Saturday, May 14, 2022

Movie Review: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Movie number 18 of 2022 

Movie: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens. 

Stars: 4


So, in my desire to feel a little bit normal, I took myself off to the cinema this afternoon. I drove myself down there, saw the film, bought the cat a new dinner bowl (because his other one was broken last night) and came back absolutely buggered. 

It was a very successful outing. 

I'm also aware that I'm not going to be driving more thanfive minutes away for another few days, but a trip down the road is fine for now. 

And this was a great film to get myself out of the house for. 


RottenTomatoes.com describes this film as follows:

 "In Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary."

We got a view into the Multiverse in Spiderman: No Way Home. This crashlands into this concept pretty quickly as we realise that Stephen Strange's dreams are actually a reality. 

As a bit of a Marvel aficinado, I got most of the references as to what was going on. If you're not into Marvel, I'm not sure how you'd cope with the rather intricate plot, sweeping characters and in jokes. 

If you're up with Marvel films, you know about Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and what went on firstly, in the first Doctor Strange film, but also in the Avengers Movies. So when Dr Strange walks into Christine Palmer's wedding, and meets up with Nic West (Michael Stuhlbarg) you know things are going to go awry. Of course he as to save New York, and the teenage girl, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) who has been in his dreams. But is it a dream?

Then comes the kicker. Who's wanting all of this destruction to happen? We find that Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) - the Scarlett Witch is behind all of this, and that's where the fun begins. 

I have to say, when it comes to multiverses, Everywhere, Everything, All At Once is a better film. But this has history and gravitas and a great cast. You know what you're getting yourself into with Marvel - and this delivers. 

The plot is too convoluted to go into, and if you're not a Marvel geek, you'd probably get very lost very quickly. 

However, despite a few misgivings,  I really enjoyed this. The effects are mind blowing, made better by seeing this on the really big screen. The in jokes were also good. Unlike the dire Morbius, this kept its sense of fun. There were just enough references to past Marvel films, and the other universes were fun to watch. Sam Raimi's direction is assured - mind you, he's made a few of these films - he knows what he's doing. 

This is a solid outing for Marvel fans. If you're new to the MCU, I'd be boning up on the characters before viewing. 

But for me, this was the perfect post-operative early afternoon movie. A very enjoyable outing.

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