Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness (Digital) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Marvel / Disney
Release Date: June 22, 2022 (Digital), July 26, 2022 (Physical)
Rating: PG-13
Film: 3/5

Plot
When the MCU unlocks the Multiverse, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) must enlist help from old and new allies as he traverses mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities in order to confront a surprising adversary.

Barry’s Thoughts
I just saw Dr. Strange at my Dolby Theater. I give it a “good” rating, it was fun to watch with amazing special effects and a lot of them.  The plot was a bit thin, but with everything happening who cares? It did, on occasion, have the fell of a B movie.
 
 Dr. Strange was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, in 1963 the same pair that created Spider-Man. He was originally a “filler” but grew to have a series of his own comics.  I always thought that Dr. Strange was the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe.
 
 Stan Lee 1962: Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales,  just 5 page filler named Doctor Strange. Steve Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him. T’was Steve ‘s idea, I figured we’d give it a chance, although again we had to rush the first one too much. Originally, we had decided to call him Mr. Strange, but thought the “Mr” was a little too similar to “Mr. Fantastic.”
 
 An interesting component of the movie is the search for the book of Darkhold, which is a book of magical spells.  It has many functions in the Marvel Universe but to me the most important was the Montesi Formula:  The Monk Montesi studies the book of Darkhold and develops an incantation that can destroy a vampire. It will be known in the Marvel Universe as the Montesi Formula.
 “HOLD ERASM A RABIS KATERAMA LUCEM DEI PARADOXIS SATANNICUS BELGREM.”
 
 Dr. Strange would use this formula to kill DRACULA once and for all! 
 
 
 Spoiler Alert:
 In one of the dimensions Dr. Strange meets the Illuminati, an idea which was taken from the comics.  They are Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) who was in Marvel’s recent What If Series as well as the Captain America Movie and Agent Carter on TV; Black Bolt, (Anson Mount) from Marvel’s Inhuman’s TV show; Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch )who was in the movie, but not yet the Captain Marvel; Mr. Fantastic( John Krasinski) of the Fantastic Four, but not either of the actors who played him in the Fox movies and Prof. X, once again played by Patrick Stewart.
 
 Ratings Scale
 Really Bad
 BAD
 Sit-through able
 Good
 Very Good
 Great

My Thoughts
Barry and I are going to have to diverge on this one, but I rate this somewhere between Sit-through able and BAD. While the VFX is outstanding, there’s just too much of it and the story itself is really weak and bloated. Furthermore, the focus of the story is America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who is dull as can be but has the power to travel through the multiverse, although she doesn’t know how to control it. At just over two hours, the film drags from one action scene to the next and director Sam Raimi does everything he can to get back to his horror roots.

What’s sad for me is I loved the first Doctor Strange movie and the character is fascinating to me, but for someone who is so smart, he certainly does a lot of stupid things along the way. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting too old or am on Superhero overload, but this movie just didn’t do anything for me at all.

Disney provided a digital code and I watched via Movies Anywhere in 4K with HDR plus an Atmos track. For the most part, the presentation was pleasing but I’m sure the physical disc is going to be a crowd pleaser.




Conclusion
With the new Thor movie hitting theaters, I thought I would venture out to see it on the big screen. I’ve since changed my mind after watching this. Sadly, the Marvel movies are starting to lose their luster with me, and especially my wife, so maybe we’ll go out to a nice dinner instead. I’ll have to let some time go by before I revisit this, but I just don’t think there’s enough meat on the bone to justify the two hour runtime and the endless action sequences are fatiguing.

Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS2000 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 88” 16x9 Fixed Screen
Trinnov Altitude 16 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-990
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
JL Audio Dominion F110 Subwoofer x 2
Mini DSP HD controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[Paul Heroy]

I'm more with Barry on this one. I saw it in the theater with a friend, and then at home with my wife when it popped up on Disney+ recently. 

*** SPOILERS *** 



My friend is a fan of "Peanuts" and likes when stories & characters have thematic "Peanuts moments" i.e. they learn something and develop. In this case, Dr. Strange in our universe was the only Dr. Strange who learned the lesson from the Spider-Man: No Way Home movie, that he didn't have to be the one holding the knife all the time. He had help from others who could contribute. I did have a little trouble with Wanda's turn to darkness - I felt like there was a gap between what happened at the end of WandaVision and this movie, that needed to fill in how corrupting the Darkhold is how it affected her. I also agree that the actress and character for America Chavez seemed a little lightweight - I've seen several young actresses who better conveyed a powerful or charismatic feel, for example McKenna Grace in Ghostbusters: Afterlife or Priah Ferguson in Stranger Things.

Definitely not one of the best Marvel movies, but I still enjoyed it. 

[David Vaughn]

I'm more with Barry on this one. I saw it in the theater with a friend, and then at home with my wife when it popped up on Disney+ recently.

*** SPOILERS ***



My friend is a fan of "Peanuts" and likes when stories & characters have thematic "Peanuts moments" i.e. they learn something and develop. In this case, Dr. Strange in our universe was the only Dr. Strange who learned the lesson from the Spider-Man: No Way Home movie, that he didn't have to be the one holding the knife all the time. He had help from others who could contribute. I did have a little trouble with Wanda's turn to darkness - I felt like there was a gap between what happened at the end of WandaVision and this movie, that needed to fill in how corrupting the Darkhold is how it affected her. I also agree that the actress and character for America Chavez seemed a little lightweight - I've seen several young actresses who better conveyed a powerful or charismatic feel, for example McKenna Grace in Ghostbusters: Afterlife or Priah Ferguson in Stranger Things.

Definitely not one of the best Marvel movies, but I still enjoyed it.

I may like it better in the future, but I had high hopes for it after the first Doctor Strange movie. 

[bmoney]

I really liked it. But do agree with marvel fatigue. But I still watch them all lol 

[tripplej]

I also second that this wasn't the best but it was entertaining enough..

Hopefully future releases will get better.

[SRW1000]

I haven't been thrilled with any of the Phase 4 Marvel movies.

In fact, I'm starting to think they're all part of a Not Brand Echh section of the Multiverse.  (This is an obscure reference that only Barry will be likely to get it.)

Let's move on to Phase 5, if there is one.  I'm still holding out hope that we may get a version of the Fantastic Four that comes close to the classic comics version.

Scott

[Barry]

I haven't been thrilled with any of the Phase 4 Marvel movies.

In fact, I'm starting to think they're all part of a Not Brand Echh section of the Multiverse.  (This is an obscure reference that only Barry will be likely to get it.)

Let's move on to Phase 5, if there is one.  I'm still holding out hope that we may get a version of the Fantastic Four that comes close to the classic comics version.

Scott

I got it and I loved it

[David Vaughn]

I haven't been thrilled with any of the Phase 4 Marvel movies.

In fact, I'm starting to think they're all part of a Not Brand Echh section of the Multiverse.  (This is an obscure reference that only Barry will be likely to get it.)

Let's move on to Phase 5, if there is one.  I'm still holding out hope that we may get a version of the Fantastic Four that comes close to the classic comics version.

Scott

Sheng Chi was enjoyable and the last Spiderman was outstanding and quite entertaining. 

[bmoney]

Agreed with that