Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - Review

BY NIKLAS MÜLLER

(Photo Credit: MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT and WALT DISNEY)

GRADE:C

Even though Marvel's latest release, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS finally goes into a more mature direction (that the MCU so desperately needs at times), it ultimately gets undercut by the formulaic Marvel style that I have so grown to despise.

I really cannot begin to fathom what ultimately went wrong in the process of making this film, as almost everything made it sound like it could end up being one of the best Marvel films. Horror genius Sam Raimi helming it, having horror elements and even being described as a game changer for the MCU. More on that note later, though.

America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) has the ability to jump across the Multiverse (newly introduced in the show LOKI and the box office hit SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME), but she is being hunted by horrific, extraterrestrial creatures who apparently want to kidnap her. So Chavez jumps into Marvel's main universe 616 (not really a spoiler), to search our Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, fresh of his Oscar nomination for THE POWER OF THE DOG) , because he is the only one that can help her. Oh, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) who recently became the Scarlett Witch is also in the film.

Admittedly, that synopsis does sound rather appealing and there are a multitude of things that they could have done with it, or rather that they could have done way better. Bringing Sam Raimi on to direct was definitely the right choice, and we know that he can handle the Superhero genre (we have seen him do it twice successfully with SPIDER-MAN 1 and 2, and once a bit more inferior with the third one), come on he literally made two of the best Comic Book films ever, but his brilliance is severely limited/undercut due to (as mentioned above) Marvel's same old formula. For instance there is one really good horror scene where a character pops up out of nowhere (the character is also being underexposed, which is perfect horror lighting), the other characters start running and then there's a really bad one liner from one of the characters. Think something like, "Maybe there's another,other,other me", yeah you read that right, that's literally a line from the film. Especially the dialogue writing isn't even weak, it's quite frankly (as harsh as it may sound) bad! I literally cringed on multiple occasions.

I really do think this could have ended up being one of the, if not the, best Comic Book films ever made. If only Marvel would have given Raimi complete creative control.

Don't get me wrong I didn't entirely hate the film there are undoubtedly good things about. Like how Raimi directs the action scenes, for the first time in a Marvel film it actually feels like as if you are a part of the film. There's a fight with literal music notes (one of the highlights), knocked out of the park by Danny Elfman (his score was generally a big standout).

The unchallenged highlight, though was Elizabeth Olsen's mesmerizing performance, she might have just given the best Marvel performance period (OK she shares the first place alongside Charlie Cox and Oscar Issac). She makes you feel everything her character feels and it is utterly heartbreaking.

(Photo Credit: MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT and WALT DISNEY)

For every good thing in this, there are unfortunately one or two bad things coming you way. Despite having one of the best Marvel performances it also has three rather weak ones. And I am truly sorry for this to maybe come of the wrong way. But the performance from newcomer Xochitl Gomez felt rather uninspired and dull, and I really did not give a damn about this character at all. Which is unfortunate, because she is really interesting. Maybe it wasn't even all Gomez's fault, but the Screenplay's, as this is generally the biggest problem here. Julian Hiliard and Jett Klyne (as Wanda's children) just felt off, there's really no nicer way of saying it. I am sure that they could have integrated them better.

I can't even say for sure that this is one of the weakest films yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as I am not the biggest supporter. One thing I can say for sure though is that the recent films were at least fun, this one when all is said and done wasn't. There are some great scenes, but it is all being undermined by heavy plot inconsistencies and (because of the Multiverse) a lack of stakes.

DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi

WRITER: Michael Waldron

CAST: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Stuhlbarg

RUNTIME: 127 Minutes

RELEASE: May 2022