Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review: Sam Raimi’s horror insanity meets the MCU

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review

Months after Spider-Man: No Way Home dove head-first into the myriad possibilities of the infinite timelines in the Marvel cinematic universe, that unruly multiverse is back to its old tricks with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. While much of the film suffers from the connect-the-dots syndrome that ensures it brings in enough Marvel properties to launch the next set of films and TV shows, director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) brings in enough of his idiosyncratic horror insanity to make this entry stand out.

Much like the dynamic from the recent Spider-Man film, much of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness plays out like a buddy adventure film between Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and a young teenager. In this case, instead of Peter Parker, we get America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a young woman who can travel through the multiverse. Strange and America are banded together as The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) chases down America through the multiverse in order to use her power for her own nefarious needs.

The first half of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a slog, filled with morose expository scenes that grind the film to a halt. Even the patented Doctor Strange deadpan banter is missing — when he first encounters America, he simply looks tired and annoyed. This is also one of the most egregious cases of Marvel shoehorning in additional characters into the film to plant the seed for future projects that we’ve ever seen. While every single Marvel movie has done this to some degree, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness it feels particularly inorganic. We might as well be looking at a chart of “important MCU events to come” for half of the movie, which often feels like brushing up for an exam.

Marvel’s First Horror Movie

Then, everything changes. It comes so suddenly that it almost feels like a reel from a different film has been spliced in. About halfway through the film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness essentially turns into an Evil Dead-like horror romp. Sam Raimi pulls out all the stops for this final act – the tone flips from a lumbering superhero story into a full-on horror film. The best part of this section of the film is how much of Raimi’s style is allowed to bleed into the film — from his wild camera angles and seemingly impossible tracking shots to his slapstick gory horror style, this is unmistakably a Sam Raimi film that just happens to have a sorcerer with a magic cape at its centre.

While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness suffers from a severe case of sequel bloat, it also has some of the most wildly exciting moments we’ve ever seen in an MCU film. Horror fans, in particular, will have a Joker-sized smile spread across their face when the film goes full Rami, complete with cackling skeletons, a bombastic gothic score from Danny Elfman, and by far the goriest scenes we’ve ever seen in a Marvel movie. Groovy!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens in theaters on May 6.