28 – Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness
This is the second time I have watched this movie, and I enjoyed it even more this time than I did the first. It is the first MCU film that has been called a horror film, and was even helmed by the renowned film director, Sam Raimi, the same man who made the Evil Dead trilogy and Drag Me to Hell. There was some really scary imagery and some overtly frightening story elements that were crazy and awesome! But it was still an MCU action movie, and that never went away. And Raimi did a fantastic job, too. The story was tight, the acting was incredible, especially from Elizabeth Olsen, and the visual effects were phenomenal. He got so many things right.
First off, there were the characters. The movie didn’t just use the returning characters of Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch. It developed them. It brought them to the next phase of their overall arches. Wanda Maximoff, because of the events that took place in the Disney Plus TV show, WandaVision, actually became the main villain, and it made sense. After everything that happened to her in the Infinity War Saga, and as her reality altering powers grew, becoming the bad guy almost seemed like the natural progression for the character. And Doctor Strange, himself, had to start using dark magic in order to fight her, magic that was dangerous to use. And it changed him in fundamental ways. The dark stains on his fingers that appeared after he used the Darkhold, and the menacing third eye that appeared on his forehead at the end of the film, are both indications that his soul was being corrupted by touches of evil.
Second, were the horror elements. The Scarlet Witch was like a demon, bent on murdering an innocent young girl in order to kidnap her children from another Wanda in a different reality, calling the children hers. That’s some pretty dark stuff. The scene where she attacks and destroys Kamar-taj had a shot that reminded me of The Ring, where she claws and crawls her way out of the mirror dimension like a monster. It was very cool!
And we have to talk about the young girl she is trying to abduct and murder, in order to steal her powers. She is America Chavez, a mutant with the natural ability to travel between dimensions at will. The first time I saw the movie, I wasn’t that impressed with her character, but this time, I saw her in a different light. I’d thought she was an underdeveloped character who did a lot of reacting, and not a lot of acting. But if you think about it, that was exactly the way the character needed to be. She was not a seasoned superhero like Doctor Strange. She didn’t have the experience to be able to do much more than run, and keep running, and try to understand a power she couldn’t control. And she wasn’t the main character, so it was ok.
Then there was the whole fan-service scene, the Illuminati. They brought in a couple of fan favorites from several different sources like Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Karl Mordo, Haley Atwell as Captain Carter, from the Disney Plus animated What If… series, Captain Marvel, played by Lashana Lynch, instead of Brie Larson, Anson Mount playing Black Bolt from Marvel’s ABC television series Inhumans, and John Krasinski as Reed Richards. Krasinski was the perfect Reed Richards, if you ask me, but the actor has said he doesn’t want to play the role on a long term basis. As of this writing, the official MCU’s F4 movie is still six months away, and the role will be taken by Pedro Pascal. Never thought of Mr. Fantastic as Spanish, but I’m on board. But not that the Illuminati mattered much. The Scarlet Witch murders them all in a pretty gruesome fashion. The shot where she broke Professor X’s neck was pretty horrifically intense.
It is also significant to note that according to Wikipedia, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was one of the most expensive films ever made, with a production budget of $350.6 million. And it was a very successful film, grossing over $955.8 million at the box office. Obviously they got it right, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie. Loved it!
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- Alternate Strange and America fight a demon to reach the Book of Vishanti, but fail.
- Strange and Wong fight the tentacle eye demon in the streets of New York.
- Strange’s conversation with Wanda in the Cherry Blossom field, and the revelation that it is a wasteland. “You break the rules and become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy. That doesn’t seem fair.”
- The Scarlet Witch attacks Kamar-Taj
- America and Strange escape through the Multiverse.
- The meeting with the Illuminati. I really liked Krasinski.
- Wanda murders the Illuminati and Strange, America and Christine Palmer go after the Book of Vishanti
- Strange’s encounter with the destroyed universe’s Strange. I particularly liked the music notes battle.
- Strange possesses a corpse and is attacked by demons.
- America convinces the Scarlet Witch that she is a monster, causing her to destroy Mount Wundagore, all Darkholds in all universes, and herself. But beware the flash of red in the falling mountain. Is she really dead…?