Hello readers you might be wondering how I am able to do this review when the movie isn’t even out yet, well thanks to SM cinemas for inviting us to a special screening of the movie in SM Megamall in full IMAX experience, attended by media personalities, and influencers in their best Marvel character cosplay. Thank you to SM Cinemas for making this happen
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness sees the return of the mystical doctor in his second solo feature film, a sequel to Doctor Strange (2016). Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Doctor Strange last seeing him hanging out with a bunch of Spidermen in Spiderman No Way Home (2021). This time he’s not alone in exploring the Multiverse as Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff is back and picks up where we last saw her at the end of her own spin off series WandaVision (2021) where she finally turned into the all powerful Scarlet Witch.
At the helm of this movie is Director Sam Raimi who is known for directing the original Spiderman trilogy but for this movie you might be more familiar with some of his earlier works such as The Evil Dead.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was always seen by Marvel Studios as it’s first step into the horror genre and with the help of director Sam Raimi this was a cleverly made movie that doesn’t hide the fact that this is not your typical Marvel Movie it tells you right from the start what you’re getting into and it builds upon it throughout the movie.
This movie’s biggest upside are its visuals: beautiful, colorful, and at the same time it turns into down right horrifying accompanied by its great musical scoring building tension making a scene feel atmospheric at times. It’s also just really really nice to listen too.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen both deliver great performances as their respective characters especially Elizabeth Olsen’s performance of the Scarlet Witch from her previous outings as the confused and emotionally unstable yet powerful Wanda Maximoff she switches the gears now to showcase the full power and potential of the Scarlet Witch.
Although the biggest downside of this movie is the somewhat clunky and cheesy dialogue that throws you off of a scene especially in some of the more climactic scenes. This makes the tone and feel of the movie inconsistent at times and it’s kinda hard not to ignore it since the cheesy dialogue is really felt throughout some the films biggest moments. The movie made some storyline decisions that I will not spoil, that has me on the fence whether or not it was the right call to do what they did.
The movie is a Sam Raimi signature piece, it blends the epicness and stakes of a Marvel Movie and the straight up creepy and horrifying at times elements that results into this weird yet very awesome of a film. It has some really good jump scare scenes that lifted me off my seat.
My final verdict is an 8/10 great visuals, great music scoring, amazing performances, but has clunky and cheesy dialogue that can throw you off at times.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now showing in Philippines cinemas from May 4. Since it’s made for IMAX, I highly recommend watching it in IMAX cinemas in 3D for the best experience.
