Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now in theaters and fans are flocking to see it. Doctor Strange finds himself journeying into the new unknown of the multiverse facing a deadly foe that threatens to not only destroy Strange, but potentially everything everywhere.
Story
The story being told in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is really quite an entertaining one that takes the viewer on a fun ride into the multiverse… of madness. It goes on a ride all over the place with some twists and turns. It is perhaps more intense and definitely more horror-inspired than other Marvel films. Was it terrifying though? I didn’t think so. There were a few scenes that definitely got exciting but, I was surprised at how much fun I had and the lack of stress I was feeling over the storyline. Yes, there were some fun surprises along the way. However, I was expecting to be shocked a whole lot more than I was. Overall, it’s a fun story but I don’t think lived up to what I expected from the promo.
Quality
Marvel Studios makes some pretty impressive-looking movies. Just by the sheer scope and nature of the films that Marvel makes, it necessitates some pretty impressive visual effects for its storytelling to make them believable. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had some absolutely beautiful moments in it. There were also some really awesome visual and audio effects. There were also some visual effects that probably could have been polished a bit more. Overall, the quality of this film was not Marvel Studios’ greatest effort of all time, but it wasn’t its weakest either.
Characters
The characters in this film really are what made this movie so enjoyable. First off, easily my favorite was America Chavez. She was relatable and believable. This made it very easy to root for her and want her to succeed. Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch continues her story right from where we last saw her. There were some really impressive moments of storytelling that came from her character that I really enjoyed. Doctor Strange surprised me as he wasn’t my favorite in the film. While he didn’t do anything majorly wrong, I also wanted to feel more for him and I just didn’t. I’m not sure if that was something in the script, something in the accent/acting (that still kind of bugs me), or something in the way the movie was put together. Nevertheless, he wasn’t my favorite. Many of the secondary and tertiary characters were solid in their performances, as were the cameos. Overall, I enjoyed most of the characters and their journeys in this film. None of them detracted from the movie and completely pulled me out of the story being told.
Music
The soundtrack to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness fit the movie but wasn’t the most memorable score ever written by Danny Elfman. It definitely added to the storytelling that was happening and heightened the emotional journey for the viewer. In that term, it did its job. What it didn’t do was thematically connect some of the dots between characters and their journeys. I found myself wondering if that was part of the reason I didn’t resonate with Doctor Strange in this film as much. It does what it needs to do but won’t go down in history as one of Marvel’s iconic movie scores.
Final Thoughts
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a movie that really is a lot of fun to watch. It takes the viewer on a fun ride through the multiverse and has some moments that really make it worth watching. It also looks great on the big screen and definitely is worth seeing in theaters. While it has a lot of things it gets right, it also seems to be missing some things too. Perhaps some of this is the fact that it was released much later than it originally was supposed to so the Marvel Cinematic Universe has changed, as has the momentum of some of the storylines. Because of this, it isn’t Marvel’s strongest movie in the world and seems to lack some of the stakes that some of the other films have. It’s definitely a fun one but is not Marvel’s most solid release. Go in and see this film expecting to have a good time and not to see a mind-blowing world-changing movie and you will really enjoy it, just like I did!
