The MCU has its most darkest, creepiest and savage entry yet in the franchise with Dr Strange’s second instalment being an thrilling ride that makes itself stand out from the generic feel of superhero standalone movie.
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View Date:8/05/22 6:00pm
Run Time:2hr 6min
Warning: The following contains massive spoilers for the latest Dr Strange movie
I’ve seen that this film has divided opinion massively, some saying the plot is weak, others saying it was rushed. I have to disagree I really enjoyed this. A main criticism is the overall motivation of Wanda. Those of you who say its weak are forgetting that Wanda has lost everything in her life and is haunted by the events of Wandavison, plus she was possessed at the end of the day. The cameos although not on the fan service levels of No Way home were still decent, although I feel only Reed Richards has the potential for further expansion and the casting of John Kransinki as Reed Richards adds intrigue for the upcoming Fantastic four project. The film itself is visually stunning especially as Strange and Chavez travel from dimension to dimension.
Dr Strange & The Multiverse of Madness is probably one of the last MCU films I was looking forward to seeing, the others being the new Thor & Blade movies as the franchise becomes more and more saturated dishing out content after content. However, that rant is for another day. Onto the main review
The MCU has its scariest entry yet
What really intrigued me about this entry was the rumours from a while back were that the film was going to be more horror influenced which is unheard of in Marvel movies . Then the trailer dropped and it seemed that these supposed horror elements have been toned down. In fact the trailer is very clever as it takes you down a different route of what you think the film is going to be about. For me I thought Dr Strange was being hunted by the ‘time police’ or the illuminati for him messing with time after No Way Home. I am pleased to say the rumours were true and the film had plenty of scary moments and genuine jumpscare moments at times courtesy of Elizabeth Olsen who was outstanding as the Scarlett Witch.
Scarlett Witch the MVP
Now I have to admit I was not the biggest fan of Wanda, I found her quite bland and I never cared for the relationship with Vision. However when Wanda becomes Scarlett Witch, for me she becomes a lot more entertaining. Elizabeth Olsen’s performance was brilliant as she came off as a real force that didn’t look like could be stopped which adds a lot of stakes to the movie, a problem lots of MCU films have. I would say my favourite part of the movie was the barbaric destruction of the Illuminati at the hands of Wanda. Every single kill were unique and brutal, the kills to Reed Richards, Professor Xavier and Black bolt making me physically gasp at the surprising violence, brilliant stuff. The film really pushed its 12 age rating with an arguement it borders the 15 rating, a first for the MCU.
Dr.Strange is everywhere in every universe even in ours!
Despite only appearing in No Way Home and his second film (excluding what if) it seems Dr Strange is everywhere at the moment. Maybe that’s because of the relatively close release dates of No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness with both featuring Benedict Cumberbatch’s sorcerer as a main player. With every appearance I grow fonder and fonder of Strange as he is such an entertaining character. The different powers and moves he uses with his sorcery are endless and that distinguishes him from the rest of the avengers. Although I could do with that typical marvel humour jokes that are really not necessary and make me cringe, but you can’t have everything now can we
Who would Dr Strange be without his trustee charming sidekick Wong. He played a bigger role than I thought as he seems to leave just as things start going wrong, I’m looking at you Shangi Chi and No Way Home. Also where was Shang Chi? He seemed prime to show up at some point and just didn’t which was a little disappointing. Back to Wong, I felt at multiple times our lovable sidekick was going be inevitably killed off by Wanda but somehow seemed to cheat death yet again. You go Wong!
Note: I was not the biggest fan of America Chavez. She was fine but some of her dialogue and delivery was quite cringy and I just wasn’t grasped enough to be interested in a potential solo film/TV show which seems inevitable.
Overall Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness takes the visuals of the MCU to another level with multiple different spectacles of different settings all unique to each other. A tortured, grief written Elizabeth Olsen is the standout performer delivering a chilling performance as the Scarlett Witch whilst showcasing just how damn powerful she came be. Is she dead? Probably not. I hope more marvel films take risks like this one and change from the norm, I would love more horror inspired MCU content like this one.
If you haven’t watched this then I don’t know what your reading this and not watching it right now.
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