This is a spoiler-free review for the standard 2D screening of Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xóchitl Gomez with Michael Stülhbarg and Rachel McAdams.
Summary
Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) must travel across the multiverse; to prevent a magical threat far more powerful than his team were expecting.
Review
The movie is filled with action throughout. The mystsical horror elements in the movie were creepy and also feels like the darkest Marvel movie yet.
There were many shocking and gruesome scenes that left me gobsmacked; Sam Raimi feels like the right fit for directing this movie for sure!
It’s a well-structured film that focuses on Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff and America Chavez. It’s interesting to see how variants, for some of these are like and just enough pieces of their backstories explained without busying the plot.
The tone of Doctor Strange 2 was aimed at being darker and more horrifying, therefore, there were not that many comedic moments in this. Whenever there were; scenes felt natural and not so forced-in compared to previous MCU movies.
Characters
Benedict Cumberbatch was so versatile in playing multiple characters of Stephen Strange. There were more creative ways of seeing Strange use his magic since Doctor Strange (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War. If you’ve watched the Disney Plus series What If…? Strange matches many of those scenes in live-action, and the VFX looks beautiful!
Elizabeth Olsen’s performance was incredible! Olsen ‘gave it her all’ for this role. Wanda was absolutely ruthless and unhinged in this story. Many of her scenes are so emotional too.
Xóchitl Gómez brought a sense of youthfullness energy in the movie, as America Chavez and her powers looked very cool! There was some backstory explained for her character. It does eem like Marvel will dive deeper into the backstory of America Chavez, in future projects.
Benedict Wong sets a stronger presence and a more leadership role for Sorcerer Supreme Wong. The movie puts him through so much, with some of best scenes that he’s ever had.
Rachel McAdams finally has a prominent role in this movie. It was surprising to see what was in store for Christine Palmer and the chemistry between Strange.
VFX
The VFX looked absolutely beautiful; scenes filled with vibrant colour grading, revealing more designed magic to show off how creatively powers can be used. Entire universes; each having their own unique qualities. ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) did a great job on this movie!
Music
The soundtracks did sound amazing in this movie! Although, Danny Elfman has re-used hints of his own pieces from films such as Batman (1989), Charlie and Chocolate Factory movie starring Johnny Depp, Justice League (2017) and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Basically, Elfman’s classic style is seeping into this movie.
The scores do create a sense of nostalgia, yet lacks originality at the same time. There were some minor inclusions of the main Doctor Strange theme, from the first movie, as well as very brief Wandavision leitmotifs.
For a multiverse movie, the story didn’t feel messy and was actually quite contained to about 2-3 universes. They should have explored so much more. Try not go into this movie expecting many packed cameos, there were a few. However, the focus is mostly on the three main characters.
The pacing is evenly balanced throughout; wondrous and scary action scenes followed by slower dramatic moments. I would definitely recommend watching this Marvel movie. I will also be going to watch it for the second time.
Are there credit scenes in Doctor Strange 2?
There are two credit scenes for Doctor Strange 2; a serious moment that could lead into another movie teasing more chaos. A second scene is at the very end of the credits, and is featuring a more humorous clip.
