Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

 

Image creditL IMDb

Well, the new Doctor Strange movie is out and for partner and I that means date night! So last night we catapulted ourselves back into the MCU with Disney’s latest venture into the Marvelverse: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And believe me ‘catapult’ is absolutely the word to describe this experience!

Awakened from a horrible dream in which he dies, Stephen Strange goes to Christine’s wedding a little conflicted and on edge: a feeling that’s validated when a giant monster attacks the city in pursuit of a young girl named America, who also featured in Stephen's dream. Strange and Wong learn that this girl has the ability to travel the multiverse and that some demon is after her power. Their only clue to the demon’s identity is strange mystical runes that surrounded the monster, so Strange tracks down Wanda Maximoff for help. However this doesn’t really go as planned, as he quickly discovers that Wanda is the one after America’s powers and will stop at absolutely nothing to get them. Soon Stephen and America are racing through the multiverse in search of an ancient book that will give them to the power to save America and the infinite number of worlds from the reign of Scarlet Witch.  

It goes without saying that one can expect a whole lot of crazy, psychedelic, fractured, and visually intense experiences with this movie because it’s a Doctor Strange flick. But where the film stands aloft from the other Marvel films is that Sam Raimi has been called in to direct and has ingeniously taken Multiverse of Madness into the realms of horror. I mean, with a Lovecraftian title like that, how can you not? While there are many typical awesome Marvel action sequences reminiscent of the other MCU films, there is a lot in Multiverse of Madness that is reminds us of The Evil Dead (not to mention the signature Bruce Campbell appearance) and I was absolutely here for it! 

Considering the emotionally complex characters of both Strange and Wanda; especially after Wandavision, which I recommend watching before this otherwise you might struggle with what’s going on, going for a more horrific rather than actiony-sci-fi film was a really good choice and it perfectly brings the darker side of the MCU and its various stories into the light. Seriously, people in control of all this power is hells scary!

Image credit: Slash Film

Visually the movie is another triumph, with the multiverse-jumping scenes being very trippy and very cool. The film also features one of the most original magical combat scenes, which I’m sure composer Danny Elfman had a lot of fun with, watch out for that one. 

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sits firmly in the MCU’s awesome filmic canon and is absolutely a good, albeit dark and creepy, time. 

Director: Sam Raimi, 2022

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Xochitl Gomez, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hayley Atwell, Michael Stuhlbarg, Anson Mount, Lashana Lynch, John Krasinski, Charlize Theron, and Patrick Stewart