I felt like this was missing something and didn't live up to the full potential it could've. Maybe it was the title, "Multiverse of Madness", maybe it was all the trailers that did a great job misleading us while also spoiling all the best parts of the movie, or maybe I just didn't like how two dimensional they made Wanda after she spent an entire show already learning how her power can hurt people and exposing everyone to her grief. How many times did Wanda need to indirectly quote Thanos before we got the point? "I call that mercy", "They'll never know..." etc.

Overall this has kind of cut down my excitement for phase 4 a bit, and coming from someone who LOVED the infinity saga that hurts and worries me to say. I feel like the movie tries to over simplify things and these were characters that aren't simple. This needed to be deeper. I feel like we needed to see Kang here, even if just for a moment or two. I feel like we needed Loki too. The only trouble with opening the multiverse can of worms is now it REALLY doesn't matter when some of these heroes are getting killed, "Oh that's just Mr Fantastic from 818, this is 6 1 whatever".

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't really good either, and with how much hype they put on it I'm let down. This needed a real villain. It's not that Scarlet Witch didn't make a good villain, it's that I didn't want to see her be one after the journey we've gone on with her, and her doing the right thing in the end doesn't excuse her murdering like a hundred people no matter what universes they were in and her logic was flawed from the start.

And where the F is "real" Mordo?

The cynical side of me wants to call this _Everything, everywhere all at once_ for consoomers.
The optimistic side of me sees Kevin Feige finally starting to push the boundaries of his own franchise.
I guess it’s a little bit of both in end.

Undoubtedly, the best thing about the movie is the Sam Raiminess of it all. His fingerprints are all over it; weird camera angles, camp, his sense of horror, etc.
Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch are giving some of their best performances as these characters to date, and the music’s really well done.
But ultimately the film’s Achilles heel is its own script, which is complete junk. The story is thin, messy, nonsensical, and at times flat out embarrassing. The set-up in the first act is very rushed, while the second act feels like it was written by a Reddit fanpage (you just know for a fact that Marvel only went in this direction because there are 2 Batmen have been announced for _The Flash_). It’s Marvel at its most ‘producty’, and it’s going to trick a lot of people into thinking the film is better than it is. A lot of the story beats don’t make sense either, with lots of the characters arcs either feeling rushed or nonsensical, even despite the copious amounts of exposition that are trying to tie everything together. The choices made with Wanda in the third act are baffling, and I still don’t know what the takeaway is supposed to be by the end of the film. The new character (America Chavez) is a boring, underdeveloped plot device. Some of the dialogue is also shockingly cheesy. There’s a speech in the third act where I challenge anyone not to not cringe during that scene. It doesn’t help either that the pacing of this film is so fast to the point where none of the writing choices being made are allowed to breathe. I’m not sure what happened, but it feels like a significant portion of this film was reworked and rewritten during the editing.
The action didn’t impress me whatsoever, but that’s been a case with these films for a while now (some of the stuff in _Shang-Chi_ excluded). Most of the movie looks tacky and unfinished, the action’s a bunch of people shooting flashing lights at each other, shots don’t linger enough, people move like animated characters, it’s all the usual bs (and this is coming from someone who thinks the action and effects in the first one are still underappreciated to this day).Inbetween the first film and the sequel, Marvel has become a machine that’s now collapsing under its own pressure. If Disney would allow it, they really should go back to making 2-3 properties a year. The consistent mediocrity of their current output is killing their own longevity.

4/10

Whilst I really did quite enjoy this - and it was great to be in a busy cinema again - it's really more of a testament to the skills of the VFX guys rather than to any of the writers. The story is really pretty thin with the engaging and confident Benedict Cumberbatch joining forces with the charismatic and feisty young Xochitl Gomez' "America" - a young lady who has been appearing in his dreams. Turns out, she can cross from one universe to another - and soon both are being sought by the mighty Elizabeth Olsen's "Wanda Maximoff" (surely a "Bond" girl?) who wants control of time so she can get back to her lost family, yada yada... Benedict Wong features sparingly, but always adds a little value as the "Sorcerer Supreme" and there are a few cameos from Charlize Theron and Sir Patrick Stewart to help prop up what is, admittedly, a pretty meagre second half. I think this multiverse strand could provide Marvel with the gift that keeps on giving, but they have got to tighten the pace up - two hours for this was just too long; the plot doesn't sustain it and though the combat scenes are nothing to the length in the "Avengers" movies; there is still far too much slack here. It does look and sound great on a big screen, though, and I am now warming to the star in the role (and his intuitive flying cape). Fun, but flawed.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/doctor-strange-multiverse-madness-spoiler-free-review

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is undoubtedly one of the most unique installments in the MCU, thanks to Sam Raimi's distinctive visual style and his impressive ability to elude the Marvel formula by seriously venturing into the horror elements. Never has a film from the cinematic universe been so violent, bloody, and terrifying.

Benedict Cumberbatch and especially Elizabeth Olsen carry the complex story about the multiverse through Michael Waldron's flawed screenplay. The balance between the various storylines could be better, America Chavez is just one MacGuffin to reach another MacGuffin, and the journey through the multiple universes only compensates for the mind-blowing visual effects.

Some personal disappointment is associated with the cameos treatment and the lack of real-location filming. Overall, more was expected from what was supposed to be Phase Four's "big movie", but it's a solid entry into the top half of the franchise."

Rating: B

This is a good movie. It's has Balderdash Crumplebutter and he's a good actor. He doesn't afraid to have grey hair in his beard and he can do **magic** to the bad guys to win.

> Do or do not, magic is not about trying.

Love it!!