I was incredibly excited for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when it was announced back in 2019. When I heard that it would be a horror film, I was skeptical. But when Sam Raimi signed on as director, I was completely on board. I knew him as a great director of horror through the Evil Dead trilogy (1981-1992) and as a great superhero director of superhero movies through the Spiderman trilogy (2002-2007). 

The trailers did nothing but feed into my excitement. So once I saw it I was, for lack of a better word, disappointed. I felt like they had shown everything in the trailers so nothing in it really felt new.  The soundtrack, which was done by Danny Elfman, didn’t offer anything new when it comes to memorable themes. He also neglected to use the actual Doctor Strange theme which was introduced in the first one. The editing of the film was also, dare I say, strange. Every time something interesting happened in a scene it would cut away to a scene with a completely different tone. 

The new character, America Chavez, wasn’t bad but she didn’t feel fleshed out enough. She seemed to have been overshadowed in just about every scene she was in.

The movie definitely had some upsides. For one, it’s a great looking movie. The cinematography and effects definitely help with the psychedelic vibe of the character. Then there are great performances from Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen as The Scarlet Witch. There are also some great cameos which I’m sure will please the fans. There is a mid credit scene and an after credits so be sure not to leave once the credits roll.

Overall, it wasn’t at all a bad movie, but it wasn’t all that it could’ve been. If you’re a fan of the MCU, you should definitely go and give it a watch.