Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness review by Bobby Blakey
In 2016 the Marvel Cinematic Universe stepped into the world of magic with Doctor Strange featuring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. Since he has been casting spells on fans throughout the MCU and most recently in the massive hit Spider-Man: No Way Home. No doubt the events in that film and the Disney+ series WandaVision will be a part of his next adventure in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness co-starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams with original Spider-Man director Sam Raimi at the helm. Could this be another magical moment for Marvel or will it fall to far into the madness of it all to succeed?
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
End Game essentially reset the MCU and allowed them to kick off Phase 4 with a variety of new directions most notably the multiverse that has been mentioned going back to the original Doctor Strange flick. This next chapter does in fact take its own journey through said multiverse as a new adventure for Strange, but also a continuing arc for Wanda from where she was at the end of WandaVision. For those that haven’t bothered to watch that series will be confused to the whole point of her arc since it is directly related to that story in every way. Olsen is great here bringing the emotion, anger and depth to the role in a way that still makes her
relatable, but also gets more do to than ever before showcasing how powerful Wanda truly is.
Cumberbatch steps back into the role once again with ease getting the most fun he has likely had with the character to date. He gets all sorts of
things to do with the character and every one of them is pretty awesome. Doctor Strange is another character I was never a big fan of, but loved the first film. This was another great entry with the character getting so much more to do and really get to showcase his powers in so many unique awesome ways. At the same time the supporting cast of Wong, McAdams and Ejiofor get a lot more to do this time around and all have some great chemistry to really cement the Doctor Strange world in place.
This entry in the MCU marks the first time it has really gotten darker and infused some horror elements outside of the What If? animated series. Sam Raimi who also brought us the original Spider-Man trilogy and Evil Dead series perfectly infuses his style and these elements into this strange flick complete with a scene that will have the Dead fans cheering. Right out the gate it kicks things off with an action packed CGI spectacle action piece that is fun to watch and will have you scratching your head until you realize what is happening. This is the chance to introduce American Chavez played by Xochitl Gomez into the MCU. I have never read any of her comics, but did some research to understand her abilities and it seems they captured her pretty well and Gomez was an interesting new addition to the universe.
There are some great effects, creatures and action throughout in a film that wastes no time diving right in. I think I was expecting more connections to the No Way Home, but outside of a quick mention and the knowledge of the multiverse this film stands on its own which I think was a good thing. There are plenty of surprises here with some people already know and others you may not have heard. All play into what they could do with the future of Marvel or could just be fun fan service for this specific flick. Being with the multiverse they don’t have to stick to any of it so who knows where they are heading. Big props to some they did and corrections to other things that made me happy and not just use them as throw away moments.
In the end I loved this flick although it is a bit clunky at times and feels unbalanced, but it never fails to entertain. The thing about this character is that there are so many over the top directions they can go with the magic and multiverse that it will no doubt have plenty of platforms to play in and I look forward to seeing where it goes. Per usual there are two extra scenes with one mid-credits and another at the end of the film.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including a gag reel, commentary, deleted scenes, and numerous featurettes. Step into the multiverse and grab your copy of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness available now on digital and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on July 26th from Marvel Studios.