Doctor Strange Review
Marvel Studios introduces their next superhero, Doctor Strange, in their newest entry in their ever-growing and ever-consuming Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the result is a been-there, done-that superhero film that is just that, until it isn’t. In other words, its a mixed bag for those who have been paying attention to the genre lately. While it does cover basically the same ground as Iron Man (2008) or more recently Ant-Man (2015), it does boast a strong cast giving good performances, some stylish direction from Scott Derrickson, and some strong visual moments, so I’ll go down the list of good and not-so-good elements about the film.
Starting out with the positives, Benedict Cumberbatch is the perfect choice to play Strange. Not only does he have the tall figure for it, he’s also got the voice. While my knowledge of the character is limited, just from seeing photos, I’d imagine he sounds just like Cumberbatch does in the film. Also good in the film is Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, Strange’s mentor and partner, well, sort of. While he’s nothing special, the film sets his character up to be more important in future installments. Perhaps the strongest performance, though, is Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, the ultimate sorcerer who introduces Strange to the mystic arts. In particular she gets a scene with Cumberbatch where they are frozen in time and discuss the future, the past, and death, and its really the strongest scene of the film. Rachel McAdams and Michael Stuhlbarg play non-mystics in the film, and both feel underutilized, especially Stuhlbarg, who gets the best payoff of the film. McAdams is there only when absolutely necessary, and is a non-player for the third act, which was kind of disappointing. Benedict Wong is also just fine in the film, and a welcome addition. One of the more promising elements of the film for me was the visuals. The way the mystics can bend time and space and everything, and it isn’t a letdown. There are plenty of trippy moments in the film and strong moments of Inception (2010) style space bending that distance it from previous superhero films. Plus, I gotta say it, the film features the best cape in cinematic history! They call it the Cloak of Levitation, and I could seriously see a spin-off short where it kicks ass! So yeah, there were some good parts to the film.
Now for some not-so good moments. First off, with the exceptions of Loki and, for me personally, Zemo from Captain America: Civil War (2016), the Marvel films really have brought let-downs for their villains, and unfortunately Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius, whose name I had to wikipedia to remember, is more of the same. He gets maybe two or three moments of dialogue to explain his motives, but otherwise he’s doing evil things because…he’s evil. When you’ve got such a strong actor as Mikkelsen, it’s a shame to see him wasted. As I mentioned off the top, the character development is almost to the beat what happened in Ant-Man and Iron Man, and you could probably throw in the other Marvel heroes, too. Then there’s one other Marvel trait: the humor. Most of the films, even my least favorites like Thor: The Dark World (2013) get the humor down really well. Doctor Strange hits a good number of jokes, but a lot of them fell totally flat for me. In particular, a whole four or five minutes of the film is devoted to the gag that one of the masters doesn’t laugh or show humorous emotions, ever, and when they finally do, it’s supposed to be gut-bustingly funny, but it isn’t. And that’s just one example.
I don’t know. The other individual moments I really liked or want to talk about disliking all come pretty close to spoiler territory, so I think I should stop here. Overall, Doctor Strange is going to end up being in the category of my least favorite Marvel films. I’m not a big fan of Iron Man 2 (2010), The Incredible Hulk (2008), the previously mentioned Thor 2, and I also think Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) isn’t quite as good as others say, and I put this one in the same category: it’s got its moments, its got some good performances, and it manages to entertain during its runtime, but otherwise it’s nothing too special. The film sets up the idea that Strange can be a fun character to have around in future Marvel films, and that some of the supporting characters could have key roles coming up, so at least they’ve got that going for them. In the meantime, I say the good and mystic Doctor is fine. Not bad, not great, just plain fine.
My rating: 7/10.
