Multiverse movies…so hot right now. Multiverse movies. (That is meant to be said in the tone of Will Ferrell’s Mugatu from Zoolander.) From the recent indie hit Everything, Everywhere, All The Time to Marvel’s latest Spider-Man: No Way Home, exploring parallel universes seems to be all the rage. The latest to try its hand at the Multiverse is the Doctor Strange sequel: Multiverse or Madness.
The film follows Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who crosses paths with teen America Chavez. America has the special power to jump between multiverses. What a unique power…how does she do it? Well, when the time comes for the film to explain America’s powers, they go with the generic, “I don’t know how it works.” Gotta love a good script explanation!
Trouble arrives when Scarlett Witch/Wanda Maximoff attempts to capture America and take her power in order to live in a different multiverse where her children exist. (If you didn’t watch WandaVision, she has imaginary children… it’s a whole thing.) Strange will have to stop Wanda (and travel through the multiverse to do so.)
For Multiverse of Madness, director Sam Raimi takes over the film shifting it into more of the horror genre than typical Marvel fare. Raimi is most known for his work on the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and the Evil Dead films. While he has directed some good movies, we need to keep in mind that this is the man who directed Spider-Man 3. Yes, the Spider-Man movie with the Sandman, Topher Grace as Venom, and Tobey Maguire doing this dance. Some things are immortalized in film forever and never forgotten.
Why am I talking about Spider-Man 3 so much? Partially because
1. I am obsessed with that scene of Tobey Maguire and I do what I can to bring it up whenever possible.
And
2. Because there are elements of Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness that remind me of the chaotic nature of Spider-Man 3. As an audience member, you’re bombarded with several different plotlines, yet none of them come together to tell that great of a story.
The script is messy and honestly, not that exciting for a big summer blockbuster. For all the fun we've had with Marvel characters, this film feels like a major step backward. It feels like watching an early 2000s movie that you’d catch on TBS on a Saturday afternoon.
Considering they’re dealing with the multiverse, the characters don’t explore that many different parallel realities. When they do, it just feels like a chance for the film to shove in some cameos from other franchises. This has worked in other Marvel movies in the past but here it feels like a lazy way to show off 2-minute cameos in order to get some buzz. It doesn’t ultimately move the story forward in any way.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since watching the movie and I’ve decided that if I made a multiverse movie I would have a 5-minute scene starring:
Tommy Wiseau
The CGI magician cat from cats, or Mr. Mistofolees if you want to get technical
Jonathan from Troll 2
Eddie Redmayne’s character Balem Abrasax in Jupiter Ascending
Everyone watching would be riveted, "what are all of these characters from hated movies doing in a scene together?" I'll tell you what, they've all banded together to make a movie that everyone loves. It's a beautiful moment. They have all gone through so much hate that they will create something beloved. It’s Oscar-worthy actually. People would talk about it for years. Who would you cast in a multiverse movie?
Now that you've read about the best multiverse scene ever, I'm sorry to say that Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness won't compare. All of the actors do well enough with what they're given. It’s clear that they're working with a green screen for the majority of the time. One has to wonder if they get tired of working with a constant green screen all day. The majority of this film is basically Benedict Cumberbatch and Elisabeth Olsen doing dramatic hand gestures towards each other with visual effects added in post-production. I would love to see what this movie looks like without effects.
Since Avengers: Endgame I haven’t been that impressed with the films Marvel has released. Before Endgame, each film felt like you had to see them. This doesn’t feel like anything that needs to be seen. There’s no major character development. Strange goes on his own journey of self-discovery but it’s nothing that major. In my opinion, the film is a step back for Wanda’s characterization. It felt like the writers of the film didn’t watch the entirety of her own character’s show, WandaVision. The introduction of America Chavez is the one thing that will most likely come out of this film as important to the MCU moving forward.
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a disappointment. The plot is messy, the character development is lacking and the film feels like a forgettable early 2000s release.
My Rating: 5/10