Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

“The most horror Marvel movie” tag is about as meaningful as “the hottest ice-cream”. Sure, the second Doctor Strange isn't as funny as, say, the latest Thor or Guardians of the Galaxy, but it won’t make your stomach churn, so to speak. While there is a Sam Raimi feel to it at times, I personally was hoping for a wilder, bolder, and well, crazier ride with a film subtitled "in the multiverse of madness", but it sticks within the safe confines of harmless fun and classic Marvel template. And it's a shame, because the potential was immeasurable and for the first time in a while Marvel could have operated with a non-generic "new" villain (clearly the film's strongest point). On a scene-by-scene level, it's occasionally great (Raimi's directorial input), too bad it's not supported by a more polished script. (05/05/2022)

Of all the Marvel superheroes, Doctor Strange has the most potential for visually wild and appealing films. Filmmakers can get awfully crazy, and especially now that Strange is supposed to travel to other worlds and universes and where everything was once again based on magic, so the boundaries of normalcy were pushed a lot further than, say, in Black Widow. In that respect, there's nothing to fault in the Multiverse of Madness. Sam Raimi enjoyed his return to blockbusters and, unexpectedly, Kevin Feige allowed him to be his typical self. There are a few horror and scary moments, references to the visual style of the first Spider-Man and even Evil Dead, and it's nice to watch. The trouble is that there's not much interesting stuff going on. The story this time around is fairly banal, the characters uninteresting, and the whole time I felt like there was a missing minute here or there where it could slow down and go a bit more in-depth. I didn't get the sense that the universe was at stake or that Strange himself had to undergo some major transformation. It's simply a nice attraction, but it wraps up a not very interesting plot. It should have been better. (04/05/2022)

A blatant attempt to wring out the last vestiges of a graspable comic book universe of famous heroes. Doctor Strange is not a bad character and has a lot to offer, but once the creators embark on yet another scripted whirlwind full of parallel universes, magical books and runes, time jumping, etc., it's more than likely to be just another generic comic book action flick full of colours and digital effects. Sam Raimi's arrival will be appreciated by horror fans, as the second Strange has a lot to offer in this aspect and some moments are quite solidly dark. As a whole, however, the second film does not surpass the compactness and interestingness of the first. (24/12/2022)

I found myself in a multiverse of madness as I watched Sam Raimi struggle to project his distinctive style, directorial and cinematographic flourishes, and slightly horrific and morbid touch on the big screen. At that point, it all disappeared into the abyss of screenwriting cluelessness and a largely meaningless and uninteresting story. Once again, Marvel is just playing it safe, with nothing to surprise the viewer. It has its tried-and-tested gimmicks in the form of a dozen useless cameo roles that deadlock the plot just to tease further spin-offs, which are already a total slap in the face. Plus, this year's Everything Everywhere All at Once definitely kicked this overpriced corporate product's ass when it comes to playing with multiverse. Sam, I hope you cashed a decent check for this, and now please go and make a low-budget horror movie that makes you and the audience happy. Please. (03/06/2022)

A playful, but rather oversimplified sequel to the story about an arrogant surgeon who turned his hand to magic takes us to other worlds, but also into his subversive inner self. During the opening of the movie, Raimi came up with a surprise parallel on the west Russian conflict, and also with an ending involving a demonic resurrection and all-in-all inconsistent storytelling. The second Strange would have benefitted from about a half hour extra to give Raimi the chance to give the multiverse a good long cuddle and also give the sub-stories the chance to take off a bit. I don’t believe that Waldron’s screenplay was to blame; this is more like studio intervention to bring the running time down to a more sensible length. The guest appearances are fine as a whole, but I’m not at all thrilled about one choice by casting department, so that means minus one point. The horror make-up is awesome (eyeballs dropping out of sockets!), but rotting cadavers, impressive deaths and pieces of body dropping off indicate that Disney is willing to turn a blind eye occasionally and please orthodox fans with a bit of gore. But will it be enough? Are you happy? (04/05/2022)