Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Reviews Round-Up: What Did The Critics Think?

"The real hero in Multiverse of Madness isn't a person; it's the visuals — particularly the way Raimi and his team depict mind-rending magical abilities, ones that obey no wands or Harry Potter-like pig-Latin incantations. Director Scott Derrickson leaned on shifting kaleidoscope worlds and Inception-esque landscapes for the original Doctor Strange. But once a single sequence nodding at that film's fractal magic visuals is out of the way, Multiverse of Madness completes a full transformation into Sam Raimi's House of Magical Spooks and Monsters."

"Fortunately, the movie's last act is its best. Though never as darkly weird as its Lovecrafty title promised, Madness starts to play more to Raimi's strengths — it's looser, more kinetic and occasionally goofy despite the big stakes — and to offer some visions that may stick in viewers' heads even after they've started devouring trailers for stories set in Wakanda, Asgard and the Quantum Realm."

"If there's one thing Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness accomplishes, it's putting the final nail in the coffin of the idea that directors aren't allowed to put their distinct stylistic stamps on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Filmmakers like James Gunn, Taika Waititi, and Chloe Zhao all offered their respective MCU movies their quintessential style, of course, but there's something about this newest chapter that feels like it's screaming that these films are becoming the rule, not the exception."

"Madness" won't give any young "Avengers" fans lasting nightmares but the dark horror fantasy goes to some creepy places visually with sinister delights sprinkled amid the more expected events of an overstuffed Marvel project. The new "Doctor Strange" grabs the multiversal baton from the excellent "Spider-Man: No Way Home," though veers from its strongest story line at times for callbacks and nods to the future."

"However, for a movie called Multiverse of Madness, there isn't much of the "multiverse" or "madness" to really speak of. There are different universes, but not nearly as many as you would think. And there is some madness, but it's not the kind of mind trip where everyone is questioning their very sense of reality that is suggested by a title like that."

"Now Strange has to get his formidable head around the multiverse, a universe of infinite alternative possibilities – and this idea, which other movies have treated with tiresome stoner-seriousness, is handled with cheerful humour and boisterously surreal melodrama."

"Multiverse of Madness employs two powerful assets for Strange's latest outing: Sam Raimi and Elizabeth Olsen. Raimi easily slips back into his horror filmmaking roots and manages to infuse this sequel with as much horror as the MCU allows him. The script by Loki writer Michael Waldron lets demons and zombies run amok, but Raimi takes it a step further with his physical horror and horror-comedy sensibilities"

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a Marvel movie, with all the requisite action and special effects and surprise cameos that entails, but it is also a Sam Raimi movie through and through. It's about tortured heroes who must battle the forces of unholy evil — along with dark versions of themselves. It's got all-powerful books that might bring about the end of the world. It's got a zombie or two. It has surprisingly intense horror and violence for a PG-13 rated movie. And, maybe most importantly, it feels like the work of a gifted director; a guy who knows how to tell a story through camera placement and movement, music, and point-of-view editing."

"The Multiverse Of Madness is noisy, frantic and at times a little messy, but it's never less than entertaining. The MCU faithful will cheer its numerous call-backs; Raimi-heads will groove on its Raiminess; and we suspect even those bewildered, unprimed viewers will at least appreciate the way it 100 per cent lives up to its title."

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the latest in the ever-evolving string of Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters and Disney+ television shows, is the first to let the idea of the multiverse truly flourish. After years of the franchise incrementally teasing the idea of the onscreen Avengers crossing over with other universes, Multiverse of Madness ambitiously kicks that door wide open, and it does so in a unique and decisive fashion. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is unpredictable, inventive, and undoubtedly mesmerizing — and the MCU is better off for it."