Movie Review – ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

For my birthday this year, I saw the latest ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ film at the cinema called ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. I had a great time watching this film at the cinema. So much so that I’ve seen it twice already! It was really worthwhile.

Before I saw ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ at the cinema, I revisited the first ‘Doctor Strange’ film on Disney+. It’d been a while since I saw that film and for the most part, I’d forgotten what it was about. I wanted to be familiar with some of the characters from that first film in this film.

When I reviewed the first ‘Doctor Strange’ film on DVD back in 2019, I expressed how underwhelmed I was by it. Since seeing Dr. Strange in more films like ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, I have gotten to know the character more. 🙂

Upon revisiting the first ‘Doctor Strange’ film on Disney+, I enjoyed it more the third time compared to the first two times. That’s not to say I think the film is now great. Far from it! I still have issues regarding its story and characters. But I found there was more value in the first film than ever before. 🙂

With that said, I feel ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ is a better film compared to the first movie. It helps that the film is directed by Sam Raimi, who directed the original ‘Spider-Man’ film trilogy with Tobey Maguire. I enjoyed Sam Raimi’s take on Dr. Strange in this particular movie. 🙂

It’s nice to see Sam Raimi providing his first contribution as a director in the ‘MCU’ film series. I hope it will be the first of many. I can tell there were elements of Sam Raimi’s directing involved in the film, particularly with the horror-themed elements as well as the traditional Bruce Campbell cameo. 😀

In the film, Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange finds himself protecting Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, a teenager who can transport through the multiverse. Strange finds he has to use plenty of wits to keep America safe from Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, who’s become the Scarlet Witch.

I wonder how many people will have seen ‘WandaVision’ on Disney+ to know what Wanda Maximoff’s character has been through to explain why she’s become the villain of this movie. I mean, I’ve seen ‘WandaVision’ and I’m happy to know, but I wonder how many others have seen the series.

You’d have to be a Disney+ subscriber to understand the background of Wanda’s journey in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. It was nice to see other characters in this film too and often being alternative versions of the characters we know and love from other Marvel superhero films. 🙂

There’s Chiwetel Ejiofor back to play an alternative version of Karl Mordo, Benedict Wong as Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West, and Rachael McAdams as two versions of Christine Palmer. I really enjoyed how the love story for Dr. Strange was explored in this film compared to the first film.

In one of the alternative universes Dr. Strange visits, there’s a group of superheroes called the Illuminati. They’re led by Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, who’s been in the ‘X-Men’ film series by 20th Century Fox. Although I don’t think this is the same Charles Xavier from those movies.

I think this is an alternative live-action Charles Xavier from the 1990s animated series. This accounts for the 1990s animated series theme music when Xavier makes his appearance as well as the yellow ‘cab’ he drives in. It was nice to see Patrick Stewart in this. A shame he got killed off in the movie. 😮

According to my best mate Stephen, this is the third time Patrick Stewart as Xavier has been killed off in a movie. The first was ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, the second was ‘Logan’ (I’ve yet to see that film 😀 ) and the third is this movie. I wish Xavier lasted a little longer when watching this particular movie. 😀

And it’s not just Xavier who gets killed off. The rest of the Illuminati do too. There’s Hayley Atwell as Captain Peggy Carter (or Captain Britain, as I’d like to call her 😀 ). You know, I should really watch the ‘What If…?’ series on Disney+ someday. Mind you, I have seen some of the Captain Carter episode. 🙂

There’s Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau who is an alternative version of Captain Marvel, Anson Mount as Blackager Boltagon/Black Bolt, and John Krasinki as an alternative Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four. I’m disappointed it wasn’t Ioan Gruffudd playing the character here.

Mind you, John Krasinki could end up playing Reed Richards in the upcoming ‘Fantastic Four’ film in the ‘MCU’ film series. There’s also Julian Hilliard as Billy and Jett Klyne as Tommy, Wanda’s two children from the ‘WandaVision’ series. It was nice to see the ‘WandaVision’ connections in this film.

In a mid-credits scene, Charlize Theron is introduced as Clea, who may end up becoming Dr. Strange’s love interest in the ‘MCU’. And of course, there’s Bruce Campbell who appears twice in the film as the Pizza Poppa vendor. The post-credits scene featuring Bruce Campbell is pretty funny to watch.

Incidentally, I knew I recognised Danny Elfman as the music composer for this film. 😀 Overall, ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ is an enjoyable film in the ‘MCU’ series to check out. I enjoyed Sam Raimi’s take on the character and as always, Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent in this.

I was disappointed Sam Raimi didn’t give Tobey Maguire a cameo in the film. Then again, Tobey Maguire was in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ recently, so I shouldn’t be too disappointed. I was expecting Tom Cruise to make a surprise cameo as an alternative Tony Stark/Iron Man in the film. 😀

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim. 🙂