“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022)

If you’ve read any of my reviews about Marvel movies, you probably know two things about me: first, it all started with Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” movies, and second, Wanda is my favourite character. So, you can imagine how excited I was to watch “Doctor Strange 2” in IMAX, not just watch it but watch it in IMAX.

So, let’s talk about the madness that “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is. This movie was everything I wanted and more, and it’s actually probably in my top 5 MCU movies. That being said, I can see why people might feel a bit lost. This is perhaps the first MCU movie that requires watching a Disney+ show to get the whole experience. This is a Doctor Strange movie, but it’s very much about Wanda. To understand her arc and accept that everything she does in this movie comes naturally, you need to see “WandaVision.”

What I loved about this movie is very much because of the two things I said at the start. The unique vision that Raimi gives his movies and the way he uses the camera to make zooms and close-ups look cool is a talent in itself. He did this in “Spider-Man,” and it works again in this movie. There’s something about how he films that fits the comic book language. If he is given a character like Strange that has the “horror” element in his DNA, he feels more at home than ever.

The other thing is Wanda, or let’s just say it, Elizabeth Olsen. She absolutely kills it, and if we look at the MCU character arcs, I will fight anyone; she has the most tragic and interesting one that only an amazing actress could carry and hit us as hard as this did.

This movie has action, fantasy, and horror, but for me, it’s so much more about a broken mother who is willing to do anything for her kids. In the end, she just shows that in a way, we have never seen before in any Marvel movie.

It does feel rushed at some points because it has so much to address, and it has a shorter run time than expected. Still, it works, and for me, it did everything it had to do. It pushed along the story of Strange, closed the arc beautifully Wanda was on, explained the multiverse that will be a big part of the MCU, and set up some key characters going forward that I’m now curious to know more about, like America.

This is a non-spoiler review, so I won’t talk about cameos, etc. But I can say there are a few that made me scream. Still, there are a lot fewer than expected, and that is, again, our fault as a community of movie lovers. There was so much noise out there that everyone would show up in this movie, but it’s no way, shape, or form like that.

Sadly, that will be an issue for many. For me, it was what I wanted. It was about the madness that the multiverse could create in our main characters and how they handle doing the right thing and not giving in to darkness.

So, we fully recommend watching this movie, especially in IMAX. Just don’t expect it to be a cameo show, and you’ll absolutely love it.