I pride myself on being a Marvel skeptic. I don’t mean this in a pretentious, obnoxious or fun-hating way — I can get down with a good action movie, but most of the time I don’t find what Marvel churns out worth the price of admission. Walking into the theater to see “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” my expectations were low. I was excited to see Sam Raimi’s take on a Marvel movie after his extensive directing career — genre-jumping from movie to movie — and I wasn’t disappointed.
The movie opens with an oh-so-intense battle scene, and then cuts to Doctor Strange waking up from a dream. Later, viewers learn that every dream people have is happening in another multiverse. There are infinite universes that some people (mainly Doctor Strange, newly introduced America Chavez and Scarlet Witch) can travel between. America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) is introduced as Strange’s new sidekick who can punch her way into the multiverse. Wanda wants to steal America’s multiverse traveling abilities to travel to a universe where she has children, the one’s seen in “WandaVision”.
Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars as Strange in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” was perfectly cast. Although his dialogue is filled with classic Marvel quips and one-liners, I wasn’t interested in Strange for the first three-fourths of the movie. I don’t think I was alone in finding Wanda Maximoff, the movie’s villain, much more compelling.
What Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda) is lacking in line delivery she makes up for in energy. She acts her heart out as Scarlet Witch and, under Raimi’s direction, takes her in a creepier direction than ever before. Wanda’s zombie-like appearance in the latter half of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was sickening, and her dream walking scenes were one of the highlights of the movie. Olsen’s physicality as Scarlet Witch outshines everyone else on screen; while the movie casted Strange as the protagonist, all eyes were on Wanda.
Some fans are seeking to place “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” into the horror category instead of action. The movie had its fair share of jump scares and creepy synths, and the cinematography was definitely reminiscent of classic horror. Wanda’s dream walking montage had some fun, campy transitions that were a treat to watch, and Strange went through some spooky plot points. It even felt like certain shots played homage to iconic horror scenes in films like “The Exorcist,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Night of the Living Dead.”
The stakes felt too low at the beginning of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” especially because Doctor Strange is known for sacrificing for the greater good. It’s hard to believe he would sacrifice so many of his friends for America Chavez, a young woman he barely knows.
Most of my critiques of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” are sort of repetitive. Too much CGI, too many hamfisted fight scenes and the movie was too long. But these things are what Marvel movies are all about. People go to escape their reality, turn off their brains and root for the good guy. And while I can sit on a high horse about good writing and cinematography, I was cheering for Strange at the end of the movie just like everyone else.
Raimi threw in some exhilarating plot twists and innovative action filmmaking techniques that make “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” worth watching. I would agree with people who say it’s out of Marvel’s usual box. If you’re a die-hard action fan or Marvel head, you’ll obviously want to see this, and probably already have. But I loved it, and I’m neither of those things. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was entertaining, and if you’re looking for a movie to kick back and relax to, I think it’s worth a watch.
