“This time it's gonna take more than killing me to kill me.”
Spoilers ahead...
Plot: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Tries to Stop Wanda
Doctor
Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) wakes up from a dream where he sees
himself from another universe trying to save the powers of a teen girl, America
Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), from falling into the wrong hands. After attending the
wedding of his former love, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), he
encounters a large one-eyed octopus trying to capture the same girl he saw in
his dream. Soon, he realizes that it wasn't just a dream but reality, and that
America Chavez possesses the power to navigate through different universes,
albeit with one issue—she can't do it on purpose; it only happens when she's
terrified. Dr. Strange discovers witchcraft is involved and seeks help from
Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), unaware that Wanda has her own motives.
Wanda Maximoff Felt Too One-Note
The story
takes place after the events of both Spider-Man: No Way Home and WandaVision
(I haven't seen the latter yet). For me, the Scarlet Witch's plot felt over the
top. Even if I had watched WandaVision, it seems there was still a need
to further develop Wanda's character, who comes across as too one-note, driven
solely by her desire to reunite with her children in another universe at any
cost. While stubbornness is a human trait, this portrayal felt more like silly
stubbornness. A conflict within herself, perhaps similar to Green Goblin in Spider-Man,
could have added depth.
At one
point, I couldn't help but wonder if only Wanda had come across the Darkhold
book before Thanos destroyed the world, we might still have Natasha and Tony
Stark alive. Even without it, Wanda was so powerful in that scene of Avengers:
Infinity War, where Thanos comically says, "I don't even know you."
Dr. Strange and Chavez mimic Tony Stark and Peter Parker
The bond
between Dr. Strange and America Chavez tries hard to evoke a father-daughter
dynamic, especially since America never had a father, being raised by her
lesbian moms. However, this attempt clearly feels like a rehash of the Tony
Stark-Peter Parker relationship but fails to work, mainly due to the chaotic
narrative that focuses more on action set-pieces and CGI monsters than on the
actual human motives at play.
This same
chaos is why the line "I will love you in every universe" failed to
invoke any emotional reaction from me, something "I love you 3000"
did so effortlessly in Avengers: Endgame. The relationship between Dr.
Strange and Dr. Christine could have been better developed, especially after
showing her getting married to someone else due to the five years he was
missing, having turned to dust.
Multiverse of Madness Lacks Real Madness
There was
an opportunity to explore how similar Dr. Strange is across different
universes, particularly the "Are you happy?" theme, which was
underutilized, especially considering how less selfish he is in the current
universe (compared to his initial God complex). The cheesy dialogues were
another drawback.
The
entire Illuminati scene, where we are introduced to various superhero cameos,
fell flat despite their brutal deaths at Wanda's hands. Part of the reason is
that I had little knowledge of who they were; some characters were from Marvel
TV shows, others from Fantastic Four, none of which I had seen. It felt
like these cameos were included just to please their respective fan bases,
which is why they were all killed off. Wouldn't it have been better if we saw
Thor, Ant-Man, or Hulk from another universe in this room? Of course, the idea
of killing them all in the next sequence would have to be omitted and replaced
with something else.
While Spider-Man:No Way Home was chaotic in a good way, even if it relied heavily on
nostalgia, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness merely shows
glimpses of madness through multiverses but never fully commits to it. For
instance, we see an amazing scene where Dr. Strange is pulled into a portal by
America Chavez, traveling through numerous universes—one is all paint, another
is an animated universe, and more—but in reality, we only see two other
universes in detail, with the story focusing more on Wanda.
Musical Notes Fight Scene Was a Major Positive Highlight
What I
wanted more of were scenes like the fight between the two Dr. Stranges from
different universes, where they throw musical notes at each other, ranging from
Bach to Beethoven, creating a hilarious battle. Or when Sam Raimi, who has been
teasing a horror atmosphere throughout the movie (with a few good jump-scares),
finally unleashes a corpse of Dr. Strange with many heads of other dead people
attached to fight Wanda—an even more evil-looking Dr. Strange was so fun to
watch. The gap junction and incursion concepts are only superficially touched
upon. A mention of America Chavez's moms at the end or a reunion scene would
have been good too.
The
movie's pace felt too fast for my liking, which is expected given how much they
were trying to include. I believe another 30 minutes could have done justice to
some of it, if not all, with better writing.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen Deliver Solid Performances
Performance-wise,
Benedict Cumberbatch is good, especially with his humor, his attempts to save
the world, or portraying the loneliness he feels he'll carry in every universe.
I particularly loved his small cameo as the evil Dr. Strange, who has succumbed
to the influence of the Darkhold, much like Wanda. Despite this being a Doctor
Strange movie, I felt Elizabeth Olsen was the major scene-stealer with her act,
despite her character being poorly written, especially the mom part where she
wants her children at any cost, not caring at what expense. I just wish her
character arc had changed much earlier, perhaps around the start of the third
act.
Verdict: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Overall, Doctor
Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is disappointing because I had enjoyed
the first part a lot and expected much more from this one, given the potential
of exploring the multiverse. However, I would still rate it higher than other
Marvel movies like Black Widow or Captain Marvel because, despite
the mess, I didn't find it dull; it had entertaining moments, visually stunning
scenes, and a decent horror backdrop.
0 Comments