ReelBob: ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ ★★★½
By Bob Bloom
Cloaked within the magical trappings of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is a poignant tale of maternal instincts gone berserk.
The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe offering follows up on plot threads introduced in two Marvel series that aired on Disney+ — “WandaVision” and the animated “What If …?”
In the finale of “WandaVision,” Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) was anointed the Scarlet Witch, becoming the most powerful magical being in the universe.
As the Scarlet Witch, Wanda begins searching the multiverse for the children whom she lost when her suburban dream world of Westview ended.
Despite her powers, Wanda longs for domesticity and unconditional love, which children can provide. So, as Scarlet Witch, she uses dark magic to aid her quest.
“Multiverse of Madness” is a bit different from other Marvel movies, because it was directed by Sam Raimi, who brings his singular vision to the movie, including more graphic and bloody violence than fans of the MCU are used to seeing. Be warned: this is a dark and scary movie with scenes that most likely will disturb younger filmgoers who enjoy the MCU features.
The crux of the film is Scarlet Witch’s determination to capture America Chavez, a girl from another universe who has the ability to travel throughout the multiverse. The only problem is, she does not know how to control that power.
America (Xochitl Gómez) meets Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) when she lands in our universe and is followed by a giant one-eyed octopus sent to grab her.
Strange and his mentor, Wong (Benedict Wong), now the Sorcerer Supreme, defeat the monster and rescue America.
Thus begins a whirlwind tour of various universes where other Marvel characters turn up in various iterations, as does Strange’s former love, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).
The storylines have a few holes that are not quite properly explained, but that’s not important.
What is interesting is how disliked Strange is no matter which universe he visits. He surely is consistent throughout all of them — arrogant, egotistical and believing he knows better than anyone else. Strange definitely is not a team player.
Compared to Strange, the late Tony Stark was a humble individual.
Like all Marvel movies, “Multiverse of Madness” is heavily reliant on CGI, which gives this film more of a comic-book feel than most previous features.
The actors do what they do best — trade quips, fight and act heroic. Cumberbatch’s Strange, of course, is his usual smug sorcerer.
Unfortunately, Gómez’s America is not fully developed, nor do we learn how she acquired her unique ability.
The movie, though, belongs to Olsen. She is ferociously single-minded in her pursuit of achieving the life she wants. And she does not care how many people she has to kill to accomplish it.
(One line in the movie really cracked me up: During a battle in which Scarlet Witch attacks the stronghold of the sorcerers, Wong yells the unfortunate line, “The shields are down,” as if he were on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.)
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is not your typical cookie-cutter Marvel offering. And that is mostly because of Raimi, who is not afraid to upset his audience or at least make them feel uncomfortable.
Doctor Strange and Raimi seem made for each other, and it would be interesting to see them continue their cinematic journey together.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
3½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), frightening and disturbing images, action, intense sequences of violence, language