Doctor Strange 2 Reviews Call Raimi's MCU Movie Unique, But Frantic

The first reviews for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are officially in, as critics share their impressions of the Benedict Cumberbatch-led film. One of the most anticipated projects in Phase 4 has been Doctor Strange 2, which will continue Marvel Studios' exploration of the Multiverse. Since the start of Phase 4, the MCU has been going deeper into exploring alternative realities, but also variants of many MCU heroes. This formed the core story of last year's box office mega-hit, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which serves as a jumping off point for Multiverse of Madness' narrative.

Multiverse of Madness will continue to go deeper into the Multiverse while also continuing Strange's saga. While No Way Home set the bar high for a nostalgic and exciting plot that brought in past Marvel characters, Doctor Strange 2 is expected to surpass the Spider-Man film in its ramifications for the wider MCU. Like most Marvel films, Multiverse of Madness has been shrouded in secrecy, but it's known that the film will see Strange team up with Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and MCU newcomer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), with Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong) also returning. There has also been plenty of speculation regarding the rumored Marvel variants that could potentially appear. While audiences will definitely see variants of Stephen, Wanda, and many more, the confirmed return of Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier/Professor X has increased interest around possible cameos.

On May 6, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will finally be released in theaters in multiple countries. As usual, members of the press were able to see the Doctor Strange sequel in advance. Now, the first batch of critical reviews is rolling out, giving audience members early impressions. Check out several spoiler-free samples of what reviewers are saying about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness below:

Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is solid overall, if not particularly game-changing. The film is focused primarily on its plot that it forgets to give the characters save for Wanda any real development. The pacing moves quickly and, while there is never a boring moment, there are several points where the story could have slowed just a bit to allow for more relationship building amongst characters. It’s a major weak point in an otherwise serviceable film. The sequel introduces enough information to progress the MCU’s future while telling a relatively close-ended story, but what sets Doctor Strange 2 apart are its aesthetic and horror elements, which makes one glad Raimi decided to helm it."

Ross Bonaime, Collider

"Recently, the MCU has prioritized stories that are more closed off and narrow in their scope, be it with shows like Moon Knight and Loki, or in films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Widow, that focus on a specific part of this massive universe. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness goes in the opposite direction, attempting to tie together loose threads and show the scale and possibilities of this world, and the film just can’t balance all of these many spinning plates effectively. While the MCU’s interconnected nature was once one of this universe’s strengths, now, it almost suffocates what Raimi is trying to do here. As a film that highlights Raimi’s talents as both a director of distinct superhero stories, and idiosyncratic horror tales, Doctor Strange works. Yet as a larger piece in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Multiverse of Madness starts to show the cracks in trying to continually attempt to build and one-up what came before."

David Ehrlich, IndieWire

"Does “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” feature a scene in which [redacted] has their [redacted] so when they say [redacted] the young kid sitting behind me screamed? Hell yes. What a perfect moment in a film about innocence lost, and the things we find to replace it — a film about broken people who are searching for the strength to get by without the things that made them what they are, in a franchise that has finally started to figure out how to do precisely that."

Dan Jolin, Empire

"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."

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

"The film was directed by Sam Raimi, making his first movie in 9 years (after the mediocre 2013 smash “Oz the Great and Powerful”), and in a number of scenes you feel the companionable spirit and shifting imagistic flair he showed in the first two “Spider-Man” films. It’s amusing to see him feature the Illuminati as a kind of skewed-reality superhero team, or stage a duel fought with literal musical notes (a scene in which Danny Elfman’s “Night on Bald Mountain”-meets-doom-rock score excels). Olsen’s performance generates an operatic fire even as she’s styled like a barefoot mom soaked in Carrie White’s blood."

Justin Change, LA Times

"Raimi’s sheer passion for his material can sometimes overwhelm the coherence of his storytelling, and his unfashionable sincerity doesn’t always mesh with the breezy quip-a-minute tone that is the Marvel enterprise’s preferred comic idiom. I mean those both as compliments. Some overly busy cross-cutting and a few flubbed punchlines are a small price to pay for a filmmaker with enough of a vision to make you briefly forget that you’re watching another assembly-line product. That may not sound terribly inspiring, but in the context of an overall series where movie magic seizes hold only in fits and starts, it can feel downright heroic."

Many of the reviews do highlight Raimi's expertise in the horror genre which, unlike the first installment, is a massive factor in Multiverse of Madness. Given that the MCU has kept things fairly family-friendly up until Phase 4, it's intriguing to hear that Doctor Strange 2 is taking on a significantly scarier approach. With the unlimited potential of Doctor Strange's mythology, it's a plus for the sequel to explore that additional layer. Whether or not most audience members will connect with such a big jump from the usual MCU tone remains to be seen.

Something that is noted in several of the Multiverse of Madness reviews is the potential lack of character development. Despite seemingly having some major Marvel cameos, it does sound like the MCU film's "frantic" and "messy" nature risks losing sight of its core characters' stories. Of course, this may be one thing that critics agree on and general audience members see very differently when the film hits theaters, with Multiverse of Madness' impressive ticket pre-sales guaranteeing a large viewership. One thing that is for certain is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be a game-changer as Marvel Studios continues to get deeper with the Multiverse.

MORE: Doctor Strange 2 Is Finally Completing Scarlet Witch's Age Of Ultron Revenge

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