The Multiverse of Madness Review: Fells Short of Delivering What Was Promised!

The Multiverse of Madness was one of the most anticipated films this year so of course I had to watch in theatres with friends. In what is arguably the MCU’s first horror film, Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as The Doctor and this time he’s facing off against a grief stricken Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and the multiverse.

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I actually really liked the horror aspect of this movie, it was a nice change of pace (who doesn’t wanna see zombie Strange?). My main problem with The Multiverse of Madness, however is that it seemed more about Wanda than Strange really. (While on that subject, Elizabeth Olsen did a fantastic job channelling Wanda’s grief.) They might as well have just titled it WandaVision 2. I don’t really understand why they chose to do it this way actually.

My assumption going in was that through their meddling, Wanda, Spider-Man, Strange and Loki all messed up the multiverse and Strange now needs to set it right, maybe with Wanda’s help. Or at least, that’s what I was expecting from the movie. Instead what we got seemed like filler for the franchise with the sole purpose of Easter egg drops and teasers. Speaking of, it was filled to the brim with Easter eggs and definitely gave us a few things (and a few characters) to look forward to.

Marvel has taken this opportunity to once again expand the MCU and honestly, I’m kind of on the fence about it. On one hand I do appreciate this all encompassing portrayal of Marvel comics rather than the old comic book movie format. Here anyone can show up at anytime and anything can happen. (It seems like DC Movies has caught on to this wave).

On the other hand… I feel like they’re introducing way too many characters too soon. This makes it difficult for a casual viewer to keep up with all the various storylines and how every single character relates to another. But who cares about the casuals right? I also only realised after that America is actually from the comic. She had one purpose in the movie and it wasn’t big enough to justify adding her character… I was actually expecting an appearance from Shang-Chi given how his movie ended but sadly, it was not to be.

The costumes were so colourful and detailed especially those of Strange and Scarlett Witch. Marvel never misses in this department. As always, great set design and use of CGI. The visual effects and cinematography were top notch as was the directing. Overall, I had an enjoyable experience with The Multiverse of Madness, but I still believe the film fell short of delivering what was promised. The entertainment value is there even if it didn’t progress the story much.

‘The Multiverse of Madness’ Rating – 3/5

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