Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [2022]
“Just because someone stumbles and loses their way doesn't mean they're lost forever.”
This quote from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [hereby abbreviated to “MoM”] sums up how I feel about the last couple of Marvel films I’ve watched and serves as a great synopsis of what I think sets MoM apart from the others in a way the series has desperately needed.
This one will be a bit long because it isn’t just about this movie, but Marvel’s direction as a whole.
When it first released, MoM was welcomed by majorly polarized reviews that have leveled off as it’s had time to settle with viewers and critics alike. Understandably, MoM put some of Marvel’s “shiny-easy” enthusiasts on edge while satisfying [and even elating] some of its more “intense” fans. Similar to the intensity that Vader’s scene in Rogue 1 brought to Star Wars, MoM does something interesting with the spoon-fed Marvel tropes that have become so prolific and overused that they might be the sole reason infants in America can’t find formula on the shelves.
Don’t get me wrong, MoM is not a masterpiece or even “great” by my film standards. It doesn’t handle the idea of a “multiverse” very well… especially considering it’s in the title [the best we could do is “red means go”? Come on.], the dialogue isn’t particularly intriguing, and the plot is transparent 45-miles away. If you want something better [and maybe even the best] in the genre, stop what you're doing and watch, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
However… none of those things take away why I think this is an important film in the Marvel universe. Before we get into that though, I want to talk about another film that came out this year that would have benefitted from the treatment given to MoM: The Northman.
May seem like a strange comparison, but North struggled [and ultimately suffered] because of something that MoM did exceptionally well. Both Sam Raimi and Robert Eggers are directors with an incredible sense of style. You’d never watch one of their movies and go, “Who directed that?” after you’ve heard of them once. Their films are uniquely envisioned, executed, and performed in a way that sets them apart from the crowd. While North was ultimately forgettable with a couple of outstanding moments, MoM was mostly outstanding [for a Marvel movie] with a couple of forgettable moments [I’m going to stop saying it now, but.. For a Marvel movie]. MoM felt like Disney approached Sam Raimi to make a film and he said, “Only if you leave me alone to do it,” and, reluctantly, they handed the keys to the kingdom over. Now, they clearly kept a spare because there are moments where the film takes very sudden left hand turns into the “typical” Marvel nonsense but, by and large, MoM succeeds where North failed because Raimi was allowed to be a visionary and break Disney’s tired mold.
“But, CacciatoReviews,” I hear you saying, “you’re giving this almost the same rating you gave The Northman and you’re lauding this where you denigrated that!” Yes, that is true. However, by Marvel accounts, MoM was excellent and I think a 7.6 is a very high rating. I’d be surprised to see one ever exceed an 8. North could have been truly exceptional. Moving on…
The horror scenes in MoM are ~i-n-t-e-n-s-e~ for this kind of movie. While not quite so far, I had flashbacks of one of my favorite 2020 films, Possessor, and the spiritual Raimi 2013 Evil Dead. I can’t think of a PG-13 film that pushes its rating quite so far as MoM manages to. Take this film back 10 years and it almost certainly gets an R or never even made.
Outside of the very beginning of the film, MoM also manages to cast off what has become an absolute staple across all Disney products of late, and that’s having absolutely shameful visual effects. The opening sequence is pretty laughably awful, but after that, nearly all of the effects look great, the actors are lit appropriately, and the creativity used in Strange’s various spells is remarkable… if a little problematic because of the “why didn’t you do that before/ again” questions it raises.
MoM is one of the few Marvel films to have any actual cinematography or a score worth talking about. While neither deserve awards, they are different enough from the other bland nonsense to be worth mentioning. The last thing that MoM does exceptionally well, is its villain.
Of course, MoM doesn’t escape the typical tropey nonsense that all these movies do where the villain is super fast or super strong… right until it would spell certain doom for the good guys… but at least there’s some justification for it in this one. I don’t want to get into spoilers but, if I just took on 6 of the strongest beings in the universe, I’d be a little slow and shambley too. It still should have been better communicated to the audience, but it’s understandable. Beyond that though, the villain in MoM is handled in a way not seen in other Marvel flicks, and I hope we get more of this in the future. Again, avoiding spoilers, even though the plot and resolution of that plot is obvious from the 25-second mark of the film, it’s still satisfying and handled with a tact rarely executed by the status-quo protecting Avengers.
I really enjoyed my time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Not so much because of what it IS, but because of what it MEANS for the future of Marvel [...potentially]. I’d love more “adult” films of this nature that don’t hinge on the peepee-poopoo, cringe humor and tryhard nature of Deadpool. I’d love more of the crumpled tin-foil look of MoM when compared with the high-gloss nature of the other films. I liked the intensity and [while still vaguely shallow] depth of the story and characters that is absent elsewhere in the universe, and I liked that it didn’t try to be something it wasn’t by acting prophetic and profound like the unwatchable Eternals drivel that wanted SO BADLY to NOT be a “Marvel film” that it somehow ended up being worse.
MoM had a strong sense of identity and purpose that I think a lot of early Marvel had, and has since lost. I want style, I want pizzaz. I don’t want simple and shiny and bland. I want... more of this.
“You break the rules and become a hero. I do it, and I become the enemy. That doesn't seem fair.”
