Here I am going into the present multiverse of mixed opinion and divergent disagreements between people.
Both myself and Louise went to see this film, and our opinions were only slightly different in that I gave it a four out of five and Louise gave it four and a half out of five.
There I am having already given the scores, so what kind of a reviewer am I?
Well, it’s not really a review per se…
Firstly I’m going to try and not give away any spoilers, but I will say that for any MCU film that is difficult. However, for this film it’s even more tricky, because the whole film is full of spoilers from start to finish! Even the opening sequence itself includes a spoiler.
The film starts immediately with an action packed sequence, and a character that is already known to be in the film, and has caused problems in some quarters.
America Chavez is a character that is the daughter of a lesbian couple, and that’s caused problems in some areas. In a world of equality this is absolutely ridiculous, and in the sequence that was asked to be removed it is neither here or there.
I’m glad that Disney kept the sequence in there, and didn’t pander to the requests to remove this section, as it’s an important character point and, with my guess that the character is important to the future of the MCU, it’s also important to have that background in there.
Another issue, and I’ll say that this is a teeny spoiler, is about the character of America Chavez where people are saying that the character isn’t as positive and in charge of their abilities as in the comics, therefore meaning that the character needs the male characters to help her understand her powers, further enhanced by her being made into a teenager as opposed to the adult in the comics.
Now, this is a subject that needs looking at from a different angle, or different angles…
First of all my assumption is that they are in this for the long haul, so to start the character as younger gives the ability to build her from scratch. This would then make the more general audience warm to her, because wherever these films are going, I’m guessing that she is an important part of the whole picture. To say anymore than that would be to give a big spoiler away!
Another angle to look at this from is that even if the comics didn’t go into detail about the character’s background, there must have been a time when she wasn’t able to control her abilities, which meant that she might have needed some help in learning that control. It’s not that it had to be men guiding her, but rather that someone needed to do this at some point. At least that is how I see it.
Yes, we are in a world of equality, but equality means for everyone. It shouldn’t matter whether people are male, female, and other gender identities. This is the same as the subject of race. It is a case of someone helping someone else out.
America Chavez is a positive character for many reasons – a latino character, who is going to be an incredibly strong female role model, with an amazing power set by the way!
The next character we will look at is Christine, who some people have said is just there as a love interest.
I think that was more so with the first Doctor Strange to be honest, and the way that he was in this film is just someone that is reeling from a difficult relationship break.
Also, not to give too much away, but Christine is a very important later on in the film, as are other female characters later in the film, which brings me to another point, and one that I have to tread lightly with…
There are a few surprise characters that show up, which some people have responded to by saying “oh, this just gives the films series’ actions no consequences, because people can just come from a different universe to replace other characters.
Really? The comics have been doing that for decades, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is based on comics! To offer a comparison you could look at the Gandalf situation from the Lord Of The Rings films – Gandalf the grey/ Gandalf the white. Sorry, spoiler there for a film series that’s from the decade before the last!
I actually think that the “surprise” characters (not that much of a surprise) were really good for the most part, especially the recast from a previously owned by Fox property, and I think that one character from a Marvel television series was spot on in this incarnation, even with the same actor in place.
I can hazard a guess at a “surprise” film coming soon that will be announced. I’d be surprised if it’s a one film only deal for little more than a cameo.
And now for the biggest issue that’s going around – Wanda!
How to approach this without spoiling anything?.. WARNING – this is a Wandavision spoiler!
At the end of Wandavision she heard the screams of her kids allegedly from another universe, and she had got her hands on the Darkhold book. Where would that lead?
Agatha Harkness from Wandavision was corrupted by the book, and people have picked up on the fact that director Sam Raimi hadn’t seen Wandavision before writing and directing this film.
How could he have? It wasn’t even released before physical filming had completed for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, much less scripted.
My take then is that it isn’t a perfect film, but it’s a busy film, that has so much going on. While one or two elements are gone over too much, other elements are rushed. The part where Wanda was introduced was rushed and could have been built up more, to allow for what followed.
The later sequence with the Illuminati (that’s in the trailers) could have been worked better with an extra five or six minutes, and more growth, if truth be told, because that also seemed rushed.
Now I’m going to say something that might surprise people. I think what this film needs is another fifteen minutes or so to help with the pacing of the film, and to get some points across better, because it’s incredibly fast paced at some points where it needs in those areas to slow down so that we keep track, as well as to give some side characters a bit more depth.
As an extra point, the classic Sam Raimi scares are fabulously executed (pun unintended), showing his innate genius at staging, editing, and feel. You don’t need to see something to know what happened, especially when it’s filmed so perfectly!
Anyway, as I said at the beginning I think this is a four out of five, and I know that isn’t what everyone thinks. What can I say, it’s zombie horses for courses!
Extra info – Wandavision does lead into this. Also, although not essential, the Disney animated series What If might help with a couple of bits. Also, there are two post film credit sequences. The first is a spoiler for the future of the MCU, and the second is probably not important in the future of the MCU, but is brilliant (thank you Bruce Campbell).
The Marv Zone 