I’m going to try to not include any spoilers in this mini review
Throughout the Infinity Gauntlet saga, people would always point out how powerful the Scarlet Witch is, and how the MCU version of her is so much weaker than the comic versions of her. Well in Multiverse of Madness, she’s completely set loose. There was a lot of intrigue surrounding this movie. What it would look like, what the ramifications would be, who would be introduced etc. Going in this really felt like the official introduction of the next phase of the MCU. Let’s get into it.
First things first, my issue with magic characters in general is the power scaling. Wanda, and to a lesser extent, Dr. Strange, both have seemingly unlimited power. Shooting magic lasers, and conjuring weapons/various items, is one thing, but warping reality the way Wanda has done several times in the show Wandavision, as well as this movie, is just a bit much for me. It’s hard for me to get fully invested in a character that literally can create life with just a thought. That being said, this movie takes advantage of these characters’ abilities with a lot of creative, visually impressive scenes. When I went to see the movie, it was after a long day of work, but the cinematography of the movie kept me engaged. The storyline was pretty basic, but you don’t have to have a super complex story to have a good movie. You just have to make sure everything flows, and makes sense, and I would say it did in this movie for the most part.
Another thing I really like is the overall tone of the movie. Most MCU movies are evenly split between comedy and action. The heroes always make time for a few snarky quips while they’re in the middle of trying to save lives. That aspect is still present in this movie, but it takes more of a backseat. I remember a few years ago seeing rumors that this movie would be more like a horror movie which I thought was interesting at the time. It’s hard to imagine a universe like the MCU having horror elements within it, but I think this movie successfully delivers on that statement. I wouldn’t call this movie a horror movie, but there are certainly strong horror elements. Elizabeth Olson continues her great work from Wandavision in this movie. She portrays a dark, demented, dangerous character that could’ve been a villain from The Conjuring. The MCU is known for its somewhat predictable formula. I appreciate this movie for trying to be different.
Speaking of things that are out of the norm for MCU movies, the amount of blood and gore shown in this movie is more than you’ll see in most MCU movies. This fact seems to be slightly polarizing as there are some people who have said that it’s too much. In my opinion, I expected there to be more. I always thought the bloodless deaths in these movies was kind of dumb, so I appreciate the merciless murders in this one. One of my favorite things in movies is when it shows the antagonist just absolutely wrecking the hopelessly outmatched people trying to stop them. It makes it more impactful and impressive when the protagonist eventually triumphs. There’s a scene like that in this movie that’s seemingly an homage to the Amazon tv show Invincible.
Another thing I thought was interesting about this movie was how disconnected it feels from the rest of the MCU. It felt more like a live action version of one of the What If episodes than a normal MCU move. I found myself questioning the canonical significance of some of the events that transpired. For that reason, this is one of the rare MCU movies where you really don’t need to watch any other prior Marvel movies/tv shows to enjoy. I guess watching Wandavision would help, but they do a good enough job explaining that part of the story within the movie. There’s also not a lot from the first Dr. Strange movie that you’d need to know for this movie. Despite how disconnected it feels at times, this movie still manages to introduce a couple of cool cameos, and intriguing potential storylines for future MCU movies.
This is a unique movie that’s pretty easy to enjoy. America Chavez and Dr. Strange proved to be serviceable protagonists, although the emphasis was definitely placed more on Wanda. It’ll be interesting to see the ramifications of this movie.
My rating: 7.5/10
Just some guy on the internet 