The Marvel films are now “largely indistinguishable dollops of digital gloop”, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph, but if you like watching a load of branded characters “wisecrack, squabble and mope while pretending to fly around and shoot fireballs”, this film should hit the spot. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Doctor Strange, a surgeon-turned-sorcerer who first turned up in the franchise in 2016. In this instalment, he gets into a scrap with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), an embittered witch who is using a book of evil spells to wreak havoc. One of the film’s main points of interest is that it’s directed by Sam Raimi, the maestro behind the Evil Dead trilogy and the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies; but although there are trademark Raimi flourishes – including “much demonic wailing” – he has stuck to the franchise’s “fussily restrictive rule set”. The result is a superficial film made in Marvel’s ubiquitous “house style, with Raimi-flavouring sprinkled on top”.
Well, I rather enjoyed the film, said Libby Purves in the Daily Mail. Yes, it’s “Marvel on amphetamines”, with “cultural references from every century, religion and Saturday matinee cliché” crammed in, but it’s also “massively entertaining” – even if, like me, “you gave up superhero movies 50 years ago”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
We Did OK, Kid: Anthony Hopkins’ candid memoir is a ‘page-turner’The Week Recommends The 87-year-old recounts his journey from ‘hopeless’ student to Oscar-winning actor
-
The Mushroom Tapes: a compelling deep dive into the trial that gripped AustraliaThe Week Recommends Acclaimed authors team up for a ‘sensitive and insightful’ examination of what led a seemingly ordinary woman to poison four people
-
Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks – a fascinating portrait of the great painterThe Week Recommends BBC2 documentary examines the rarely seen sketchbooks of the enigmatic artist
-
We Did OK, Kid: Anthony Hopkins’ candid memoir is a ‘page-turner’
The Week Recommends The 87-year-old recounts his journey from ‘hopeless’ student to Oscar-winning actor
-
The Mushroom Tapes: a compelling deep dive into the trial that gripped Australia
The Week Recommends Acclaimed authors team up for a ‘sensitive and insightful’ examination of what led a seemingly ordinary woman to poison four people
-
‘Chess’feature Imperial Theatre, New York City
-
‘Notes on Being a Man’ by Scott Galloway and ‘Bread of Angels: A Memoir’ by Patti Smithfeature A self-help guide for lonely young men and a new memoir from the godmother of punk
-
6 homes built in the 1700sFeature Featuring a restored Federal-style estate in Virginia and quaint farm in Connecticut
-
Film reviews: 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Rental Family'Feature Glinda the Good is forced to choose sides and an actor takes work filling holes in strangers' lives
-
Nick Clegg picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former deputy prime minister shares works by J.M. Coetzee, Marcel Theroux and Conrad Russell
-
Park Avenue: New York family drama with a ‘staggeringly good’ castThe Week Recommends Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston have a ‘combative chemistry’ as a mother and daughter at a crossroads
