Regal for the eyes but ‘Doctor Strange…’ fails to connect : A Non-Spoiler, Brief Review of the latest “Doctor Strange and The Multiverse of Madness”

‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ was anticipated since the title announcements. With respect to the excitement built, it has failed to match the expectations of the fans. Majestic for the eyes, it lacks the ability to connect to the heart.

Official Poster of Doctor Strange 2 [Photo Courtesy: Marvel Studios]

Directed by Sam Raimi, Multiverse of madness is set up post the events of Spiderman: No Way Home. 

The story revolves around America Chavez, a young girl with the powers to walk across universes. Chavez meets paths with Strange and Wong and shares information, after which it becomes their goal to protect her. 

Wanda Maximoff is later introduced to the story, setting up all the pieces for the game.

Script and Direction

The plot as a whole was well paced and thrilling. As was expected from Sam Raimi’s direction, a sense of horror was added to the screen at numerous points of time. 

Director Sam Raimi [Photo Courtesy: Gage Skidmore]

This builds on a new layer to marvel’s usual style of direction. There are also major character reveals to get the audiences on their feet. 

What the script lacked was the quality to immerse the audience. The connection between the characters and the audiences remained superficial till the end. 

This can be a product of overcrowding of characters alongside the fast pace of the film.

Cast Performances

Both Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong nailed their respective roles. While Cumberbatch displayed some ‘deadly’ acting skills, Wong felt underused due to the script.

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Xochitl Gomez’s debut as America Chavez was evident to be a debut as her character remained the most detached from the audiences. The same can be said for Rachael McAdams as Christine Palmer.

The performance which stole the show was Elizabth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. After having a strong character background post WandaVision, Olsen still did justice to the role of Scarlett Witch. 

Visuals and Action

The best part about the movie were the action sequences and the visuals. 

The film kicks off with an action scene and counting that till the final battle, each fighting sequence was amazingly choreographed. Adding the element of magic to action, opens up a large array of opportunities and the array was well used. 

Previously, all the marvel films including ‘the master of the mystic arts’ displayed mind boggling visuals and the latest addition to the franchise does the same. 

After watching No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness, marvel seems to have adapted a fan servicing strategy through castings and re-castings. Unfortunately, this is not paralleled with script quality. 

I give the film 6 out of 10 which is less considering it a marvel production.

Author:

Archan Kundu

(Author’s personal views)