‘Doctor Strange’ delivers gasp-worthy moments
In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
AN IMPORTANT piece of information to note about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness before you watch it is that however many multiverses you expect to see in the movie, ditch the presumption.
While it is a fun ride, it’s a movie not a series, so in case you think you will get to see numerous new corners of the MCU, its a lot fewer than you might think.
That said, the movie is still a wonderful experience. Director Sam Raimi delivers on taking audiences through a fun, and sometimes edge-of-seat-gripping experience, while leaving them feel enthralled by its scope.
There are so many great moments in the film – all of which were great because I got to watch it in the cinema. There are numerous surprises and appearances that will have you cheering and gasping, and for that very reason, avoid spoilers for as long as you can.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is first entry in the MCU where viewers will need information which they acquired from WandaVision to understand where they find the characters.
In other words, this is not a movie you can just watch without having seen other MCU content. You will be more than a little perplexed if you do.
While the promotional material has done its best to ignore the obvious, viewers long ago deduced Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is the villain of the movie, her motive having already been established in the
WandaVision TV show to be that of finding her children.
One part where the movie fails – or maybe the fault should be attributed to the show – is that Wanda starts off being bad but we are not shown her journey to that point.
We know her motives, but don’t see how they drive her to become
villainous.
The movie also relies on the “power of a mother’s love” trope, as Wanda is on a desperate search for her children. While understandable, it does ignore the elephant in room – Vision.
I anticipated that Vision, Wanda’s one true love, would appear but he does not and this omission does hurt
her characterisation.
While Wanda doesn’t know that version of her beloved exists, the viewers do, and leaving that out does hurt the story.
Vision’s absence aside, the movie is still a wonderful experience, with Benedict Cumberbatch delivering his best work as our titular hero, Dr Stephen
Strange.
We see different iterations of his character in Multiverse of Madness,
which will not be new to dedicated MCU fans, but seeing him deliver variations of the lead character in live action is wonderful.
We also get to see him develop as a character, and while there are enough moments showing his growth, the movie does make you wish there were more.
Viewers also have seen him play a parental figure in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but this time he is a parental figure to a new character, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez).
Their dynamic is wonderful and, honestly, the movies’ biggest asset and strength. They are a wonderful pairing and manage to assist each other when it counts.
There are numerous other gaspworthy moments in the film but those are best experienced in the cinema.
Overall, for MCU lovers, this is a can’t-miss entry because it will have many talking and theorising for months to come.
Marvel delivers another great movie in the MCU, and one that will definitely leave its mark on the fictional work and viewers.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams. The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
Rating: 7/10
IOL