Brandon’s Entertainment Review for

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

In theaters now

One thing that the Marvel universe has done well (other than making multi million dollar box office hits) is the range of genres.  There are even doses of comedy, action, thrill rides, drama and more predominantly featured in the latest Doctor Strange sequel… horror!  Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda (aka Scarlett Witch) battle it out in Sam Raimi’s directorial reprise since the original Spiderman trilogy starring Tobey Macguire.  Raimi’s aesthetically arresting style, channeling the horror stylings of The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, sets this latest installment apart from the rest.

We join Doctor Strange after the events of Spiderman: No Way Home, having encountered a mysterious traveler “America Chavez” (an excellent Xochitl Gomez) who reached our version of Earth after being chased across multiverses by a mysterious unknown entity. Strange, alongside the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong (Benedict Wong) embark on a journey across the known and unknown universe and across the legends of sorcery and witchcraft to get to the truth, recruiting “Scarlett Witch” (Olsen), still reeling after her tumultuous sojourn in the Disney+ series, “Wanda Vision”.  Prior to seeing this film, I was told that it’d be smart to have seen the entirety of the Wanda Vision series  Having not watched the whole series myself, I was still able to put the context together setting the stage for Wanda’s turn to the “dark hold.”

Some listeners mentioned that the Doctor Strange viewing experience could be elevated with the help of consuming mushrooms prior to.  While I agree, I would also say that psychedelics are not necessary as the visuals provide an accurate depiction of a solid mushroom trip.  At some points, as the characters are traveling between throughout the multiverse, the mind bending imagery triggered flashbacks to mushroom or LSD trips I’ve had in the past.  Groovy!

The Doctor Strange sequel is a hard PG-13 rating and I’d suggest that it might be too intense for younger children.  Some of the scenes are heavy on the horror and the Scarlett Witch battling it out with “Zombie Doctor Strange” could be nightmare inducing.

The hype is real for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and will definitely be in the future rotation for repeat viewings.  Two thumbs up!!