Movie Review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Rachel Mcadams

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 126 minutes

Some spoilers follow:

It turns out Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a bit of a control freak.  Which, in retrospect, has actually been fairly obvious throughout his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As a famous surgeon, he routinely performed operations in which he held patients’ lives in his hands.  After the car crash that damaged his hands, he ironically and arrogantly insisted that if he had been in charge of a patient in the same situation he would have been able to save the use of their hands.  It took a bit of convincing for him to become a superhero sorcerer but since doing so he’s quickly established himself as one of the most powerful and influential heroes in the franchise, strategically pulling strings in ways that affect many other characters.  His stratagem to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame allowed half of the universe’s population to be Snapped out of existence for five years, and Iron Man and the Black Widow to die permanently.  Strange insisted this was the only way to defeat the Mad Titan and the franchise hasn’t shown any reason to doubt him on that but it’s still telling he was the one to make the call.  In December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home he was willing to alter the minds of everyone on Earth simply because of his own affection and sympathy for Peter Parker.  The first Doctor Strange film highlighted how these controlling tendencies are partially born of Stephen’s massive ego and while that is still a bit of an issue (though less than it used to be) the sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, reveals and explores much deeper problems that have made the Master of the Mystic Arts the man he is today and challenges him to confront and move past them.  This character arc centers and becomes a highlight of the elaborate, mystical adventure, which significantly expands the MCU and progresses key Phase 4 storylines while also embracing elements of the horror genre.

At the beginning of the film, Stephen has settled into a groove of performing superhero and sorcerer duties in a relaxed, routine manner, but he’s haunted by both mysterious nightmares of himself helping and then betraying a superhuman young woman, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) and his lingering feelings for ex-girlfriend Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), who is marrying another man after Stephen decided to devote himself to being a hero rather than pursuing a relationship with her.  While glumly attending the wedding, Stephen gets an excuse to leave when America is chased through New York by a monstrous octopus-like creature.  After he and fellow sorcerer Wong (Benedict Wong) rescue her from the beast, America explains that it is one of many monsters that has pursued her through the multiverse.  America has the ability to travel between the different universes that make up the multiverse unaided, but she is not in control of the power, which tends to activate when she is significantly frightened.  A demon covets this ability and has sent the monsters to kidnap her.  Strange turns to fellow superhero Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) for help, but the mystically-powered Avenger is in no shape to do so.  Wanda has been led down a harsh path by the Darkhold, a dark magic book with a corrupting influence similar to that of the One Ring, which is plaguing her with visions of the magically-created sons she allowed to be erased from existence at the end of the excellent Disney Plus miniseries WandaVision.  When a battle erupts over America’s fate she and Stephen flee into the multiverse, traveling through many different alternate worlds, including one protected and controlled by the Illuminati, a group of powerful and influential superheroes including characters from various eras of Marvel’s live-action past, who hold dark secrets about Stephen’s own fate.

Sam Raimi sits in the director’s chair for his first Marvel film since 2007, in the pre-MCU era.  But he draws more from his experience with comedic horror films like The Evil Dead franchise than the Tobey McGuire Spider-Man trilogy, crafting one of the first MCU projects to lean into the horror genre.  The film is still appropriate for most of Marvel’s family audience, of course (only the youngest children might be really frightened) but there are some genuinely unnerving moments, especially when jump scares are accompanied by sharp musical notes.  Raimi embraces the weird potential of the mystical characters’ powers, and the result is by far Strange’s most… well… strange adventure so far.  The first film had its share of trippy visuals but they were mostly based around sorcerers altering their environments, with rotating and expanding urban architecture making for what was essentially Marvel’s version of Inception.  There’s a bit of that here as well but the sequel’s magic is more genuinely otherworldly and often grotesque.  Strange summons floating, monstrous hands, Wanda telekinetically alters her enemies’ bodies in disturbing ways, and Strange and America fall through a world where everything is made of paint, among other things.  There are demons and zombies and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  It’s a wild ride, with an immense amount of imagination on display but not everything is captured flawlessly.  Raimi is insistent on packing as much audiovisual detail into every moment as possible but this has about as many drawbacks as benefits.  While a vibrant color palette and interesting use of canted angles are appreciated, the constant rapid panning and rotating of the camera and stylized editing tricks often make everything too busy and could contribute to feelings of nausea or sensory overload in viewers who are sensitive to that kind of thing.  There’s a scene in which Stephen learns of a powerful new spell that demonstrates how the film embraces a more is more mentality in terms of its style, even when less probably would have been better.  Stephen’s conversation is superimposed with images of Wanda performing the spell but straightforward crosscutting would have made the same point less aggressively.  Ironically, the spectacle scenes are generally handled in a less hyperactive manner.  The strongest action beats find steadier shots working in conjunction with the stunt and visual effects teams to give a nice sense of physicality to the magical shenanigans.

The writing and characterization are similarly inconsistent in quality.  The film excels when focused sharply on Stephen himself, delivering the most nuanced and emotionally engaging story the character has yet received in the MCU.  Cumberbatch benefits from the quality of the material, turning in what is his strongest, most fleshed-out performance in the role.  Stephen’s control issues are examined in ways that reveal new layers of backstory and depth for the character and his confrontations with other versions of himself from throughout the multiverse contribute to a well-developed emotional journey.  One of the most affecting elements of that is the bittersweet dynamic between him and Christine.  McAdams is given a much more central role here than in the first film and gets to join Cumberbatch and Olsen in the multiversal fun of playing multiple versions of her character.  McAdams’ subtle performance gives the film a welcome warmth while also highlighting the quiet sadness of an alternate Christine, and she and Cumberbatch bring the right mix of awkward tension and lingering affection to their scenes together.

Unfortunately, the other characters aren’t all handled with the same grace.  The film’s portrayal of Wanda Maximoff has become its biggest controversy, and fans are right to be critical.  Although Wanda’s storyline continues the plot elements of WandaVision, the actual emotional lesson she must learn over the course of the film is effectively the same one that she learned in that series, and it’s not delivered with equal skill.  Some of her scenes are quite upsetting, and not in a horror sense, and while this means the film is provoking powerful emotions the way it does so is sometimes tasteless, to the point where some may find the storyline offensive.  The fact that any of the arc works is largely thanks to Olsen, who goes beyond elevating weak material (cheesy dialogue sticks out a lot at points but is especially unsuited to Wanda) to deliver another great performance despite the shaky foundations of her role.  She glides between being darkly amusing and ferociously frightening, sometimes even conveying both effects at once, but builds everything up from a melancholy, wounded core.  In her hands, Wanda has become and continues to be one of the most complex, relatable, and human characters of the Marvel pantheon.  Let’s hope wherever she appears next has a story more worthy of her.

Gomez’s introduction as America works in that she’s another plucky, likable young Marvel hero, although not as immediately complex as Tom Holland’s Peter Parker or Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, and viewers will likely be game to see more of her going forward.  But her arc in this film would have been served well by a few more dialogue scenes and the rapid pacing means that her bond with Stephen seems to form a bit too quickly, regardless of how well Cumberbatch and Gomez play it.  Wong’s popularity has been skyrocketing of late, as he’s been the most frequently reoccurring face throughout Marvel’s Phase 4.  But he’s given little to do here other than playfully rub his promotion to sorcerer supreme in Stephen’s face.  All the scenes of him doing so are funny but if the guy’s going to be popping up everywhere he needs to be developed in meaningful ways sometimes and this really should have been one of the projects to do so.

Multiverse of Madness is the deepest dive Phase 4 has made into the complicated depths of Marvel mythology, making it a crucial watch for fans despite its shortcomings.  But the film’s approach to fan service isn’t as straightforward as Endgame or No Way Home‘s.  The most significant bits of worldbuilding come through the Illuminati sequence.  The MCU’s latest team is made up of an All-Star roster of returning Marvel actors, including one fan-favorite whose role predates the MCU, as altered versions of their characters and one major new face.  Seeing them all onscreen together is a real thrill that emphasizes how far the franchise has come but the sequence does not play out at all as one might expect and the big twists are just as likely to come off as cheap shocks as they are meaningful developments, depending on the viewer.

Ultimately, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is an ambitious, thrilling superhero adventure that marks significant turning points in Marvel’s live-action history and makes some welcome additions to the genre.  But some crucial mistakes hold it back from being as great as it could have been.