Redhawk Reel Review: Multiverse of Madness

In the past couple of years, many superhero films and shows have been pushed into the forefront of the entertainment industry. We’ve seen our fair share of both terrible and universally-praised superhero movies, but Marvel’s newest film has divided critics from the public. "Multiverse of Madness," released in May 2022, has an interesting setup for Marvel’s future movies: it sets up the multiverse.

"Multiverse of Madness" was directed by Sam Raimi, who is best known for his work on the original "Spiderman" trilogy with Toby Maguire and his work on "The Evil Dead."  The movie features returning superhero Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Wong (Benedict Wong).  Within the Marvel timeline, the movie takes place after the events of "Wandavision" and "Spiderman: No Way Home."

With Marvel fans split down the middle in their reactions to the movie, I found it to be fun, entertaining, and a solid addition to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  One thing that was very enjoyable about the movie was the unique film style brought by Raimi. The camera work and cinematography has some of the most personality of all the Marvel movies, and it gave the movie its own unique character that many other films lack.  The elements of horror, including one of the best fights and some of the most brutal scenes within the MCU, make the movie thrilling.

Along with the cinematography, the acting is solid throughout the movie. Many of the scenes with Wong had me cracking up, and Cumberbatch’s snarky and sarcastic portrayal of Doctor Strange maintains the unique aspect of the character. 

This is not to say that the movie doesn’t have some problems, as it suffers from a couple tropes that don’t fully work for the movie, including a “Wait… Did They Die?” at the end of the movie, and the classic “The Power Was Inside You.”  These make for a boring end to what was an exciting climax. 

Another problem I had with the film was with Wanda’s character. [Spoiler alert for both "Multiverse" and "Wandavision"]: At the end of "Wandavision," Wanda’s character is able to get over the fact that she cannot live her dream life with Vision, who is dead, and her children, who were just made-up illusions.  But in "Multiverse," she pulls a 180º and goes on a murderous rampage across multiverses in order to gain the chance of being with her children.  I found her character arc within this movie to be a little backwards from the progress she made in "Wandavision." 

While it isn't uncommon for Marvel movies to have boring and uninteresting villains, Wanda did a good job as a villain, but her reasons for why just didn’t add up.  Overall, I did really enjoy this movie, regardless of the few mishaps with the acting in some scenes and the use of Wanda as a villain.  I would still recommend this movie to anyone, as I found the personality and character of the movie a blast to watch.  This is definitely one of my top 10 favorite Marvel movies