REVIEW: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Gets Lost in its Own Universe

Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is back for his second solo movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and joining him in this next go around are some other fan favorites from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wong (Benedict Wong), Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and newcomer to the Marvel universe, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). In the new movie, we find Doctor Strange back in New York City, after the defeat of Thanos, trying to resume his life. But, when a new monster appears in New York City, on the hunt for a young woman with extraordinary abilities, America Chavez, Strange and the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, set out to stop this monster and find out what it wants with Chavez. When the reason becomes apparent, Strange seeks out Wanda to help him stop the thing chasing down Chavez. But like past Marvel movies, nothing is ever as they seem and Strange is taken on a wild ride that will have him navigating the Multiverse and everything that comes with it.

Directed by Sam Raimi, this film is exactly what you would expect from a Raimi movie. It’s a strange mixture of horror and fantasy, that fans of Raimi’s past creations will eat right up. Filled with jump scares and unnecessary gore throughout, and unlike prior MCU movies, Raimi heavily leans towards the horror aspect, which does lend to the abilities of both Strange and the Scarlet Witch, but doesn’t exactly pan out. Yes, Marvel is heading down a darker path with the introduction of some of it’s new superheroes, and yes, a more horror inspired atmosphere would do those stories well, but when the focus becomes heavily tied to those horror characteristics, the project looses it’s story-telling momentum. Moments that could have been used to flesh out a character, was instead devoted to literally fleshing out a character.

If you are a Doctor Strange fan or a fan of the Marvel comics, you are most likely going to love this movie. If you are a casual viewer, who knows very little about the Marvel comic lore, you are going to have no idea what’s going on. This movie was made for a specific audience and pandered to that audience. Because of this, the writing came off sloppy and a tad bit lazy. It felt like the writers took the easy way out rather than take the time to flesh out the characters and the story. This was predominantly seen with the storyline surrounding Wanda. Elizabeth Olsen gives a performance of the lifetime in this movie. She continues to prove why Wanda has become a fan favorite in the MCU, but unfortunately the writers did not do this character justice. It was as if they had done no research on the character and her part in the MCU. Instead, they took the character and completely rewrote the narrative past writers had been working so hard to develop.

Cumberbatch returns as Doctor Strange and, once again, does a fantastic job bringing the sorcerer to life. He and Benedict Wong’s chemistry continues to be one of the better parts of the Doctor Strange series, and it gets even better in this movie. McAdams returns as Doctor Strange’s love interest, Christine Palmer, and, unlike the first movie, has a much bigger part to play. She does an excellent job alongside Cumberbatch and the chemistry that was lacking in the first movie, is definitely there in this movie. Gomez is a bright addition to the story and to the MCU. But the biggest problem surrounding all the females in this movie is like other MCU movies, the females are only used as minor cogs to help drive Strange’s story rather than play major parts in the overall storytelling. It’s as if the Marvel writers still have not figured out how to write for a female character.

Unfortunately, the movie left me underwhelmed and with a ton of questions. It is entertaining, yes. Does it feature really great cameos? Yes. As someone who dabbles a little in the Marvel comic lore, I was able to understand some of the fan serviced moments delivered throughout the movie, but not all of them. I ended up having to search for my answers after the movie was over, which was rare with past MCU movies. The movie also left me wondering how this movie helps propel this new phase in the MCU. Unlike the first few MCU movies, we don’t know what the end goal is here, but whatever it is I hope the Marvel team does a better job of fleshing it out in their other movies because this movie just didn’t do it.

Grade: B-