DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS:
SAM RAIMI MCU FILM LIVES UP TO ITS TITLE!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4
MARVEL STUDIOS
The multiverse is unleashed upon the Marvel Cinematic Universe (again!) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the latest installment of the MCU and follow-up to 2016’s Doctor Strange. Despite not knowing much about the character, I really enjoyed the first Doctor Strange movie and thought it was a very interesting installment of the MCU that explored the world of wizards and sorcery.
While a lot of MCU films can be formulaic at times, Doctor Strange had a unique visual style and energetic action sequences that felt like the superhero movie equivalent of Inception and The Matrix while also exploring a lot of fascinating ideas about the possibilities of magic and of course, other universes, not to mention the perfect casting of Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Imitation Game, The Courier) as the titular sorcerer himself.
Now we have this sequel following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which also featured Doctor Strange and revolved around the multiverse. Cumberbatch once again reprises his role as Dr. Stephen Strange and in the director’s chair this time is Sam Raimi (Evil Dead franchise, Darkman, Spider-Man trilogy), who is no stranger to directing Marvel movies as he had previously directed the Spider-Man film trilogy from 2002 until 2007…and there was a Doctor Strange namedrop in Spider-Man 2, so it all comes full circle.
When Raimi was announced as the new director after Scott Derrickson stepped down, I was excited and curious to know how it would play out. Was it going to be a director on hire scenario like a lot of Disney and Marvel projects have been like lately or would he have the freedom to do whatever he wants and make a Marvel movie in the style of Evil Dead, but still in the PG-13 realm? I am happy to report that the latter is exactly what this movie is, and I love it because of that.
This is very important when going into this movie, it’s a Sam Raimi movie first and an MCU film second and it takes full advantage of that. The film has several of Raimi’s signature directing tropes especially when it comes to the visuals and camera angles, dark humor, and even some downright disturbing moments, it’s a film that earns its PG-13 rating but not in the same way Avengers is PG-13, this is a Drag Me to Hell PG-13 movie.
Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Dr. Stephen Strange has been having the same dream repeatedly every night where he and a mysterious girl are fighting to save the multiverse. It turns out that dream he was having was actually going on in an alternate universe and this girl named America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez-The Baby-Sitters Club) has the power to travel through the multiverse who befriends Strange after he rescues her from a monster that was hunting her for her multiverse traveling powers.
Strange enlists the help of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen-Martha Marcy May Marlene, Godzilla (2014), Wind River) who has witnessed alternate universes already during her time in Westview (The town from WandaVision). However, Wanda has been corrupted by an ancient artifact known as the Darkhold (Basically the MCU equivalent of the Book of the Dead) and is becoming the Scarlet Witch.
Wanda believes that Chavez’ powers can be used to reunite with the children she created in Westview which causes a conflict between Strange, Chavez, Wanda, and the entire multiverse. It becomes a race against time as Strange, Chavez, and Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong-Marco Polo, The Martian, The Personal History of David Copperfield) must travel to different universes with surprise characters, evil versions of the heroes, zombies, etc. and find a way to save the multiverse and hopefully Wanda as well before the Scarlet Witch takes over.
The film also stars Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, Eurovision Song Contest) reprising her role as Christine Palmer, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, The Martian, The Lion King (2019)) reprising his role as Mordo, Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Lincoln, Steve Jobs) reprising his role as Nicodemus West, and of course…Bruce Campbell!
Overall, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness offers a chaotic and wildly entertaining throwback to Sam Raimi’s glory days and one of the few MCU movies that rightfully earns the PG-13 rating. This is definitely not anAvengers: Endgame PG-13 where it’s a somewhat edgy PG movie with a 13 at the end because PG-13 superhero movies make bank, this is basically a late 80s/early 90s, practically R-rated PG-13 where characters die in horrific ways (There’s no blood though!) and a lot of the imagery shown in this film can be quite disturbing at times to the point where the tone shifts from an MCU movie to a straight up horror movie.
I will say the first film is debatably the better crafted movie, but the one I was most entertained by is easily this one. It’s definitely one of the most ambitious and weirdest MCU films that’s really thinking out of the box with its ideas and Sam Raimi is the perfect choice to direct something this crazy and out there.
There’s a scene in particular that involves Doctor Strange battling a villain literally with the power of music and the visuals and darkly quirky tone of the situation are so odd you can’t help but love it, and another sequence where Strange takes the form of a zombie version of himself with black angelic demons surrounding him that talk like the Deadites from Evil Dead. It’s pure Sam Raimi chaos consuming this MCU movie, and I welcome that wholeheartedly.
Benedict Cumberbatch is once again great as Strange and has a lot of charm and his character has a strong dynamic with America Chavez. Elizabeth Olsen on the other hand steals the show as this hero turned villain who was corrupted by an evil force and just wants to see her children again, it’s a very tragic and heartbreaking concept and there’s even quite a few times where she’s pretty damn frightening as Scarlet Witch (Yeah, Elizabeth Olsen and frightening, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say!), she’s the standout performance in the entire film.
The visuals and action sequences are stunning and very imaginative, it also takes full advantage of the IMAX format. With a movie this bizarre and filled with eye-candy, it kind of warrants a watch on the largest screen possible.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness delivers the Sam Raimi goods while also being an entertaining MCU entry. Whether you’re watching it on IMAX, IMAX 3D, or as a double feature with Everything Everywhere All at Once (Which is honestly, not a bad idea!), this is a relentlessly entertaining and wild film that shows off the “Stranger” side of both the multiverse and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From the blog www.moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com
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