Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The concept of a Multiverse has been a hot topic in cinemas lately, with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Everything Everywhere All At Once being notable previous films to tackle the subject, with Doctor Strange himself even factoring into the former film. This outing takes a darker tone than either of those two films as Doctor Strange and company find themselves facing a formidable and far more powerful villain 

Doctor Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) has been trying to get back to a sense of normalcy in his life. He is even attending the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams). The peace is short lived when during the reception a large tentacle monster is attacking and chasing after a young woman, America Chavez (played by Xochitl Gomez). With assistance from Wong (played by Benedict Wong), he is able to defeat the monster and rescue America. She explains to Stephen and Wong that she is being hunted by demons due to her ability to traverse the Multiverse. Recognizing rune symbols on the monster, Strange reaches out to Wanda Maximoff (played by Elizabeth Olsen) for help only to discover that she is responsible for the monster herself due to being manipulated by the Darkhold, a source of dark magic. She intends to steal America's powers and use them herself to get back to her two boys, Billy and Tommy (played by Julian Hillard and Jett Klyne), the kids she created during her time in Westview (as seen in the Disney+ mini-series Wandavision). Realizing the threat an out of control Wanda presents, now as the Scarlet Witch, he takes America to the Kamar-Taj for protection. When the Scarlet Witch attacks the Kamar-Taj, this triggers America's power, sending her and Doctor Strange into the Multiverse. Since America doesn't have control over her powers, they set out to try and find help while also staying ahead of the Scarlet Witch, who is desperate to find a way to capture America. 

The film was directed by Sam Raimi from a script by Michael Waldron. Raimi does a good job keeping the pace up for the entire runtime of the film, resulting in a one of the leaner Marvel films in recent memory. The film also strikes a much darker tone than many other Marvel films, even edging into the horror genre in places with growing tension and a few decent jump scares too. It is a welcome change to the well worn Marvel formula as the filmmakers also work in a number of surprises for Marvel fans, only one that has been hinted at in the trailers. Like previous films featuring Doctor Strange, this one also brings the inventive and crazy visuals, accentuated even further as we factor in the alternate universes that Doctor Strange and America find themselves in, as well as assorted pocket dimensions. It was clear the filmmakers were having fun coming up with the inventive visuals, especially as Raimi himself sneaks in a few Easter eggs to his past films. Although, the film has stirred up a bit of controversy upon it's release with some suggesting it's too dark for a PG-13 film. I would respectfully disagree. As someone well versed in the horror genre, the violence and scares in the film are really rather tame and well within the confines of the PG-13 rating. It's just that this entry conforms more the the idea of what PG-13 should be than some other movies that could have almost been PG movies. 

The acting in the film is top notch. Benedict Cumberbatch once again proves to be a great Doctor Strange. He is given plenty to work with in this film as his character faces the choices he's made in his life and trying to make peace with where he has wound up and the decisions he's made. Elizabeth Olsen has a trickier role as Wanda Maximoff. It's easy to see where she is coming from in her character's motivations to get her boys back even as she turns to forces to accomplish this that manipulate her and turn her to the dark side. It's a difficult tightrope to walk being the villain of the film, but also coming from a very empathetic and understandable place but Olsen delivers it quite well. Xochitl Gomez is quite good as America Chavez, balancing a vulnerability as well as strength with her character. Benedict Wong continues to be great as Wong, who has long been a mentor of sorts for Doctor Strange as well and usually the voice of reason in a crisis, which he continues to be here. He plays off Benedict Cumberbatch well and the two make an entertaining pair. Rachel McAdams makes a good return as Christine, playing a couple different versions of the character in different universes and does a great job creating subtle differences between the two characters. Chiwetel Ejiofor makes a brief appearance as an alternate version of Karl Mordo and does a great job playing a character we're not sure we can trust or not.      

Overall, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is another solid Marvel film with a good pace that doesn't overstay it's welcome. I enjoyed the depths to the story as well. While it is a darker and scarier film that most Marvel movies, it doesn't get too dark or too scary. It does fall into the new age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that does require the viewer to not only keep up with the films but at least one of the Disney+ shows to fully understand what is going on. While those series have been excellent so far, it will be interesting to see how long audience patience for this model lasts.