I will forever defend Multiverse of Madness. Raimi was allowed to let rip on the franchise, we got horror Wanda, Deadite Strange, and so much brutality. Yet there's also a thoughtful exploration of the What If, and whether wandering these things is truly healthy, as Wong so eloquently summarises in its final moments. More universe hopping to push that title out would have been good, but I'm satisfied with what we got.

While I loved getting to see Elizabeth Olsen make Wanda a villain here, it feels like the movie took her character a step back after seeing her make it through her grief in WandaVision. For that, the movie loses a little bit in my opinion. It does, however, have some great cameos and great Strange variants. With Doctor Strange one of my least favorite corners of the MCU, I was still intrigued by the chance to see how his life is different in other universes. I also loved the introduction of America Chavez. She's sure to give high energy to Young Avengers if the project ever gets made.

I've never been a fan of Doctor Strange in particular, but I did enjoy this movie more than the first one. It's obviously a lot flashier with its cameos and multiversal travel so that's probably why, but I can't confidently say that it's a better written than the first over all. The multiverse is already a really messy concept and I definitely got lost in some of the story. It's an enjoyable enough watch with some moments that will get a reaction out of you, but I'm not rushing to revisit it anytime soon.

Did not live up to the first Doctor Strange film in my opinion. Some of the CGI was kind of strange and poorly executed and the plot was not as compelling as in the first movie. It wasn't a bad sequel, but not a phenomenal or standout one either.

It was a good movie, worth a rewatch, but not perfect.

It's astonishing how Sam Raimi could get a multiverse movie with a huge budget and turn out something this generic.

Some people may have an issue with this film, but I think it worked as a next step in Strange's story, and delivered a unique and dynamic villain with Wanda. Wanda has had her heart broken and smashed to pieces, so seeing the fallout was engaging and cathartic in some ways. Sam Raimi's direction provides a unique visual style, which again, builds on how unique and visually interesting Doctor Strange was, and the new characters like America Chavez were genuinely fun and exciting to follow. I do think some points were rushed, and there wasn't enough Multiverse in the Multiverse of Madness, but it was still enjoyable, and I felt the characters were moving authentically along their own arcs.

Gets by on the pure sauce of Sam Raimi alone. Not my favorite movie post Endgame and a bit of a stepdown from the first film narratively. Still, some incredibly creative sequences throughout. Still adore the way Raimi movies are edited. Nothing else like him in the genre.

This is one of the greatest movies I have ever watched.

In an age where the movie-making business is more transparent to movie-goers than ever before, Multiverse of Madness is through-and-through a film made because it's the next in a sequence, and it's defined by its functionality. Sami Raimi's creative choices are visually interesting, ultimately creating the best form of a movie that had to exist because it makes sense on a spreadsheet, not because anyone was creatively inspired.

While Sam Raimi brought plenty of visual flair to Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, that wasn't enough to cover up a lackluster script with largely meaningless character work and nothing done with its multiverse premise beyond a few meaningless cameos. It's not the worst MCU project to come out post-Endgame, but overall, it has to little to offer beyond some small setup for future projects.