When Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) encounters a monstrous demon, and the teenager its chasing, he and Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) realise there’s more at stake than just their world.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Sam Raimi (director), Michael Waldron (writer)
Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel McAdams (cast)
May 5, 2022
Not a lot of people were enamoured with the first Doctor Strange film but since then, the character has worked quite well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness realises one crucial aspect about the character — Doctor Strange only works in an ensemble. He’s just not very interesting on his own. He’s too self-important and honestly, way too much like Tony Stark. Amongst other characters, however, the Master of the Mystic Arts has someone else to banter with, and actually manages to have a personality. We’ve seen it from Avengers: Infinity War onwards, and I’m glad that’s the route this film took as well.
I loved the horror elements of this film. We’ve had some stylistic horror moments, particularly in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness heavily leans into the aesthetic. Aside from the monster in the first act, which set off my trypophobia, the rest of the scary moments were genuinely delightful.
As much as I liked the horror, the camp didn’t work for me. I think humour in superhero films is necessary, but this film was campy in an ’80s way that no longer works. The camera angles were jarring, distracting, and overdone. There are only so many extreme close-ups one can have in a film. While I appreciate shifting away from the formulaic MCU look, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness felt like it was relying on gimmicks that actively halted the plot, rather than advanced it.
Whatever I thought this film was going to be about, it turned out to be nothing like it. The plot goes in interesting directions, sometimes leaning too much into gimmickry to move the actual story forward. There’s one central conceit that runs through Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but it’s not very strong. I’d say the film also had one too many MacGuffins, and a red herring or two that were superfluous. There’s a lot that happens in the middle section that’s great to watch and so much fun, but they’re scene-fillers, at best. The first and third act would have worked just as well without the middle parts, and that is not a good thing.
As much fun as this film is, I couldn’t suspend my disbelief about the primary motivations of the characters. They didn’t track with what we’ve seen in the MCU. It felt like sentiments had been crowbarred in for the story, with no thought given to actual character development. Also, the MCU really can’t do romance right, can it? I’m beginning to wonder if the producers think latching onto one person for eternity, whether they want you or not, is the height of romance (hint: it’s not!).
Speaking of the characters, the female characters are so stereotypical, I felt like I had regressed to the early days of the MCU. I guess we should be glad there are three women in the main cast, but they so clearly fall into proscribed boxes, that I can’t help but wonder how this got greenlit.
I think we can all agree that a lot of people were going into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness less to see the Master of the Mystic Arts and more to see Wanda Maximoff/ Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). After headlining the stellar and heart-breaking WandaVision, MCU fans have been itching to see more of Wanda. This film doesn’t do her justice. I get that there are expectations from comic books fans to follow the source material, but it does feel like MCU Wanda is being pushed in a direction she doesn’t want to go. I don’t know what Marvel is planning for her but I’m not onboard.
Unfortunately, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) don’t come out unscathed either. While Christine has a bit more screen time compared to her previous outing, she’s still relegated mostly to the role of long-lost love interest, which is a colossal waste of McAdams’ talents. Gomez at least gets to give America a ton of personality and I’m excited to see her in the MCU, but she’s more of a damsel in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness than a hero. I get that she’s at the start of her journey, but to be clear, Spider-Man got to be a hero both with words and deeds in his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War. It’s incredibly difficult to reconcile this version of America with the comic book character she’s based on.
Also, if you’re hoping for queer content since America is one of the few canon Marvel comics queer characters, there’s a teeny-tiny moment in the film; but it’s way less than what we got in Eternals.
I can’t believe I’m going to say this about a Marvel film, but the VFX in the first act looked positively janky. It got better after a while but there was some obvious blurring of the backgrounds behind the characters that was awkward. And the faces during the early action scenes didn’t match the actors’ necks. The MCU has set such a high standard that this came as a surprise to me.
There are a lot of things that I did enjoy about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There are Easter eggs aplenty, obviously, and one particular set of reveals was so incredible to watch, it reminded me why I love the MCU and this entire genre of superhero films. But the rest of the film doesn’t match up to the excitement of that section. And while it was massively entertaining, it didn’t end up contributing to the plot as much.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about films in general, particularly action films, is that the film score leaves much to be desired. Aside from an anthem or a character theme, nothing much stands out. The score in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made itself heard and added to the atmosphere of the scenes. I’m actually looking forward to listening to it when it’s available.
I’ve loved alternate universes since I was a child, so the very concept of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness felt designed for my interests. I also adored the What If… series last year, so I did have high expectations for this film. Plus, the chance to see Wanda grow, and meet new characters are always reasons to be excited. I did have fun and there was plenty of entertainment to be had. But the characters don’t make sense. The female characters are walking tropes. The camp was dialed up way too high and didn’t belong in 2022. I wanted to love this film, but there are far too many things I wish it had done better. This is an MCU film after all!
