Mark Reviews Movies: DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 5, 2022

Just as with the last time we saw Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) during the adventures of one of the "many bug-based crime fighters" in this particular superhero realm, the existence of a multiverse complicates things in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. We're introduced to new characters, different versions of familiar heroes, and some familiar, if unexpected, faces as Dr. Strange traverses assorted, alternative existences in his attempts to stop a villain. Everything starts to feel a bit dense and convoluted, as if the introduction of infinite universes just means being provided a lot more information to try to retain for future entries in this seemingly unending series.

All of this possibility seems to be establishing yet more and more characters, more subplots, and more multi-movie (as well as multi-media, now that the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded to television) arcs to track and follow. There's a sequence, though, when all of that apparent world-building and universe-expanding comes to a series of fairly brutal ends, and that's when the intentions of Michael Waldron's screenplay really come into focus.

The existence of a multiverse in this franchise can mean more characters and plotting, yes. It also can mean the freedom to disregard all of that—to dismiss those other characters without a second thought and to put aside the years of intricate back story—and just tell a distinct, mostly standalone tale.

The latter option is what Waldron and director Sam Raimi go for in this installment of the big-screen Marvel canon, although, in order to understand its foundation, one also had better be caught up on at least one of the comic-movie house's small-screen efforts. Then again, that caveat might not matter too much. Once the story sets up its conflict and its stakes, the filmmakers are far more intrigued by the potential of putting a unique stamp on what has become formulaic material, taking this story in a stylistically and tonally divergent direction.

More to the point, they embrace the notion of playing with the darker, more twisted possibilities of a superhero and a villain based in the realms of sorcery and witchcraft. Whatever one might think about the ways in which these superhero movies appear to be more the product of an anonymous system than any individual filmmaker, there's little denying that Raimi has put at least some of his horror-adoring touch on this installment. In a franchise that often comes across as cookie-cutter storytelling, a little bit of an obvious and different personality goes a long way.

Here, the plot takes a bit too long to head in that direction, as Strange has to deal with Christine (Rachel McAdams)—the woman he loves, even if he could never put that into action—marrying another man, a giant monster attacking New York City while trying to abduct the multiverse-traveling America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), and the return of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who now calls herself the Scarlet Witch. At the start, there's some clumsy narrative juggling and a lot of brightly lit action sequences with plenty of shaky, generic visual effects—not to mention the fact that anyone who bypassed "WandaVision" won't have a clue about Wanda's turn and her motive for wanting to upturn the multiverse for a couple of kids who haven't existed in the movies.

The plot has Wanda using a book of dark magic to capture America and steal her powers to travel across universes. At a certain point, that doesn't matter. The plot here is mostly an excuse to put Strange, the new superhero, and a string of important—or seemingly important but completely disposable—others through a grim, occasionally demented, and cleverly self-aware horror show.

Even though the setup for this is there from the start (if a bit difficult to notice, considering how much the story tries to do from the top), the turning point is impossible to miss, since it involves the complete, vicious slaughter. It comes shortly after the introduction of a group of characters who, from past training with these movies, initially strike us as the beginnings of some setups for assorted sequels and spin-offs, so Raimi and Waldron kill off the expectations they and just about every movie in this franchise have established. From that point on, the filmmakers embrace the freedom to do what they want with this material, given new life through ironic death.

This is a tale of nightmares and reality warped by extra-universal intruders, of demons and dark magic, and of ancient tomes and more eternal forms evil. It's also one that revolves around possession (Wanda takes over a version of herself in another universe, becoming a stalking zombie, an unstoppable killer, and a super-powered monster in one grief-stricken package of obsession), and it features a chase that takes place in an underground, rust-filled passage that looks better suited to a slasher movie.

Through it all, Raimi's sense of the grotesque and of warped humor is apparent (Even the visual effects take a turn toward the shadows). That humor, perhaps, is never clearer than this film's implementation of a certain Russian playwright's most famous rule: A corpse introduced in the first act must, well, do something, which won't be revealed here, by the third. Such a concept probably isn't something one has expected from this franchise, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness doesn't care about such expectations. Its primary concerns are the bizarre, the mischievous, and the occasionally gruesome. Let's be grateful, mostly, for something decidedly different.

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