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Doctor Strange 2 review: A Sam Raimi classic for a new generation

The allure of comics, as well as most high concept fiction, is the ability to tell human stories through a fantastical lens.

This ability to focus on the core of the human experience even when those humans are superheroes, or not even humans at all, is why this medium has existed for so long.

Few creators understand this as well as director Sam Raimi who basically ushered in the age of the modern superhero movie with his Spider-Man trilogy, thanks in no small part to the very human centre of Peter Parker and his endless, relatable problems despite his superpowers.

It’s then no surprise that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness manages to bring us common themes such as fear of the unknown, loss of love, leaving home, the pursuit of happiness and more all while mixing in comic action, MCU worldbuilding and even horror which Raimi is known for.

What is a surprise is just how well all of this disparate elements come together, especially with the entire shtick of this movie being another jaunt through the multiverse.

We won’t be spoiling anything in this review so we’ll only tiptoe around the main plot to give you a setting. Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is back and, through some mechanisms we won’t reveal, has to protect newcomer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) as the pair are thrust through multiple dimensions.

Also returning, as you can see in the trailers and other official pre-release media, are Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Wong (Benedict Wong), Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) and a few more.

Don’t look up any more of the cast, by the way, if you don’t want spoilers.

As we mentioned at the top the story is rather masterful in bringing together deep personal issues combined with the insanity of the setting. The plot progression is a bit erratic but it’s one of those experiences where every scene feels important and contributes to the overall goals of the writers and director before the credits roll.

This easily could have been a three hour movie, or even longer, but it’s a testament to the filmmakers that it’s “only” a hair over two hours.

Maybe it’s because it was the last superhero tentpole but we can’t help but think back to The Batman, a movie we liked but felt crushed under a bloated almost three hours.

Back in the Multiverse of Madness things are tight and focused while still being chaotic and satisfying.

Between the expectations from the first Doctor Strange movie and the whacky stuff in the trailers, audiences will be expecting a visual feast, even more so that the usual CGI blockbuster.

Again Multiverse of Madness delivers in spades. Raimi and the team of artists absolutely went wild.

In this movie you will visit several worlds, strange new planes of existence and go for trips between life and death. All of these locales have full realised representations and interesting stuff to gawk at.

This creativity extends to the action sequences here. Sure there is some boring elements were some simple hand to hand combat is involved, but much of the rest is fun pulpy lunacy.

Those who have seen other Doctor Strange / Wanda Maximoff outing where sorcery users stand on opposite sides of a room, grimacing and pretending to do magic will expect and maybe not like when that also happens several times here, but those instances don’t drag on.

There’s also one fight scene here that we can’t discuss that we’re sure people will be discussing soon when the movie launches to the public this week on 6th May.

The best way to explain how this movie operates both in visuals and story is to think back to another Marvel movie – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

In that movie Star-Lord, upon learning that he’s basically a god that can shape reality as he likes, thinks for a second before saying “I’m gonna make some weird sh!t”.

Now replace Star-Lord with Raimi and think of some bonkers stuff the director of Spider-Man, Evil Dead and more can do with the expanses of a multiverse, a huge CGI team and the many millions of Dollars from Disney.

Also of note here is the music from Danny Elfman. There are definitely times when it’s subdued and in the background, or there’s music stings to accompany jump scares (more on that later) and these instances are nothing special, but there are one or two scenes where his work has a chance to shine and it’s appreciated.

While we’ve had just about breathless praise for this movie up until now we don’t want to give the impression that things are flawless.

One big detractor is some massive holes in the CGI. Some elements – especially near the beginning and end – just simply don’t look great and it’s clear that it’s some actors on a greenscreen and the immersion is broken.

Recent Marvel movies have all had this problem of actors and environments simply not meshing and it’s bad here too. Things improve in the middle of the movie where the artists can hide the seams with lighting and more fantastical elements, but another round of polish would have helped.

The horror elements are another sore spot with Raimi insisting on faux jump scares and dumb horror movie clichés all too often. A cheeky bit of a scare here and there is very welcome and can even be played for a laugh, but after the dozenth time it gets old.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness likely won’t kick off a new wave of movies like Spider-Man did in 2002, but we can definitely believe that this movie will endear audiences and create new fans for Raimi who were either not even alive in the early 2000s or simply never jumped on the Spider-Man take of that generation.

This love of the movie from the audience which we expect to see is perfectly mirrored in the attention and care from those who made this film.

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