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(From left) Rachel McAdams, Benedict Cumberbatch and Xochitl Gomez in a still from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (category IIA), directed by Sam Raimi. Chiwetel Ejiofor co-stars. Photo: Marvel Studios

Review | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness movie review: Benedict Cumberbatch returns for Sam Raimi’s head-spinning adventure sequel

  • In his second solo outing, Doctor Strange teams up with a young girl pursued by a demonic force who covets her ability to bounce across the multiverse
  • Full of delightful cameos and one sequence that’s a true Marvel highlight, the movie will also have fans of Sam Raimi’s early low-budget works cheering

4/5 stars

The Darkhold, Dreamwalking, Incursions, Gap Junction… wait, what? Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure and the second solo outing for Benedict Cumberbatch’s time-bending mystic, comes packed with a head-spinning array of Marvel mythology. You might need to consult a Wiki page to help you through it.

But the good news is, Sam Raimi is at the helm. The director who brought us the original Spider-Man trilogy, with Tobey Maguire, undertakes his first official MCU movie – and thankfully makes it his own by the end.

The film takes place after Spider-Man: No Way Home, when the multiverse – alternate parallel realities, if you prefer – was cracked open. This time, Cumberbatch’s Doctor Stephen Strange meets America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a young girl from another dimension who enters his world, swiftly followed by a giant one-eyed octopus.

Strange saves her from the creature, learning that a demonic force covets her unique abilities to bounce across the multiverse. “We could use an Avenger,” he says, corralling the help of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), though things don’t quite pan out the way he hopes.

As friends become foes, Raimi’s film is like a twisted trip into an Escher painting – particularly when Strange and America are sucked through the multiverse in a brilliant sequence that is a true highlight in the Marvel canon, with the pair spinning through a dizzying array of worlds, even as cartoon and “paint” figures.

Elizabeth Olsen in a still from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Photo: Marvel Studios
America has been to 72 different realities, including the New York where they end up, where “red means go” on traffic lights. Strange, however, must get used to the idea that he’s in a world where another version of him exists – as well as Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), his love interest from the 2016 movie.

While there are some delightful cameos to come – it’s definitely worth staying off the internet to avoid spoilers – the film does enter a sticky patch around the 90-minute mark, as multiverse madness sets in.

But as Strange must overcome his own arrogance to save the day, so Raimi performs his own time-travel conjuring for a final act that will have fans of his early career in low-budget gore cheering. Recalling his debut The Evil Dead and the more recent Drag Me to Hell, the film goes plenty bonkers in the final reel.
Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Photo: Marvel Studios

“It’s not my first weird trip,” Strange says. No, but it’s a highly enjoyable one.

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