Basic Information#

Original Title: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Release Year: 2022
Director: 山姆·雷米
Main Cast: 本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇, 伊丽莎白·奥尔森
Genre:
IMDb Rating: N/A / 10

📝 Synopsis#

After resolving Earth’s crisis, Doctor Stephen Strange attempts to live a quiet life, only to learn about a mysterious young woman named America Chavez who possesses the power to traverse the multiverse. The dark goddess Agatha Harkness also has her eyes on this girl, forcing Doctor Strange to穿梭于 various universes, confront different versions of himself, and protect the girl from evil forces.

The madness of the Multiverse begins here, where everything we know is completely turned upside down.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 2022

😈 Sarcastic Review#

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continues Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ambitious narrative scope, but inevitably exposes the typical pitfalls of contemporary superhero films.The movie attempts to balance narrative depth with commercial entertainment, but ends up pleasing neither side sufficiently.

In terms of narrative structure, Sam Raimi employs a fragmented multiverse storytelling approach, trying to create visual spectacles through switching between different universes. However, the problems with this narrative strategy are evident—each universe’s screen time is too brief, and audiences are pulled to the next scene before they can truly immerse themselves. The plot’s advancement almost entirely depends on characters jumping between universes, lacking a clear main line of logic. The protagonist’s goal shifts from protecting America Chavez to defeating Agatha, and then inexplicably turns to fighting his own dark variant—this frequent switching of objectives makes the entire film lack a unified narrative drive.

From a directorial perspective, Sam Raimi clearly wanted to inject his signature dark atmosphere and gothic visual aesthetics into this Marvel film. The opening scene does catch the eye—Loki’s universe with its retro horror-style scene design successfully added a distinctive atmosphere to this superhero film. However, this stylistic attempt quickly drowned in Marvel’s standardized visual language. The action sequences in the second half return to Marvel’s usual light pollution-style special effects bombardment, and the unique visual imagination that once distinguished Raimi’s films disappears entirely. It’s undeniable that the film’s color palette and certain scene compositions show some aesthetic pursuit, but these highlights aren’t enough to support the entire visual system.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance remains the anchor of this film. He successfully navigates the complexity of the Doctor Strange character, especially when facing his dark variants across the multiverse—the inner struggle and fear are rendered quite layered. Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff delivers the most convincing villain performance in the film, blending the character’s pain, anger, and eventual madness together, making this character more believable than the protagonist to some extent. However, the character of America Chavez appears quite failed—she’s almost entirely reduced to a functional character, lacking any substantial character development, and it’s hard for audiences to truly empathize with her predicament.

The film’s thematic expression is ambitious, attempting to explore the concept of parallel universes and the consequences of different choices. However, these profound philosophical thoughts are ultimately handled superficially. The film raises an interesting question: if your alternate self made different choices, how would you judge them? But in the film, this question is quickly simplified into the old cliché of good versus evil. The existential dread that the multiverse should bring ultimately becomes just a convenient tool to drive the plot forward.

In summary, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a typical Hollywood blockbuster—it has gorgeous visual effects, star power, and sufficient entertainment elements, but lacks genuine emotional depth and narrative innovation. For Marvel fans, this might be a worth watching popcorn film; but for audiences expecting Sam Raimi to bring a true breakthrough to the MCU, this film might leave one somewhat disappointed. The multiverse hook is attractive, but the film ultimately doesn’t use this concept well enough to tell a truly meaningful story.

🔗 Reference Links#