The first reviews and the early reactions of critics and publishing houses arrived a day before the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiere, and they were pretty mixed. While this made me skeptical of the film, I still thought that even if it is not good, it might not be as bad as people are calling it.
Well, today, I watched the film, and it was indeed sad and almost disappointing that the film was pretty underwhelming. People on social media platforms like Reddit have been debating whether the film is good or bad?
In fact, some people are praising Sam Raimi, his style, and his depiction of the superhero genre but blaming the MCU for how much it limits his vision. Others thought he didn’t understand the assignment and created a piece that wouldn’t work with the MCU crowd.
Well, if only the answer were that simple. Perhaps, it is, and it doesn’t involve either of these factors. Why don’t you find out for yourself? So, is Doctor Strange 2 good or bad?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a decent film whose biggest enemy is the expectations and standards set by previous MCU titles. While the blend of horror, sci-fi, and mysticism is compelling, the story lacks the expected pay-off.
Before I get into the intricacies of the film and talk about the good, bad, and ugly parts of the film, here’s a spoiler warning. Walk away in peace, watch the movie, and you can always come back to read this dissection of the movie. Alright, let’s dive in.
“If you expect disappointment, then you can never really get disappointed,” MJ said in No Way Home, and somehow it hits hard when you flip the phrase, and it holds for Multiverse of Madness.
The Post Endgame Hangover and the Future of MCU
After Endgame, all the characters seem to be scattered once again. While we’ve seen what some of them are up to, others might presumably be going through their issues and crisis. The problem is that after so many films and TV series, we still don’t know where the franchise has headed.
We have so many questions, such as:
Who is the next big villain?
When will we see another Avenger-like crossover?
Which characters will take center stage in the next phase?
However, until now, none of these have been answered. There was some hint in the series, Loki, but that was it.
The problem is two-fold. The first one is that the MCU is now juggling with too many variables by bringing in so many new characters. As a result, we are unable to invest in each of them as deeply as we did in the OG characters. Our attention is divided across way more storylines, arcs, movies, and TV shows.
As you see, the MCU is growing horizontally, becoming more and more vast but isn’t digging too deep with individual characters or storylines as much as it should. Even if it does, with characters like Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Loki, Hawkeye, and others, there’s only so much we can invest ourselves in.
This leads to us not feeling the necessary impact the superhero and villain are trying to create. If you’re wondering how all of this is related to Dr. Strange, hang in there, I’ve got an answer.
After WandaVision, Loki, and What If…?, audiences were expecting something much bigger in Doctor Strange 2. Bigger not just in terms of scale but also in terms of how it would affect the larger MCU.
Even if the film didn’t set the stage for the next big Avenger-like event film, it should’ve at least given us some solid setup that would shine a light on what a larger MCU could look like. Something that was imaginable and could be visualized.
The Throwaway Cameos and Forced Nostalgia
The marketing campaign for Multiverse of Madness followed a strategy similar to that of No Way Home. Reveals about cameos, appearances, bringing together different Marvel characters into the MCU, essentially the entire shebang.
We knew the Illuminati would make a grand appearance in the film, and they did. It had:
- Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) from Fantastic Four
- Charles Xavier (Professor X) from X-Men
- Black Bolt from Inhumans
- Captain Carter
- Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau)
- Mordo
So, it is essentially bringing three Marvel franchises together in the MCU, along with a few other characters who are already in it. It is a monumental moment, but the execution doesn’t feel like it at all.
All these characters are killed within minutes, if not seconds, by the Scarlet Witch. I agree that the film needed to show how powerful she was, but the Illuminati had already fought the likes of Thanos. So, Reed Richards being destroyed even before making the first move is almost illogical.
What escalates the problem is that characters such as Professor X and Captain Carter are trying to induce nostalgia with landmark dialogues such as “I can do this all day!” In such a setting, they feel so cringeworthy.
Considering these are new characters we’re seeing in the MCU for the first time or have barely seen over the years, we are not as invested in them. So trying to recreate the nostalgia like Spider-Man: No Way Home wouldn’t really work.
What got the audience excited about the appearances was the expectation that they’d somehow tie into the new MCU, and the subsequent titles would pick up from here. Alas, none of it happened because they all died as Wanda flicked her wrists and fingers at them.
The Fascinating Blend of Horror and Sci-fi
You’ve got to give credit where it’s due. Sam Raimi has tried something new in the MCU by altering the tone of the films. Honestly, I found this experiment quite intriguing.
Every time Wanda was on the screen, there was a sense of sadness and darkness lingering in the theatres, and the horror aspect resulted from this. Even if the jump scares were not meant to be pure horror, I didn’t mind how they were used.
While I didn’t like the RGB explosion-fest, which all MCU films have become, I still liked how the visuals tried to capture the vastness of the multiverse around the characters while focussing on the innate emotions they felt within.
Funnily enough, this is what becomes a problem for the movie. When the visuals are so on-point, and you can clearly see the amount of effort going into it, you wonder, why doesn’t the story justify them.
If your visuals are so dramatic, the story, narrative, and arcs should be dramatic too. Unfortunately, the writing lacked that drama, and as a result, it seemed like what we saw overpowered what we felt. While the visuals showed that the entire multiverse was at stake, as an audience, I didn’t really feel it like I did in Infinity War or Endgame.
The only few scenes where I did feel some emotions were when Elizabeth Olsen was on the screen. She nailed the role of Wanda, and her screen presence dominated that of Benedict Cumberbatch. In fact, she was one of the very few things, besides the tone, I liked about the movie.
Conclusion
Overall, when you put all these things together, you’ll see that Doctor Strange 2 could’ve been so much more. The stakes could’ve been much higher, the characters could’ve had more significance, and the story could’ve worked in tandem with the visuals.
Nevertheless, there was a mid-credits scene that might either lead to something bigger in the MCU or might just be another story for another Doctor Strange film. We just have to wait and find out.
About Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the sequel to the 2016 movie Doctor Strange. The film is directed by Sam Raimi with a screenplay by Jade Bartlett and Michael Waldron.
It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Xochitl Gomez.
The sequel revolves around the dangerous consequences of Doctor Strange opening the multiverse.
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