Movie Review: ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’

Review by Lauryn Angel

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is out this week, and before you take your children to see it, be warned that it is a Marvel-style horror movie directed by Sam Raimi – who is probably the best choice for bringing this movie to life. There is mild gore and there are monsters; there are creepy set pieces and menacing variants; but there are also some silly, slap-stick elements. If you can handle Raimi’s Evil Dead films and Drag Me to Hell, you’ll be fine, but at least one person at the screening I attended was caught off guard, as she said quite loudly, “That’s terrifying! This is a horror movie!”

In the interest of remaining spoiler-free that’s all I will say about the content of the movie, as there are some fun surprises and, of course, plot twists. I will, however, comment that the film is very entertaining, with quite a few impressive effects and dazzling cityscapes as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his companion, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), hop through the multiverse. And the performances are solid, with the standout being Elizabeth Olsen, who takes Wanda Maximoff through a gamut of emotions once again. I also enjoyed Xocihtl Gomez as America Chavez, a character that I admit I didn’t know much about, going into this movie, but I do hope to see more of this character in other Marvel projects, whether a Disney+ series or as a player in other Marvel films.

I was, however, more than a little disappointed with the storyline, but that verges into spoiler territory, so I’ll leave it at that. Ultimately, this movie is an entertaining installment in Doctor Strange’s story, and I know I will see it again on the big screen soon!