Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, 7/10
Frankly I don't see what everyone is so mad about. It's an above average Marvel movie, and it comes with all the Marvel baggage you should all be used to at this point. Not that they're not valid criticisms, but you really can't act surprised at this point. I really enjoyed it, but very few of these movies would I ever rate above a 7/10. I went in for the visuals first and foremost, and the movie didn't disappoint. This reality-breaking stuff is just always done so well, and this time it's further enhanced by Raimi's style, which I was pleased to find in surprisingly plentiful amounts. This is absolutely high-end PG-13 stuff for Marvel, it's pretty intense and even graphic in places. The Evil Dead homages were obvious, but the movie never felt reliant on them or like it was "wink wink nudge nudge"-ing you. I was a bit afraid because I'd heard you'd have to have seen
What if? to understand it, but that's not the case at all. I'm sure it adds extra context, but here you can just enjoy the ride.
I don't honestly have that much to say about it. It was an enjoyable, silly romp. The script and story are the usual Marvel nonsense, the visuals are great, there's some brushing up against genuinely compelling themes, but it's no more than a scratching of the surface. Wanda's arc is rather cliché, but tolerable enough that it didn't make me roll my eyes. I actually like the fact that we've had these characters go through enough in these movies (and shows) that we can see the toll it's taken on them.
Wanda villain bad, movie sexist
I'm sorry, but I just feel that's a very bad faith interpretation of the character in
MoM. While I can see how you'd interpret it as another "woman wants babies, can't have babies, bitches be crazy aight", I think you'll have to ignore substantial and obvious character beats from her to arrive at that conclusion. I think it's pretty screamingly obvious that the desire for a family is the one consistent driving force of her character, and how she's lost hers time and time again: first in an airstrike, then her brother getting gunned down, then seeing her boyfriend die
twice in Infinity War, then in Wandavision, and yet again in Multiverse. It's a consistent cycle of loss she can't seem to break out of no matter how she tries: she tried getting vengeance in Age of Ultron, she tried moving on with Vision, she tried forcing back the clock in
Wandavision, and now she's desperate enough to essentially steal children from their parents. Now I'm not saying it's done
well, it's rather clunky in Multiverse of Madness and pretty cliché, but to paint it as some shallow "woman want baby" motivation is pretty bad faith IMO.