Alexander Brown

Pixar knocked it out of the park. Better than the first movie! No spoilers. I'll try to make some commentary but also keep this review ambiguous, indirect, and general (to minimize the likelihood of spoilers). SUPER good antagonist. You worry about what's going to happen to Riley. It keeps the heroes on their toes throughout the entire film. The movie is super intense and exhilarating. Perfectly maintained the character growth Joy and Sadness went through in the first movie. A ton of old concepts are revisited. A few new ones are introduced; it keeps everything fresh yet still recognizable. Riley as a whole is probably the most relatable and understandable protagonist ever made by Disney. You get an even deeper look at her thought process and the way she makes decisions. She's growing up, and you get the sense the decisions she makes matter a whole lot more now (that's what growing up is like). While her emotions play an important role in her decisions, the film recognizes that they can't control everything. In other words, Riley and all of her emotions feel much more distinct and separate. than they did in the first film. They influence her actions, but don't completely control her or dominate her life... for the most part (you'll know what I'm referring to after watching it). From a narrative standpoint, Riley's tendency and ability to act more independently of her emotions (in the beginning of the film at least) has a ton of symbolic interpretations. She's continuously building an identity and sense of self that's independent of (but still influenced by) the emotions. I don't want to directly spoil things, so see the movie for yourself. This movie is a rollercoaster of emotion. It's on the same level of quality and imagination as the first movie, WALL-E, and Monsters Inc. Must watch.

SPOILERS AHEAD The story is good, characters are quite good, CGI is amazing, and there are many delightful/unexpected surprises. The visual surrealism from 2016's Dr. Strange is also in this movie, but some of it was traded for horror/frightening moments (a fair trade off which gives us something new). Eilzabeth Olsen's acting really enriches every scene she is in. Strange, Chavez, and Maximoff are all relatable and have emotional profundity. The use of magic musical notes in the fight between the two Stranges was very creative. In some ways, this movie is a breath of fresh air. My only criticism is how the story writers butchered Wanda's character (literally and figuratively). In WandaVision, we got an in-depth look at Wanda's character. We saw a person that earnestly tried to escape reality to pursue happiness, only to come to terms with grief and then rectify her wrongdoings that were unintentionally caused by seeking that happiness. This earned the audience's empathy, but that empathy is gradually thrown out the window throughout the course of Multiverse of Madness. Every time Wanda kills someone in pursuit of a happy life with Timmy and Tommy (something she had seemingly sacrificed by the end of WandaVision) the person watching the movie feels torn in two. Her redemption arc at the end of the movie felt rushed, as it could have and should have been done much better. Many people were simply unwilling to accept Wanda as the movie's main villain. Obviously, this IS NOT Elizabeth Olsen's fault. In my opinion, the clever way she played the character partially compensated for story writers' poor integration of the character. On an unrelated note, you need to have seen (at least) WandaVision, the original Dr. Strange movie, Infinity War, and Endgame to fully appreciate this movie. A general familiarity with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not necessary to enjoy the movie; it's still a great movie without any prior context. But on average, people who have been keeping up with the MCU tend to like this film more than those who have not.

This movie is good, only if you didn't see the original animated Mulan. They took out all the songs and completely altered Mulan's character. They split Li Shang into 2 characters. They replaced Mushu. That being said, It's kind of unfair to give it a one star review. It should not be compared to the original. It's it's own unique thing. The rumors about the idealogical leftist bias were suprisingly incorrect. It's a good movie. Don't write a harsh review without watching it. However, I find it appaling that Disney charged $30 to see it when it came out. The way Disney executed the production and release was really not nice, but the movie itself is really good.