CRITICS SAY ELIZABETH OLSEN STEALS THE SHOW AND SAM RAIMI REACHES BACK INTO HIS HORROR BAG TO DELIVER A VISUALLY SPECTACULAR, Unexpectedly VIOLENT ENTRY INTO THE MCU.
Sam Raimi returns to superhero pictures with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and indeed further than with his Spider-Man trio, the fabulous horror filmmaker has invested this Marvel movie with his scary movie sensibilities. According to the first reviews of the rearmost Marvel Cinematic Universe investiture, the Doctor Strange effect is darker, weirder, and more surprising than utmost of the pictures in the ballot. And also a Raimi movie through and through.
Then’s what critics are saying about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
WHERE DOES THIS MOVIE RANK IN THE MCU?
The strangest Marvel movie yet. – Richard Trenholm, CNET
It’s refreshingly corny in a way that Marvel infrequently is. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is unlike any Marvel movie you have ever seen … surely the most violent and scariest. – Christie Cronan, Raising Whasians
Lacking the humanity — the heart and soul of Marvel that works so well when balanced with humor and spectacle … (it’s) much better than the shallow addict service of Spider-Man No Way Home. – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
The stylish MCU multiverse movie remains Spider-Man No Way Home. – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
Utmost of the action — extravagant, messy, so over-the-top crazy that it ceases to be amazing — is business as usual in the Marvel world. – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME
HOW ARE THE FAN SERVICE CAMEOS?
They're contemporaneously lower jam-packed than anticipated, pleasurable, addict- service-y, ridiculous, and relatively well demoralized. – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
It feels like Raimi acting in direct opposition to the addict service that he’s called upon to legislate — you might indeed say that he kills the addict service in such a hilariously vicious way that it could only be purposeful. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
Anyone awaiting Multiverse of Madness to be a carousel of every possible Marvel gem that has been (or could live) is going to be left disappointed. – Jenna Anderson,ComicBook.com
Suckers may want to seriously temper their prospects in respect to the important- buzzed-about Illuminati as well as any other surprise bijous … They eventually leave a lot further to be asked. – Rohan Patel,ComicBookMovie.com
While Marvel has generally handed addict service with a purpose, Multiverse of Madness does so in a way that's little further than giving cult a moment to hoot and cry in the theaters, and a little more. – Ross Bonaime, Collider
WILL WE BE SURPRISED?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has further twists than a bag of pretzels … The surprises are refreshing but with that said, some of them are hard to swallow. – Julian Roman, MovieWeb
Full of mind-bending moments, trippy twists, and a fistful of surprises so genuine that indeed Danny Elfman’s majestic score might not spot out the sound of millions of brassbound Marvel suckers’jaws shattering as they hit the theater bottom. – Don Kaye, Den of Geek
For better and (for some suckers) potentially worse, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness doesn’t always feel safe. – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
WILL IT APPEAL TO Suckers OF HORROR?
As the film progresses, it ramps up the horror … erecting to the most lurid final battle you’re likely to see in a family-friendly blockbuster. – Richard Trenholm, CNET
It leans hard into the horror with an early eyeball- fleecing setting the tone, followed by multitudinous impalings, charred corpses, and effective jump scares. – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
It’s a commodity of a phenomenon that the film came in at a PG-13 standing, so completely does Raimi test the limits of the MPAA’s forbearance of violence and spear. – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
It teeters at times at the intensity of scary flicks similar to The Ring and The Exorcist. – Christie Cronan, Raising Whasians
The giddy alternate half of Raimi’s carnivalesque effect nearly hits with the same undead exhilaration of watching Evil Dead II for the first time. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
There are some gnarly kills. – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
SO SHOULD THE Kiddies STAY AT HOME FOR THIS ONE?
I explosively advise and prompt parents to prescreen this movie just for the horror content alone … Beyond traumatizing for youthful kiddies, especially those who love Marvel pictures and shows. – Christie Cronan, Raising Whasians
It presumably pushes the family-friendly vibe as far as the MCU ever will. – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
IS THIS TRULY A SAM RAIMI MOVIE?
This picture has the Regisseur handwritten all over it. – Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
It’s a return to form for the director and hopefully only a sign of effects to come for Raimi in the MCU. – Rohan Patel,ComicBookMovie.com
He's the ideal person to offer Marvel the gentle gut-check it’s demanded so long … This is the first MCU movie in which numerous of the shots have comprehendible fingerprints on them. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
No MCU movie to date … has so completely displayed the personality and art of its director as Multiverse of Madness. – Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
As muted as Raimi has ever been. But indeed at his most muted, Raimi gives us one hell of a lift. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
Raimi is a great choice, and the sense of imminence he injects into the movie is ace, but he’s in no way been particularly affected by character cases. – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
HOW IS THE SCRIPT?
What works best about this movie is its themes … (It) unravels these passions and aches them back together in a pleasing narrative that's eventually satisfying. – Sherin Nicole,idobi.com
It’s an unexpectedly straightforward script … If the same creative platoon returns for Doctor Strange 3, we’d surely hope Raimi is more involved with the writing coming time. – Rohan Patel,ComicBookMovie.com
I hope that the script is tighter on the coming spin. I won’t spoil anything, but what I can say is that some of the dialogue is on par with the supremely inelegant Moonfall’s. – Amelia Emberwing, IGN Pictures
The story lets it down and (it) could prove divisive for suckers. – Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
DO YOU NEED TO WATCH THE MCU ’S Television SERIES FIRST?
Fortunately, you don’t need an intimate recall of either show to follow the action in Multiverse of Madness. The film wears its durability smoothly. – Richard Trenholm, CNET
It's forcefully planted in everything you’ve learned about the MCU up-to-date. Most lately the What If …? and WandaVision series on Disney. You’re going to need those in your force to keep up. – Sherin Nicole,idobi.com
Still, you'll be hugely lost, If you haven’t seen WandaVision or some of the recent Marvel stories. – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
The star of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is Raimi’s gift for visual insanity. – Michelle Kisner, The Movie Sleuth
Visually, the film takes effects to another position. – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Still, it won’t fail and the multiverse setting is exploited to its fullest, visually speaking, If you’re after two hours of spectacle. – Carlos Aguilar, The Playlist
Where Multiverse of Madness truly excels is in Raimi’s sense of spectacle, which is put on display to an astonishing degree from the first frame. – Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend
HOW IS DANNY ELFMAN ’S SCORE?
It’s not surprising that it ruled. But it freaking ruled … The multiverse of Madness is worth the price of admission just to hear the score and see it at work. – Amelia Emberwing, IGN Pictures
It’s the most gleefully outrageous score Danny Elfman has put to retake in recent memory. – Jenna Anderson,ComicBook.com
Danny Elfman‘s score sees the musician on the same runner with the director delivering an audible festival lift when it’s not stuck trying to squeeze pomp and emotion from the screen. – Rob Hunter, Film School Rejects
IS BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH STILL GREAT AS DOCTOR STRANGE?
This is Benedict Cumberbatch’s movie through and through … arguably his strongest performance as Doctor Stephen Strange to date. – Rohan Patel,ComicBookMovie.com
Cumberbatch is having some succulent fun this time in several embodiers of Stephen Strange including fighting opposite himself, and this actor makes all of them plainly his own. – Pete Hammond, Deadline
Cumberbatch is fine, but he’s a victim of a film that’s so plot-heavy that he’s substantially just running from one CGI sequence to the coming. – Brian Tallerico,RogerEbert.com
BUT DOES ELIZABETH OLSEN STEAL THE MOVIE?
Elizabeth Olsen is the name of the super-sorceress Wanda, continuing her trip from WandaVision. – Richard Trenholm, CNET
Olsen steals the show as Scarlet Witch (the film should have been called Scarlet Witch in the Multiverse of Madness). – Brittany Murphy, Poets of Media
Olsen runs down with the film in her tortured, grief-stricken definition of Wanda’s downcast curl. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
Elizabeth Olsen is constantly reminding us how fluently she can shift into a capital-a-Actor like Wanda Maximoff. – Amelia Emberwing, IGN Pictures
Olsen’s performance generates a melodramatic fire indeed as she’s nominated like a barefoot mama soaked in Carrie White’s blood. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
IS XOCHITL GOMEZ ’S AMERICA CHAVEZ A GREAT ADDITION TO THE MCU?
One of the biggest highlights of the film is fluently Gomez’s star-making turn … (She) brilliantly fits in alongside the stager ballot actors. – Jenna Anderson,ComicBook.com
It would have been nice to see Gomez have further to do as America Chavez. In that regard, it was a bit of a disappointment, but … if the Young Punishers platoon ever comes to consummation in live-action, Gomez will make an awful addiction. – Brittany Murphy, Poets of Media
ARE THERE ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH THE MOVIE?
The particular peregrinations are lacking … In an emotional position, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness leaves a lot to be asked. – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
It noway settles down enough to detect its emotional core. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Still, emotion, and feelings, If you’re looking for good characterization. – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
I know MCU pictures aren’t generally places for deep character work — I’m just saying it’s indeed more shallow then than normal, especially considering how the generally dependable Olsen nailed this character in her former spin. – Brian Tallerico,RogerEbert.com
WILL WE WANT Further MCU Pictures LIKE THIS?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is changeable, inventive, and really mesmerizing — and the MCU is better off for it. – Jenna Anderson,ComicBook.com
Is this the future of ridiculous- book cinema? Let’s stopgap not. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
The most disturbing part of this film is trying to figure out what the heck Marvel is trying to negotiate then and where they’re going to go next. – Christie Cronan, Raising Whasians
It’s fun to imagine them giving Raimi a small bit of the usual budget, authorizing an R standing for the third Doctor Strange, and saying “ go make a Sam Raimi horror film.” – John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter.