Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Movie Review
The sequel for Dr. Strange premiered on Friday, May 6th. This 2-hour film was filled with lots of action, crazy visuals, and drama… or, as the title suggests, madness. In this film, Dr. Stephen Strange encounters himself with the challenge of having to fight Scarlett Witch to save the multiverse. The plot development was completely unexpected. After watching Dr. Strange tamper with the multiverse for the first time in Spider-Man: No Way Home, I expected a plot that would follow up with this incident. However, that was not the case.
The main question for this film is: Are you happy? Asked first by Cristine and then multiple times throughout the plot, this question is the main subject that challenges and develops the characters. In this movie, we can see the representation with Scarlett Witch of all the crazy things that humanity does to find happiness. My first impression of how filmmakers presented this overarching premise in the film was pretty negative. I did not like the fact that they had to make Wanda the villain since her desire for happiness put the entire multiverse at risk. However, analyzing the conclusion even further, I understand how filmmakers wanted to push forward Wanda as a powerful yet humanized character. She is flawed and would do anything to find happiness for once in her life. Even when they tried to make this character relatable to the audience, I believe the filmmakers could have established the same thematic but without having to make her the main villain of the film. I wish they took a different approach with this character. Even though I didn’t like Wanda’s character development, I did enjoy watching Dr. Stephen Strange’s growth. We can see how he leaves his pride and arrogance aside to face his fears and accept that many of his mistakes were the factor that did not let him reach total happiness with Cristine.
Dr. Strange and Wanda were not the only ones fighting for happiness in this sequel. America Chavez was introduced as one of the main characters in the film. This Hispanic character helps Dr. Strange save the multiverse since she has the power to move around different realms. Chavez did not control her ability, activating them only when in fear. This lack of control took her mothers away from her, which she is looking to recover.
I enjoyed the chemistry between Dr. Strange and America. They were both funny, and it was nice to see that they were both working as a team and worried about each other (something that I was actually expecting between Dr. Strange and Wanda, but that is not the point). In addition, I enjoyed the fact that filmmakers gave the opportunity to young actors, particularly a Hispanic actress, to develop their talent in such a big franchise as Dr. Strange. Xochitl Gomez did a great job performing as America. I am looking forward to seeing what she will bring to the big screen in upcoming films.
To deliver the movie, the art of the FX department was vital. Dr. Strange is nothing without his magic brought to life by the technical artists. The environment visuals in this film were beautiful. The different realms of the multiverse were unique and diverse. It was evident that most of the hard work the FX department put into was portraying these beautiful multiverses. However, there were some questionable shots. For example, some creatures and robots seemed highly fake. In addition, the composite of the third eye for one of the characters (not mentioning names because of spoiler purposes) was pretty disturbing, and it did not look as good. I believe that the filmmakers saturated the film with so many Visual Effects that they ended up with a variety of successful and poorly executed shots. I would have preferred the film to have fewer effects and excellent quality than having a lot of questionable effects.
Even though the plot is not the best in the MCU, ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ is an engaging film. I would have loved to see a follow-up of what we saw with Dr. Strange in the last Spider-Man movie by teaming up with Wanda to fix the consequences of messing with the multiverse. Even though it did not reach my expectations, I have to admit that putting aside my subjective view, this film has a good message, and it leaves you wondering what happens next throughout the whole 2 hours. You may or may not agree with my opinion. However, if you have not seen it yet, go ahead and watch Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in theaters!