2022’s first big Marvel film has arrived after numerous pandemic delays. While Marvel has been busy building an MCU on the small screen at home on Disney +, the movies are finally back with a sequel to Doctor Strange that involves a lot of Wanda aka Scarlet Witch and the idea of opening up the multiverse on an MCU cinematic scale. Throw in a director who hasn’t made a film in 7 years and whose last Marvel outing is still considered to have killed the Spiderman franchise in the 2000s and what we have is the MCU’s biggest disappointment so far. While the film is not inherently bad, it doesn’t live up to the promise of an MCU multiverse as we have seen in other films like Sony’s Into the Spider-Verse, Spiderman No Way Home and even this year’s far superior Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. The movie feels like a Frankenstein mesh of Marvel’s plans for new heroes and future films with the second half feeling true to a Sam Raimi film with campy comedy and some PG horror images that deliver Marvel’s first scary(ish) film to date.
Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Dr Stephen Strange, living in New York City in a post-Thanos world. Attending the wedding of his love Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) when a weird alien creature interrupts the proceedings. The alien is chasing down a young girl America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) trying to steal her power of multiversal travel. Doctor Strange saves the day and vows to protect America (the girl, not the country!) from the demon trying to steal her power.
Cumberbatch is still playing the suave and smooth hero and finally gets more screen time for some of the movie. This is quickly undone when Olsen hits the screen and quickly turns the film into an MCU setup for future films, characters that bring the film to a grinding halt. Fortunately, director Sam Raimi’s reigns come back in to control the second half of the film delivering the film’s best moments. Checking into his horror roots Raimi gives us possession, demonic spirits and some serious jump scares that while staying confined to a PG rating, do take Marvel into a darker space for their films. The story and lack of multiverse are a detriment to what could have been the MCU’s most ambitious film to date. It is a pity it flounders when it comes to its story and pacing. Fans of the television series Wandavision will also find gripes with this movie as it almost erases that whole event and presents us with an odd alternative making Wanda feel disjointed.
Visually the film does well with its alternate versions of New York. America’s powers in particular have a really beautiful effect when they rip open the multiverse to travel to another dimension. That being said the alien in the opening action set piece looks a little hokey and cheap and the overreliance on green screen leaves the visuals feeling fractured at times. The suit upgrade for Wanda comes very true to the comics, particularly the House of M series and her red magic blending with different environments works well in this setting.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness promised to unleash the multiverse onto the MCU and after witnessing some truly spectacular results with the Spiderman Sony films, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed with what was on offer here. Raimi was due for redemption at the superhero genre after Spiderman 3, and while he definitely puts his distinctive stamp on this film, it is quite often stifled by its connections to the MCU and its need to appeal to the biggest audience possible. It’s not all bad, we get some great possessions and demons with many winks and nods to Raimi’s previous films Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell. The shoe-horning of an LGBTQI backstory for America feels like ticking a box rather than an authentic part of the story, with all of this in tow, the film truly does fall into Madness as its title suggests with its disjointed storytelling and action set pieces that don’t always stick the landing. Fortunately, Cumberbatch feels settled into this role now and anchors the film, refusing to let it collapse when it seems things are heading that way. Fans of the MCU and comics may find the disjointed nature of the storytelling and the apparent disregard for Wandavision off-putting, everyone else will enjoy the Marvel popcorn formula that still knows how to deliver an entertaining film.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is in cinemas today.
