A little more than two months after making its domestic theatrical debut, Marvel Studios/Disney’s Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set for home release of 4K UHD and Blu-ray July 26. The movie is director Sam Raimi’s first time heading a Marvel movie since helming Spiderman 3 in 2007 and while it is not perfect, it is still an entertaining new addition to the Marvel cinematic universe (MCU). The movie’s success comes in part through its story, which while imperfect in itself still makes the movie worth watching occasionally. This item will be discussed shortly. The work of the movie’s cast plays its own part into the movie’s success and will be addressed a little later. The movie’s general effect rounds out its most important elements and will also be discussed later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the movie. All things considered this latest addition to the MCU is a worthwhile story that any true Marvel fan will appreciate.
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the latest entry in the ever-expanding MCU (and second in the Dr. Strange world), is a mostly successful presentation. The success that it enjoys comes in large part through its story that although imperfect is at least not too long at just over two hours in time. The story is relatively simple: Dr. Strange meets a powerful young woman named America Chavez who has the ability to transcend Marvel’s various universes and has to protect her from Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. The Scarlet Witch. He has to protect America from Wanda because Wanda wants to take America’s powers and use them to venture into the multiverse and find the one in which “her children” reside. Quotation marks are used because Wanda created her children, so they are not her biological children. This is tied back into Marvel’s small screen world, sadly forcing audiences to know about the story from Disney+’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch series. This tie into the bigger MCU is nothing new but is still disappointing because it leaves audiences who have not seen that limited series in the dark so to speak. On a side note, there is also mention of Marvel and Sony’s Spiderman No Way Home in the story albeit brief, therefore once again forcing audiences to have some knowledge of that movie before coming into this presentation. All of this aside, the story does manage to stand as its own tale that is not tied too closely to the rest of the MCU, so it has that much going for it.
Getting back to the matter of Wanda’s quest to capture America, it really comes across as being cliché to a point. It all just seems so formulaic considering that the misguided villain story has been done so many times in other superhero stories in various ways but is still the same sort of tale. Yes, a mother’s love is powerful, and there are women who have been proven so crazy to have children that they would kidnap others’ children in the real world, but this is not the real world. It is the world of comics on film, and again, Wanda’s story of a misguided villain is anything but new in that realm. It all just seems too formulaic, and it does detract from the movie’s presentation to a point. It is not enough to completely doom the movie, though for audiences who can overlook this issue.
Moving on from that aspect, in the process of trying to protect America from Wanda, America and Dr. Strange end up in one of the endless universes out there in the MCU. In their attempt to get home, he and America find out that a magical book that they need to defeat Wanda is conveniently located in that universe. The book is not the only point of interest in the universe in which Dr. Strange and America find themselves. Characters from many other Marvel comic books, including Black Bolt, Reed Richards, and the seemingly most powerful mutant in the world, Professor Charles Xavier, are also there. This is clearly a way for Marvel and Disney to further expand the MCU and really just feels more like fan service than anything really relevant to the story. Even more problematic is that as the story progresses, the attention tends to turn more toward Dr. Strange than his young charge. Thankfully the focus does not turn too much and does make a clear attempt to balance the focus even as there is so much going on not only in that universe but in the many other universes, including what one has to assume is “Earth Prime”. Considering everything that is going on in the two universes that become the center of the story, the movie’s writing team is to be commended for trying to transition fluidly back and forth between the worlds even with the clear contrivance and other issues in the story. That writing thankfully keeps the movie’s pacing relatively stable throughout its two-hour run time, which is itself appealing, considering the number of movies out there today that seem ton consciously try to exceed the two-and-a-half-hour mark. Keeping all of this in mind, the story featured in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is far from perfect, but it is clear that those behind the story’s creation did make an attempt to pull every viewer into the tale. Those efforts make the story a relatively stable starting point for the movie’s presentation.
Building on the relative stability of the movie’s story is the cast’s work interpreting the story’s script. Benedict Cumberbatch leads the way as the movie’s titular character. From beginning to end, Cumberbatch’s personality on screen is so much like that of fellow Marvel star Robert Downey Jr., who for such a long time, portrayed Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. That is evidence in the borderline cockiness that Cumberbatch brings out of Steven Strange throughout the movie. At the same time, he does show a subtle vulnerability in Dr. Strange. That balance of confidence (maybe overconfidence at times?) and vulnerability makes him a great new potential leader for the Marvel universe or at least a strong character of focus as the MCU enters its next phase. It just makes him that much more endearing to audiences.
On another note, Elizabeth Olsen’s latest take as Wanda is just as notable in this movie. There is a certain over the top nature in her subtle fury but also something engaging about her portrayal, too. From early on, the casual way in which she talks about what happened to Vision in Vision and the Scarlet Witch shows that she has already left reality so to speak. There is a certain sociopathic nature already peeking through. As the story progresses, Olsen takes on more of a familiar crazed super villain role. That familiarity will keep audiences engaged even as comfortable as such a portrayal has become in the comic book to film world. That is not a slap at Olsen and her work. It is just that her portrayal is so commonplace that it does not really break any new ground but is still engaging and entertaining in its own right.
On a completely different note, that America is supposed to be the center of Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, star Xochitl Gomez, who portrays America, makes the most of her moments on screen. The vulnerability and lack of self-assurance that she gives America is something to which so many younger teen audiences will relate. This even though American is technically a being that is centuries old (as Wanda points out at one moment in the story). The vulnerability shows through as she sees a vision of her childhood in her home world while the lack of self-assurance shows through in her attempt to control her powers. It is just too bad that she did not get as much screen time as she likely should have, considering the overall story. Either way, she makes the most of her time on screen, too. When her performance is considered alongside those of Cumberbatch and Olsen, the main cast’s work on screen adds to the movie’s appeal in its own right.
The main cast’s work on screen is just one more item of note in examining the movie’s presentation. The general effect in the presentation is also worth examining. Right from the movie’s introduction in which Steven is dreaming about being in another universe, fighting a monster as he is trying to get to a book, the look of the movie really has that same look that audiences came to know from Raimi’s work helming the original Spiderman trilogy. The different worlds, the monsters, everything, they all have that trademark Sam Raimi touch. That touch in question is that of more comic book than the gritty stuff that so many movies have come to use. It really is a nice return to form so to speak and will certainly appeal to so many audiences. The whole thing just has that really more comic book realm on screen feel and is so welcome. When it is considered along with the work of the movie’s cast and the relatively engaging story, the whole makes the movie overall a mostly successful new addition to the MCU universe.
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a mostly positive new addition to Marvel Studios and Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is hardly perfect but is also not a failure. Its success comes in part through its featured story. The story centers on Dr. Strange’s attempt to keep a powerful mutule-versal being from being kidnapped and essentially killed by The Scarlet Witch, who wants the being’s powers in order to venture into the multiverse and be with her children from one of those universes. The whole thing is somewhat contrived when viewed in the overall picture, but is still worth taking in. The main cast’s work on screen adds to the interest especially in the case of Benedict Cumberbatch’s work. He showed he could potentially take the lead as the next Avengers head if he so wanted. Elizabeth Olsen’s latest turn as Wanda Maximoff was engaging in its own right, too. The general effect of the movie rounds out the movie’s most important element in that it really brings back the look of the Spiderman movies helmed by Sam Raimi. That look is that true comic book to screen look. It is somewhat cheesy but in an endearing way. It really does leave audiences feel like they are looking at what they might see in the comic books and is just such a welcome accent to the whole. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie and when considered together, make the movie overall a movie that while imperfect is still entertaining.
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled for release on 4K UHD and BD July 28. More information on this and other titles from Marvel Studios is available at:
Website: https://www.marvel.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marvelstudios
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marvel
To keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news, go online to https://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
philspicks 