The filmed experience though never develops any unique breath-taking feature that could grip you. It majorly feels like a compendium of events strung together from other films, comic books and TV series
A still from 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Dir: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Rating: 2.5/5
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This sequel to “Doctor Strange” appropriates “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” action with references, in order to expand the Marvel comic and lend it a multi-dimensional experience. So we see Doctor Strange, with the help of mystical allies, traversing the mind-bending alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary. A major part of that expansionist vision comes from the “WandaVision” show that took the Marvel comic book universe into television.
“Multiverse of Madness” begins in near fascinating fashion wherein we see Strange and a young teenage girl fly through alternate universes. It’s a dream, we think, but the reality is far more complex than we envisage. The sequence opens up tremendous visual art possibilities but none of it is realised in the subsequent portion of the film. Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is then shown attending the wedding of Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) - the woman he loves but can’t marry, when chaos erupts outside, where a massive octopus-like creature is chasing the teenage girl America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) across dimensions. Strange with his red cape and Wong (Benedict Wong) with his lightning lasso leap into action to save the girl. We then learn that America is being sought for her ability to traverse alternate universes. Strange unsuspectingly seeks the guidance of Super-witch Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who, reeling from the loss of her children has come under the spell of the evil Darkhold, a book of evil spells. Chaos reigns thereafter with Strange, Wong, America, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and a few more characters joining in the melee that ensues thereafter.
The filmed experience though never develops any unique breath-taking feature that could grip you. It majorly feels like a compendium of events strung together from other films, comic books and TV series. The budget for this Marvel movie may be fantastic but the experience of it is less than satisfying. The build-up here is slow-burn. It takes a long time to liven up things on screen and the strange brightly colored and variegated multi-dimensional jumps almost make you feel like you are experiencing a psychedelic drug-induced high. The idea of a multiverse had tremendous possibilities but none of that is realized here. You may be able to appreciate some imaginatively showcased and effected action sequences but it’s an uninvolved kind of appreciation at best.
Directed by Sam Raimi from a script by Michael Waldron, this film involves a lot of chasing and fighting, with electric colors shooting out of the characters’ hands. Raimi does manage to generate a fair bit of flair in the visual action but the overcrowding in terms of elements and characters makes it hard to concentrate or get absorbed. Mild jokes are scattered around for light relief. The action at the Himalayan hideout of Kamar-Taj where the inmates and the protectors take up arms against the planet’s most powerful threat doesn’t generate enough energy, momentum, or adrenaline. It just feels like just another sequence in a series of incrementally upgraded sequences. So the mystique and magic come across as tame. Liberal usage of the plot device relating to infinite parallel dimensions doesn’t gild the experience as we expected it to. While the actors perform as well as expected, the uneven helming and the overexposed CGI make the experience rather exhausting!
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