MOVIE REVIEW: Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness

Sam Raimi has a name that echoes throughout the comics to film universe that doesn’t just start with Sony’s 2000 Spider-Man trilogy, but all the way back to Dynamite Comics’ consistently adapted Evil Dead franchise. Danny Elfman, legendary composer and hometown representative of my South Central stomping grounds. The fusion of the two behind the scenes of the latest Doctor Strange film ended up having more missteps than should be allotted for veterans of blockbuster cinema.

Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as Doctor Strange, as well as Elizabeth Olsen from previous Avenger films as well as her own Netflix series as the Scarlet Witch. It’s a battle between a sorcerer and a witch on paper, but deeper the film doesn’t hide it’s motivations based on Bandura’s attachment theory, or the basis behind a quick listen of Drake’s early 2010 catalogue. If the whimsy of the score isn’t enough to clue the audience in, then here is the ruling : This is a Disney film before it is a Marvel film. Which is what will draw the most ire from comic book heads finding themselves seated for the duration of the two hour plus picture, but the most enjoyment for casual viewers looking for a night of entertainment.

Focused from the jump on the follies of marriage and the disasters that come of broken homes, the film finds the characters and the audience constantly asking the titular character “Are you happy?”. Emotions, something that is all too familiar within the realm of Disney’s kid friendly line of movies, which is their bread and butter; but with a film such as “Multiverse of Madness” helmed by a horror legend like Raimi, a different studio could have handled this picture better, with a different focus – free from the shackles of corporate interests.

“Multiverse of Madness” should make any comic book head nervous when they heard Blade’s voice at the end of “The Eternals”. “Multiverse of Madness” was initially touted as a horror movie, and if this is how Marvel handles horror, I don’t want to see another. Yes, pops from my side of the crowd were big for the reveals of legendary characters and troupes , but then just to bring them out to be dismantled in quick fashion and to give screen time to the wrong people based on ethnicity, nationality, gender – just strange decisions for a film titled Dr. Strange. Now admittedly I’ve never been into Dr. Strange as a character in Marvel comics, I’ve always seen Doom and Vodoo as the better choices for Sorcerer Supreme and openly I expressed this notion while in the theater watching the numerous missteps and failures of both Strange and the MCU’s new Sorcerer Supreme in Wong. A poor decision, especially in a film like this where characters from other companies that have used Marvel properties on film could be used, it shouldn’t have been such a hard decision to have Doom along for the ride in this film at the least.

Multiverse of Madness is filled with a litany of missed opportunities, and Doom isn’t the only one. The horror sequences are reduced to B-movie schlock, the romantic sequences have no true depth to them and are as surface a patch of black ice in a tundra. Granted, it was cool to see the Strange from David Quinn’s run (the only run I ever actually read of Strange) on screen along with Shuma-Gorath (poor timing after DC beat Marvel to the punch with Starro) and other beloved characters, but the “Multiverse of Madness” twisted this momentous appearances into jokes. These characters aren’t supposed to be laughable. How did Kevin Feige allow this film to be turned into a rom-com? Isn’t that Thor’s lane? “Multiverse of Madness” is a poor representation of cinema and brings the worst out of what Marvel does best since the Disney merger, which at this point is make comic book legends laughable for easy digestion for the crowds that never popped open a mylar bag.

“Multiverse of Madness” is a disappointment on a multiversal scale, and since the last great Marvel came out of Sony Studios, the heads of Marvel might want to rethink doing anymore films with Disney once their contract is up for renewal. “Multiverse of Madness” and films like it really are not going to look good when superheroes stop being cool again. Just try and turn on a cable television station to watch and MCU film and I bet the channel will be flipped before the first commercial break. The MCU under Disney creates films that have no replay value, and with deciding to follow the same family friendly formula while pulling characters deep from the lore just make them a joke on screen, “Multiverse of Madness” is the same old Disney crap on a Marvel canvas, and there’s nothing strange about that.

Score : 2/5