(Photo by Marvel)
A new era begins for Marvel Studios as they explore the possibilities of the multiverse in their latest cinematic release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Sam Raimi, most known for directing the original Spiderman trilogy with Tobey Maguire, takes the director’s chair again for this ambitious new step into the possibilities of the multiverse within the Marvel cinematic universe. His style of film certainly helped raise the profile and excitement of the superhero film and it is great to see him back in the hotseat for Marvel’s newest chapter. The film is full to the brim with surprises, crossovers, and some head scratching moments if you don’t have the utmost knowledge of every aspect of Marvel, but I don’t think this fully takes away from the enjoyment of the film. This is definitely a film that Marvel fans will love, and casual fans, like me that don’t know too much about the ins and outs of the MCU, will still enjoy regardless.
I will run through a brief overview of the plot without giving away any spoilers or anything that isn’t shown in the trailers. I would hate to be that guy that spoiled a film for somebody else as they were thinking about seeing it. A funny story is that when Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, I had managed to avoid spoilers all week until I was going to see the film at the weekend. Only when I arrived some guy blurted out a major spoiler as I was just entering the cinema. Screw that guy, but I digress.
The film continues from after the events of Spiderman: No Way Home, as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) encounters a mysterious traveller “America Chavez” (Xochitl Gomez) who reached this version of Earth after being chased across multiverses by an unknown entity. Strange, alongside the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong (Benedict Wong) travel on a journey across the multiverse to get to the truth, recruiting a broken “Scarlett Witch” (Elizabeth Olsen), still reeling after the events in the Disney+ series, “Wanda Vision”.
Now, if you have read my review on ‘The Batman’ (which you definitely should by the way), then you would know I am a very simple man when it comes to my superhero films. I like Batman. I like Spiderman. I am not especially up to date with all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and everyone’s relationship to each other, so I went in essentially blind apart from watching the latest Spiderman which this film carries on from. One thing that turns me off with Marvel films in general is the amount of homework you need to complete in order to fully understand everything; requiring you to watch this, that, this and that, oh and you have to watch it in this exact order. Pass. That being said, apart from a few things which were explained to me afterwards, I got the general gist of what was happening and wasn’t particularly lost whilst watching. Whilst I enjoyed the film, I think my enjoyment would have been boosted with the knowledge of the other films before it and the crossovers and Easter eggs would have had more impact on me.
Doctor Strange was a character I hadn’t really seen before his appearance in Spiderman: No Way Home, but I liked his role in that film and after this film I could see myself going to see more of him in the future. Benedict Cumberbatch dons the Steven Strange character for his second solo film and has that mixture of charm, intensity and brains that makes him a fan favourite with many. He is very good at portraying a man that is struggling after getting 5 years of his life erased away by Thanos’ snap, getting to grips with the fact that the world has moved on and he needs to as well, showing this intimate human side to one of the most powerful sorcerers in the multiverse.
Similarly, I was unfamiliar with a lot of the cast before this film, but Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda/Scarlett Witch I found to be a very good and flawed character throughout, playing a big part in the plot without giving too much away. Cumberbatch and Olsen showcase a gripping and intense saga of trying to understand and cope with loss and dancing around the line of the universe-altering ends one will go to in order to repair a broken heart. Both characters have their flaws which make them much more human as opposed to just the heroes that they seem to be on the outside, with a lot of moral conflict arising in the narrative.
My biggest gripe with this film, and Marvel films in general, is how goofy they are. Serious moments are not given a second to breathe without a corny one liner or some sort of balloon bursting moment that feels incredibly forced. It sometimes works with Doctor Strange’s character being one of high intellect, so these witty comebacks feel somewhat natural to him. But my god some moments made me visually cringe and facepalm, but I think that’s just something I need to learn to overlook when going into these films. Not every superhero film can be ultra-dark and gritty, even if that’s how personally I like them, but it does play a part on my enjoyment of the films as a whole.
Overall, I enjoyed this film a lot more than I initially thought I was going to. It hasn’t converted me into a Marvel super fan by any means, but I would be interested in seeing some of the other films coming out after this one. I think I’m just going to have to get used to the goofy nature of these films and just completely distance my love for Batman from these different superhero films in order to really enjoy them. If you love Marvel films, then you are probably going to really enjoy this one. I wonder how much more they can explore the multiverse and it’s storyline potentials without it being overkill but for right now it seems to have everybody hooked and leading to some very strong cinematic releases right now.
My score 7.8/10
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