could have been interesting to see the orchard turn, and then cut to Wong on the pause before they start talking again.

Really cool edit regardless! Excited to check out some of tremault's other edits now

Tremault has done a other masterful work in making another absolutely great edit.
First big praise in the colour grading, simply *chef kiss*.
The big additions to the narrative work really well and enhances the character study of Dr Strange- makes it feel it has actual meat. This is done using the What If episode incorporated appropriately and a proper showing rather than telling of the ideas of 'Dr Strange is the greatest threat to the mutliverse'.
Another lovely addition is how the opening is done- very spiderverse studio logos style and the use of the deleted scene as a cold open was very nice.
Overall solid choices made in the edit that has made me actually enjoy the movie.