Movie Review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
This movie was, as the kids say, quite ‘mid.’
It has two big positives: Super neat visuals, and the incorrigible Sam Raimi behind the camera. As a long time Raimi fan from the Spiderman and even earlier Evil Dead days, it was great to see him have fun with the wacky mystical world of Doctor Strange. We got lots of fun stuff including a really cool Strange vs. Strange fight, gruesome zombie weirdness, and a couple of moments of Raimi’s trademark horror humor.
But the rest of Multiverse of Madness is pretty underwhelming. Scarlet Witch made for a decent villain, but her motivation doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t help if you took the time to watch her Disney+ series for additional context. The cameos of other Marvel characters including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X are all wasted for the sake of pandering and jobbing. The reality-hopping America Chavez character was one of the weaker links serving both as an annoying plot device and a squandering of the inherently fascinating multiverse concept. For all its flash it is a surprisingly inconsequential and forgettable film. You won’t miss much if you just check out the highlights on YouTube.
Grade: C+
