I’ve been meaning to write an expose of sorts on, what I believe to be, the gradual decline in quality of the MCU as of late. With the release of Disney’s streaming platform, Marvel Studios has been pumping out content like an automated assembly line; and unfortunately, it’s showing quite a bit. From inexcusable shortcomings and shortcuts in CGI, to an emphasis on set-ups for spin-offs over character studies; I have been disappointed by not only the movies but the Disney+ shows as well.
BUT
I can honestly say, if nothing else about this movie, I was not disappointed. I think some of those unfortunate trademarks of the “assembly line” leak into this movie slightly, but it’s not enough to entirely sink the ship, we can thank SAM RAIMI for that.
SYNOPSIS: Doctor Strange, 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.
I feel like a lot of MCU die-hards are expecting this to be a ginormous cameo-fest/fan service riot, and while I do think there are sprinkles of that here, this movie is most definitely NOT that (thank Christ). I can’t tell you how worried I was that this movie would be another set-up for a sequel for a spin-off (and so on), but I was delighted to find a rich and engaging story at the very core of this movie.
From the start, this movie is riddled with Sam Raimi’s distinctive style, and it just gets more and more potent as the film goes on. I find that with Raimi’s truly off the wall technique, it’s best to just lean into it. The crazy cuts, the wild camera movements, the SCREAMS; it’s all here, and it’s glorious. Raimi helms this movie with such a kinetic prowess that was seeping off of every scene. I was enthralled by the action because it was all directed with such force and energy, which was so refreshing to see in the MCU.
Raimi, being the veteran horror movie director that he is, does NOT shy away from his roots whatsoever here. This is by far the bloodiest and creepiest MCU movie to date, I found myself (much to my chagrin) audibly reacting in an embarrassing quantity to what was happening. And I have to admit, there were times were I was legitimately frightened (YES, I know, I’m a baby. SUE ME!) It was so refreshing to finally see some clear and present direction with one of these projects, but with Raimi’s distinct vision, I felt a slight clash in some of the more obvious “Marvel mandated” scenes.
There’s a sizeable chunk in the second act where Strange encounters some interesting characters, some of which were revealed in the trailers, and surprisingly enough the movie sort of dragged for me here. Raimi himself has stated that a lot of the reshoots this movie underwent were to add those Marvel mandated scenes, and it honestly wasn’t hard to tell that some of the scenes were added later. However, I still felt as if Raimi truly had this movie by the reigns, and everywhere it went waa in accordance with his vision, and for that I couldn’t be happier.
There were moments in this film that were so jarring and off-putting to me, that I genuinely could not believe what I was seeing. Certain parts of this movie feel ripped right out of an early 2000’s CBM, and it definitely took me a second to process what was going on. Sometimes I just couldn’t believe it would get that weird, but when I took a second, and thought about Sam Raimi giggling behind the camera as he made this movie, man that makes me smile.
The action had a certain gall to it as I watched it. There was always a sense of clear and present danger, and when the horror aspects collided on that front, it was truly a sight to behold. Raimi’s visual style also works so well in these scenes, and the movie looks fantastic. Who would’ve thought an actual color palette would exist in the MCU for once?
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda is a force to be reckoned with in this movie, and that’s not a statement I say lightly. Whenever she appeared on screen, I was met with anxiety as to what was about to happen next. They took her character in a direction that I wasn’t entirely expecting, and I was consistently surprised with how they utilized her in this movie (but again, no spoilers). I could literally talk about the role her character plays in this movie for hours, but all I’ll say for now is she had me completely invested in the story from start to finish.
Xochitl Gomez gives an enthusiastic performance as the Multiverse-hopping America Chavez, and I felt like her character was not just a McGuffan being used to travel to different realites. Benedict Wong gets to shine a lot more in this film than he has in previous outings as Wong. He brought a lot of emotion to the table, and he’s honestly one of the best side characters (if not the best) in the MCU right now.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange is once again magnificent. I was worried his character was going to be pushed to the sidelines in his own movie due to the swirling rumors of the cameos and events that were going to take place here, but this movie is at its very core a Doctor Strange story through and through. The journey he takes, and the arc that’s presented here for his character is really well thought out and fantastically unique. I was constantly eager to see the progression of his character, and I could truly tell there was truth and care towards this character from a filmmaking perspective.
This movie was strange, for better, and sometimes for worse. Raimi really hams it up at times here, and you can either buckle in for the ride, or blankly stare at the screen in shock and awe. Whichever you choose, under the surface you’ll find an honest to god look at the character of Strange himself, and I can’t tell you just how personal that is for me.
7/10
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