Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The multiversal wayfarer is back in an unhinged, disorderly escapade which fails to find its own reality.
Wheel of misfortune: Benedict Cumberbatch shows off
Reality is the most fascinating thing we possess. And it’s entirely our own. Even our nearest and dearest hold an entirely different view of it. Sadly, the realities presented in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are of the dream-like, hallucinogenic kind, in which logic is held together by the most specious of threads. Think Inception with IBS and you’ll get a whiff of what is in store.
Here we have a clutter of superheroes, in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) – first seen (uncredited) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier – enters stage left as principal villain. Having been approached by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for her help to combat a giant, bug-eyed octopus, she taps into her all-powerful alter ego of the Scarlet Witch and turns the universe on its head. In her mind, there is a parallel world in which she is the mother of two small boys and she is willing to destroy her current realm in order to achieve that dream state. Here, then, we are introduced to the concept of ‘dream walking,’ in which a magical force can project a reality of themselves into the midst of another dimension – and cause havoc there.
We know we’re in trouble when the operatic, deranged opening located in an Escher-like “space between universes” turns out to be a dream. Or does it? Under the direction of Sam Raimi, the second Doctor Strange instalment returns to its comic-strip roots with a vengeance. Raimi has always been a fanatical fan of the medium and exercises his passion for the form with abandon, cramming the screen with everything but a speech bubble. There’s even one scene in which our hero is sent through a torrent of alternating visual styles which is almost up there with the Star Gate sequence in Kubrick’s 2001. Unhappily, it is the only distinctive note in the entire film. A raft of ‘cool’ ideas, a stream of sarcastic one-liners and a congestion of CGI is not enough to sustain a movie. The problem is that because everything is on a fluid footing, there is never any sense of real dread or human connection.
With monsters and superheroes appearing out of nowhere and new worlds conjured up at the whim of the scriptwriter, nothing feels real or identifiable. In the multiverse no death is permanent nor any catastrophe irreversible. Another downside is Danny Elfman’s bombastic, pantomimic score in which the slightest act is accompanied by an orchestral surge to laughable effect. Everything is so far-fetched, ridiculous and unwieldy that even the sudden, savage murder of a beloved figure holds no emotional charge. Which is a massive disappointment as the first film was wonderful.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Jett Klyne, Julian Hillard, Sheila Atim, Adam Hugill, Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams, Anson Mount, Lashana Lynch, Hayley Atwell, John Krasinski, Patrick Stewart, Bruce Campbell, Charlize Theron.
Dir Sam Raimi, Pro Kevin Feige, Screenplay Michael Waldron, Ph John Mathieson, Pro Des Charles Wood, Ed Bob Murawski and Tia Nolan, Music Danny Elfman, Costumes Graham Churchyard, Sound Jussi Tegelman, Dialect coaches Sarah Shepherd, Courtney Young and Thom Jones.
Marvel Studios-Walt Disney Studios.
126 mins. USA. 2022. UK Rel: 5 May 2022. US Rel: 6 May 2022. Cert. 12A.
