After almost six years since the beginning of the movie ‘ Doctor Strange ‘, he is now back with his personal story— yep , ‘ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ‘ is already coming up, babe ! This film has been officially released in theaters since May 5, 2022. Talking about the multiverse , this has been discussed since the arrival of the Marvel series ‘ Loki ‘ until it finally became thicker when we watched the series ‘ WandaVision ‘ which aired only on Disney+ Hotstar —a step first to the chaos of the universe.
Knowing that horror is one of the genres in this film, made it the main attraction for Cosmo to watch it—the demonic element was already felt when you first saw the trailer —this is the first horror film to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , and guess what , from before watching the film, the hairs on my neck stood up, whether it was a feeling of excitement because I couldn’t wait to watch it or even a fear of some of the characters that had been shown ( have you guys seen Doctor Strange with the third eye..or the zombie one?! Just watch the trailer ).
Broadly speaking, ‘ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ tells about Doctor Strange’s efforts to ward off evil magic from the Darkhold book—which becomes the main problem when the multiverse portal opens. And then this is the beginning of his journey.
Euphoria arose when he found out that this film was directed by Sam Raimi—who also worked on the films ‘ The Evil Dead ‘ and the Spider-Man trilogy— so it’s no stranger to see Sam Raimi’s dark tone elements , which of course are also applied in several scenes from the movie ‘ Doctor ‘. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ‘.
Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Xonchitl Gomez, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, as well as several cameos who will come from other ‘universes’ (you do have to watch it first, girls ).
Sooo, if you’re getting more and more curious about how Marvel will take us through this film, it’s time to get straight into the heart of the film review. Let’s go !
PROS
The psychedelic feel is real!
Departing from the exploration of dimensional space, this is the starting point where the diversity of conflicts comes into Doctor Strange’s life. This is a new refresher, especially when Doctor Strange and the character America Chavez are thrown into various other universes, as if we are exploring dimensional space, accompanied by visuals that are certainly very promising. Again, this isn’t the first time Marvel has introduced us to the multiverse , but in fact the visual power it provides can’t be denied that this film is so eye-pleasing . One of Cosmo ‘s favorite scenes is when Doctor Strange climbs the stairs ( the longest one ) wrapped in a gothic feel that is so attached, makingCosmo is remembered by the depiction of the stairway to heaven, superb visuals, indeed !
A touch of horror that fits the bill.
No, this is not a horror film like ‘ Drag Me To Hell’ or jumpcare that comes repeatedly, it’s not too much like that, really ! However , the horror given in this film is more about gripping situations—one of which is when Wanda completely transforms into Scarlet Witch, who is Doctor Strange’s main enemy ( surprise, surprise).). Every magic that Scarlet Witch does manages to invite anxiety, instead of her targeting our existence (considering she can do anything, even just from a distance). Even Scarlet Witch is able to reveal herself from every reflection—one of them is the scene where she enters someone’s soul only from the reflection of the glass, this is back again like Sam Raimi’s mainstay style in the movie ‘ The Evil Dead’ , the roar and movement of the wind became the main introduction before ‘creepy’ things will happen.
The Uniqueness of action scenes.
Action scenes will still be an important component, because it’s a superhero stuff, duh ! The power of Master of Mystic Arts possessed by Doctor Strange leads us to various unique battles (this has been seen since the beginning of Doctor Strange’s presence). But interestingly, they are unsparing in showing the various magical powers possessed by Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch—realizing that these two characters have powers that can become the biggest threat in the MCU . Of course, it also succeeded in making Cosmo impatiently waiting for the next action while asking, ” OK , what surprises will there be from them?”
Raise traumatic issues personally.
We admit that being a superhero is not easy—perhaps all this time we have seen the cool side of Marvel superheroes with costumes and powers beyond reason (which makes us ~sometimes~ want to have them), but when it comes to the reality story, of course there are a lot of moral burdens. which they accommodate. If we go back, when the Avengers flocked to fight Thanos in ‘ Avengers: Endgame ‘ there were many moments of loss ( because of the stones ) which then the effects of the tragedy came back to haunt the victims, this arises when we witness ‘ WandaVision ‘ —the trauma of Wanda’s loss is a strong reason why she was able to do something that…well , very vile in this film.
It is different with Doctor Strange, who actually feels that ‘happiness’ is not a part of his life, this was alluded to when he said, “I thought by saving the world we could become someone who was happy, but in fact it is not.”
The mental effects that hit each character provide an opportunity for us to be involved in feeling the pain they’ve been feeling—they don’t always look superior and can do everything, they also have deeper feelings, just like us.
CONS
Drastic emotional changes.
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Feelings of joy, sadness, anger, disappointment are all packaged into one in this film—not forgetting a touch of Marvel’s unique humor that is still inserted in several scenes. Everything seemed fine actually, but there were a few parts that threw Cosmo ‘s emotional reaction off balance. When we should feel sad, but that feeling is just about to disappear because of the sudden change in the character’s reaction. And another imbalance rollercoaster emotions that would touch the meaning of the story if they conveyed it correctly.
Some plots are incomplete.
This is the thing that is most unfortunate by Cosmo . It’s true that Marvel always leaves some questions, which will eventually be explained in other Marvel films— we do love mystery, but in the film ‘ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ , it doesn’t just leave a question, but instead leaves a trail without anyone. such a clear meaning. For example, there are rows of members of The Illuminati who appear and make the audience applaud when they see it. However, the hysterical feeling was suddenly blown away without leaving room for the audience to speculate, it feels like thatsuch as: served delicious food, but suddenly the food just runs out, before we eat it.
Several other things that are sacred are also shown in ‘ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ‘, but again talking about the ‘unfinished plot’, this so-called sacred item again leaves questions for the audience, as if removing the essence of the meaning. the item ( Cosmo will not give spoilers, sooner or later you’ll know ).
It seems that the digging of the story only focuses on building our fear of the Scarlet Witch character. But beyond that, everything feels very rushed (with a total film duration of two hours)—even if we look at the character of Doctor Strange himself, Cosmo feels there is still something that is not explained. Again , leaving a trail of mystery that actually makes us a little irritated.
Then discussing the character of America Chavez—a teenager who has the ability to open multiverse portals , Cosmo feels there is confusion from Marvel to introduce America’s character to the audience. OK we get it, America does have extraordinary power, but the cultivation of the ‘ powerful ‘ side that is implanted in America’s character does not provide awareness that America is a very, very important character.
After reading the review, there is one thing you should do: go grab your ticket, and watch it at the cinema, ASAP !