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This weekend marks the return of one of the great wizards of superhero cinema.
Were talking, naturally, about the magicianbehindthe camera of MarvelsDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The connection wasnt entirely invented or superficial.
Smith, who wrote the screenplay, pulls back on some of the sheer ruthlessness of his source novel.
But he also productively refigures the story into a working-class, small-town tragedy.
His last scene, the films climax, is deeply wrenching.
For all its prestige trappings,A Simple Planhas roots in the low-budget exploitation classics of Raimis early years.
Like hisEvil Deadfilms, its a Midwest horror story of cause and effect.
And in place of cartoon Grand Guignol mayhem, Raimi offers an escalating moral nightmare.
This is a morality play at heart.
ButA Simple Planproved he could have had a future in elegant, Shakespearean suspense thrillers, too.
Maybe in some far-flung corner of the multiverse, he followed that path instead.
A Simple Planis streaming onCinemax.
