Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

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)

The cup of patience has run over. In fact, I actually hesitate even to call this a film. I don't understand why no one else complains about how horribly the characters are keyed to those fake backgrounds, that no one minds that the framerate makes, say, the lab scene look like something out of Code Blue. I haven't seen something where everyone cares so much about everything in a long time. It has no beginning, no end, the actors aren't entertaining, the fictional worlds have no stakes of their own, and it's bathed in cliché. And the script's a real doozy, too. Sam Raimi is in a great position in Hollywood where whatever crap he makes, all he has to do is put a skeleton in it and a zoom shot to get people to cheer at how he references himself. I think The Last Children of Aporver would have been a better movie as a result. (03/08/2022)

With great power comes great responsibility and with almost unlimited power comes ... MADNESS! The new Doctor Strange could have been made in pretty much any way given the storylines in the recent MCU films and the central character's abilities, and I was curious to see how Sam Raimi, creator of Spider-Man as well as cult horror films, would handle it. The film is not lacking in some decent scares, imaginative scenes (a "musical fight" like in Scott Pilgrim) and creepy characters, yet Raimi could have easily pushed the envelope further, as some of the characters were dispatched out of frame in a grimly manner. The multiverse also certainly had more potential, on the other hand, the film fortunately didn't become an outright mess. The newcomer America was more rather bland, but I enjoyed more than one cameo, which the film was brimming with. The first end-credit scene brought another Oscar-winning actress into the MCU, though I wonder if it wasn’t a "one-off". It's not a pure four stars, but I was entertained in the cinema for the full two hours, and that's what counts. (08/05/2022)

“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)