Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) | a Review
originally published on 13/05/2022;
Hello everyone, I am the mystical GEMSimov, a master of the fart arts, here to tell you about “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (henceforth known as ‘the movie’ or ‘the film’). I’ve been maddened by the length of this thing’s title.
Simple review details - I rank films on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with the film in question. I also use the terms ‘movie’ and ‘film’ interchangeably.
Presentation
We’re going to start off with this movie’s strongest suit - namely the presentation of things. Underneath the broad umbrella of presentation I’m shoving everything from set design, special effects, costumes, music, sound design - pretty much everything that has to do with the movie, if we abstract ourselves from the story and the performance of the actors.
So, what’s there to say about this MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie about Doctor Strange? Well, I’d wager it’s all in the Doctor Strange aspect of this thing - it’s a Doctor Strange movie, and, due to that, it has a lot of freedom with what it can do. Similarly to the first Doctor Strange movie, the audience is treated to a fantastic bit of VFX (Visual Effects) flexing from the massive team behind the movie. We get to see this ‘dive’ that’s become the most wondrous thing to come out of Doctor Strange, safe for the scene where he arrives to bargain.
What I’m referring to here is the moment in which Doctor Strange winds up ‘falling’ through something. Now, while it is true that these scenes are just Benedict Cumberbatch in front of a huge greenscreen, what these scenes allow the people behind them to do is truly spectacular. All the environments that the audience catches glimpses of as the characters are flying through them, the sheer fact that this is mostly just an excuse to slap things and concepts together until something comes along - it’s astounding.
The good thing is that this scene, the traversal through ‘reality’, is just one of many displays of special effect goodness. I’m willing to make the statement that the studio/studios working on making these visuals a reality have reached a level of mastery that I, myself, could never even fathom to understand. That’s exemplified by a multitude of moments where the special effects were perfectly fine, but they simply failed to hold up to what the film had displayed previously, and I could not stop myself from thinking to myself that this COULD be grander, or that they had loosened up a bit, gotten a little lazy.
Then again, there are very few instances of perfection in the world (if any at all), which leaves me more than content with things that are just fine, if they accompany something that’s close to flawlessness.
Another thing in relation to the special effects that I’d like to state is that this movie played around with the powers that Doctor Strange wields in a very pleasant manner. Close to the end of the movie, the good Doctor ends up fighting another wizard, and their struggle is done in an incredibly amusing way. It all starts off with a piano getting bumped into by Doctor Strange, after which the hero casts a spell, procuring notes from sheet music around himself, and starts attacking the enemy. As the notes fly past and collide with things, they amalgamate into music.
That was, probably, the only point in this movie where the music was almost striking, almost interesting, due to the manner in which it was presented, but, much like the rest of the film’s soundtrack, it was, unfortunately, forgettable.
Writing this review, less than 24 hours after watching the movie in the cinema, I can’t recall a single piece of music. Not a single tune. I can remember a few moments where the music seemed to be inappropriate, or where it just stuck out in a very sore, thumb-like manner, but there was nothing memorable about the music. It was just fine - there was no moment where I thought to myself that the chosen songs were dreadfully bad, or where the originally composed tracks for the movie just sucked, but it was mediocre. A good kind of mediocre, but mediocre still.
Following this nearly scathing remark, I feel the need to make a claim - that claim is that the visuals in this movie had potential. I’m under the impression that the abstract quality of the powers wielded by Doctor Strange, as well as his occupation, allows the artists behind these movies to go incredibly wild. There was a multitude of scenic shots that looked strikingly good. Not just that, but the way the camera was positioned was also phenomenal.
The most powerful moment was definitely the sanctum’s staircase, leading into the clouds, its base framed by a boundless ocean. That was really nice, which leads me into being necessitated to admit that the things that make me go “oh” are, in a sense, good.
Other grand things - the costumes. Naturally, I am referring to the costumes that aren’t just a number of ordinary articles of clothing slapped together in an ‘outfit’, but rather the intriguing apparels displayed. Doctor Strange’s suit, what’s worn by Wong, what’s worn by Mordo, what’s worn by everyone involved with Kamar-Taj - these look SPECTACULAR. I absolutely adore the adjacency to realism that Marvel manages to fit into their more recent movies, and the distance they have traveled when compared to the previous ones. The bright colors of an early Captain America or Iron Man have their own charm, but they also bring with them a measure of ‘camp’, which I don’t appreciate that much in the context of the stories that are being told… Or, rather, the telling of which is attempted.
There are, however, also things that I disliked about the presentation. The villain of this film engages in a chase scene with the heroes… And its shot like a horror movie of the bad variety. I definitely did not like that, not just because of the unreasonable manner in which it was shot, but also because of the way the thing I was seeing did not seem to be reasonable. It didn’t match the story, itself. Why was she walking when she could have flown? Why was she limping when she can recover from wounds, that would kill ordinary people on the spot, in seconds? Questions that will come up later.
In that same tune, the villain does battle with some… Antagonists that end up encountered. The battle is REALLY good, although there are a few big questions. The shot that comes following the death of one of said antagonists is very… Well, it isn’t right. She’s got an immaculately clean face, and her reaction to being cut in twain at the waist is very lackluster. Comparing that to Darth Maul’s death in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” was incredibly lackluster, even if what preceded it was very good.
The shot of the bloodied shield embedding itself into the stone following the parting of the upper from the lower body, however, was very nice.
I found myself noticing the results of conditioning. Of brain-washing, if you will. Having watched a vast number of movie reviews critiquing movies, I’ve subconsciously found myself incapable of not seeing some kind of political message in casting choices, even though there should be no such perception to be made. Why did that one magician have to be a woman with a complexion such as that, I caught myself asking, and then I thought to myself that there’s no reason why she should not be such. The effects of my prolonged and, from only recently, willing partition in the culture war are showing. More on that later.
All in all, this is just average. I’m going to say that it is just average, even if it is actually a lot better than just average, due to the fact that that’s the feeling I’m getting from the movie as a whole. It has its moments, but overall the goal was to make a decent, passable movie. Even if this one had a better presentation than I would say I’d deem “the average”, purely because of the freedom to do whatever that was provided to its artists, it’s not something that warrants the highest grade. 2/3
Acting
I am going to be relatively short and sweet in this department. The actors who did their thing in this movie did their thing well… Or, at least, up to a satisfactory standard, considering the material they were given. Benedict Cumberbatch is, in my untrained eyes, a very capable actor, and thus he performs very well in almost any role he ends up filling. This one was no exception, especially considering the fact that he ends up depicting three different characters. He manages to do it quite well, especially in the latter scenes.
I must admit that his performance (with himself) was, in hindsight, very good. There’s a very tangible sense of unease in the scene, and the way he stands, the way he speaks, the words he utters - that’s quite good.
Elizabeth Olsen is also a good actress, but the thing is that I think she was not given enough screen time to convey the whirlwind of emotions that Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) goes through. Not only that, but the writing that’s been getting done FOR Scarlet Witch has been a very mixed bag - quite hit or miss, with mostly misses in the recent past. She does the best she coan, I believe, so that’s a pass from me.
The casting choices were very good, especially for some of the characters that have not been seen before. The aforementioned culture war’s effects became painfully obvious to me, as this horrible misconception, that I had subconsciously adopted from the media I used to consume, assailed me. Oh, look, this character of seemingly african-american descent is going to do something, and she happens to be named and to seemingly be somewhat important to another, more major character. Why? Initially, my thoughts were directed at: ‘inclusivity quotas’, at ‘political agendas’, for it seemed almost out of order.
But why does it seem out of order? Why did the fact that America has a pair of moms seem to me to be a political statement? Naturally, I interpreted these as such, and even though I tell myself that it is totally reasonable for these things to be so - especially in the case of America, who hails from another universe - I still find it terrifying that I subconsciously attributed the reason for those roles being such to these reasons. To those things that are pointed at and called ‘bad’ by… Reactionaries.
In reality, that’s a problem far greater than just this movie. The norm has been established to be that there are no such actors in these movies, because we have specific roles for certain races. Asian people only appear in movies about Asia or martial arts, black people only appear in movies about black people, and the list goes on. There’s a segregation that has clearly lasted past the actual segregation of the past, but it is very problematic. The sheer fact that I, a person not affected by that, who has never experienced it, ended up thinking that the removal of this segregation in film was a ‘bad’ thing, because I was told so by some random people on the internet… That’s terrifying. Truly, truly terrifying.
I’ll try to distance myself from that, as it is not really connected to the movie, but it did affect my enjoyment of it. I shriveled up inside as I realized that I was UNDER the effects of this blatant evil. Back onto acting… I’d go as far as to say that America’s casting was also good, though there’s another problem.
I did not like that character, at all, and I can’t tell if it was because of the performance given by Xochitl Gomez or because of the way the character was written. Unfortunately, I think it's the former, as the writing was not dreadful - it was simply bland. Thus, I’m sorry to say that the performance was not good in my eyes.
Again, like the previous field, this one is only decent. Slightly more than just decent, but there were other issues as well. Wanda’s children were only passable, with the latest scenes being the most problematic. More on that later… 2/3
Story
Ah, the story. Simply put - it is interesting, but ultimately incredibly unsatisfying. That stems from the fact that the way the MCU has handled Wanda Maximoff, Scarlet Witch, ever since Infinity War’s end, has been HORRIBLE. ABSOLUTELY abominable, frankly. Wandavision, which started off impeccably strong, ended up fizzling out because of that bad handling, and now we’re here as a result of that.
The problem that arose with the writing for Wanda in Wandavision is exacerbated here BEYOND reason. Wanda is hurt because of the way things have gone - Vision is irreversibly dead, as far as she knows, and the false reality she had managed to create for herself in an attempt to cope with that monstrous loss (which has a cumulative effect, stacking with the death of her parents, the torture she was subjected to AND the subsequent death of her brother) turns out to have made her aware of another possibility.
The possibility of a family - of her children. Even though they are just a figment in her universe, turns out they are a reality for the Wandas in all other universes. So, she decides to do something about that, apparently. And here’s the inception of these problems - frankly, they start off EVEN BEFORE THE MOVIE BEGINS!
Remember how there was a second Vision - an Artificial One - created in Wandavision? That Artificial Vision was granted all of the first (real) Vision’s memories, and recognized that he was now… Vision? That Vision whol, you know, LOVED Wanda?
Where is he? Why has he not found Wanda? That's a HOLE in the plot, ladies and gentlemen, and it is one of monstrous dimensions. But that’s not all!
Wanda doing those things - not just what happened in Wandavision, which almost ended up being okay at the end - but then what she does IN this movie? That’s not the same character that we’ve been shown from “Age of Ultron” up till this point! It’s an entirely different character. She operates as if Vision did not exist. In fact, Vision doesn’t even get mentioned ONCE!
How can it be that Vision’s way of seeing the world did not rub off on her even slightly? How can it be that this being that was fundamentally good did not indirectly teach Wanda to be good, herself? How can it be that she literally FORGOT the love of her life, and then went on to do things that he would have done everything in his power to stop her from doing?
We’ve got the VISION hole - which is just Vision NOT BEING IN THE MOVIE - and then we’ve got the Wanda hole - which is just Wanda not being Wanda. Sure, it’s somewhat explained away as her being corrupted by the… The Necronomicon? Oh, wait, tis the Darkhold that I ought to be talking about, not the Necronomicon, haha… Right.
But that explanation of why Wanda isn’t herself - being corrupted by the Darkhold - does not hold any water. After all, the good Doctor Strange does make use of the Darkhold, too! It doesn’t do anything to him. It just gives him this funny looking (mostly silly) third eye on his forehead. Literally no effect on him as a person. But in Wanda’s case - sheesh, she’s definitely going to go ABSOLUTELY crazy! Sure, she might be a bit mentally unstable, but at the point in time when Strange uses the Darkhold, he, too, is at the end of his rope and thoroughly hopeless - he has no way of making it back to his universe, he’s stranded in a universe that has been destroyed beyond any repair, and he has failed so hard it can’t be described. He believes he’s lost all chances of winning, and the Darkhold presents itself as the only way.
But he has no issues at all with using it without changing. Wanda, who’s the strongest being there is (I guess) can’t handle the Darkhold, apparently. Way to go, writers, way to go!
Other gripes - America seeing the moment her mothers were taken away from her by her power. The thing that makes her re-experience her memories supposedly picks out the best memories she has, and it SOMEHOW picks that memory, which is the WORST memory she, probably, has? What a laugh!
America, again - this time the way she takes control of her powers. It’s so sudden, so unnatural and pointlessly stupid that I cannot even fathom it. She has NO control over her abilities, and then BOOM, she’s perfectly capable of using them NOT just to empower herself, but to also send people to different universes. On top of that, it isn’t random universes - she can pick them out with no problem.
How did you think this was a good idea, writer of movie? This is horribly bad! There was so much opportunity for a good approach to this, and yet you, writer of movie, decided not to pick a good approach. I guess I can not fault you, for that, considering you’ve written the rest of it, too. And the rest of this movie… Well… It isn’t that well written, either.
Now, the last and greatest issue I have with this movie is the ending. I appreciate the fact that America can not defeat Wanda, even after getting to be proficient with using her powers out of nowhere, but the way she then does defeat Wanda is just… Stupid.
On the one hand, I get what the writer(s?) were going for. It could have worked very well, but the amount of time provided for Wanda to react, as well as the reaction of the kids and the other universe Wanda - those were very insufficient. The way the children reacted was horrible, the way other Wanda reacted was very strange, and the way ‘our’ Wanda reacted was almost good, but it was far too sudden.
Show the audience her struggling, her thinking through it, her reckoning what’s what! Instead, she just takes a few seconds and makes the decision to KILL HERSELF. I realize that living with the guilt of having killed that many people, and some of them in such a horrible way, for nothing, is incredibly difficult. Pairing that up with her great burdens, it is sensible to assume she’d feel incapable of going on… But, COME ON! This could so EASILY be solved by having the two plot holes previously established in this review… FIXED!
Vision flies in and saves the day! Or she thinks of Vision and reconsiders, comes to the conclusion that to atone for her misdeeds she should dedicate her immense power to saving others? To making things right?
Instead, she… She somehow destroys ALL Darkholds in ALL universes(which makes me think that, in accordance with the rules established by the movie, it should mean that all universes collide with one another and get destroyed!) and by doing so kills herself. Well, she buries herself under rubble, but that doesn’t seem as though it would be enough to kill her, considering what she has so far shown to be capable of surviving.
The ending was bad, the plot was based on a pair of horribly obvious plot holes, and a bunch of other weird, inconsistent stuff happened, but that doesn’t mean the story was bad. In fact, if we treat Wanda as a one-off villain, then the story is actually quite good… But that’s not what she is, right? Well, that’s a problem, definitely.
I quite liked the question that was asked - of whether one is happy - and the answers we were presented. A good attempt at provoking thought within the audience, but I think it didn’t go through that well.
Overall, though? It’s average. Slightly higher than average, because of the fact that through an abstraction from every other piece of MCU media the story is good. But we don’t get to abstract ourselves in that manner. 2/3
Legendary Point
Does this film get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? Does this movie, built upon an abysmal pair of fallacies, get the legendary point?
Well, it featured a very interesting look at ‘the Illuminati’. That was a joke, naturally, but I found it quite humorous. Sure, we get the illuminati, and they’re associated with the evil conspiracy theories, but the depiction here was quite unlike that. It held some kind of leading position, featuring a functional Ultron, no less, and the universe seemed to be very beautifully existent.
Then the way these heroes got murdered was quite neat. I think they did absolutely everything they could get away with, considering the movie’s rating, and then some. That also includes the fact that Doctor Strange used the corpse of himself from another universe to fight Wanda - that was also very inventive.
But, considering the faults with the story? No. 0/1
Conclusion
6/10. As I suspected from the very beginning, this whole thing was a ploy. I’m under the impression that Marvel are just looking for a means of maintaining a decently good track record - which is what they’re going to, frankly, get - as a followup to all the stuff that preceded it. Infinity War was an incredible feat of cinema, in my sightless eyes, and they want to maintain its legacy by, at least, failing to ruin said legacy. These mediocre, inoffensive movies that are coming out after Infinity War are, technically, not bad movies. That makes them ‘good’, if we define through negation, but then they’re not exceptional…
Well, watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness if you like Marvel. That’s all I got for you folks.
In the bag of mediocrity I shove it. I doubt it’ll ever see the light of day, buried under the dust…