Doctor Strange – Video Review
I had no interest in watching Doctor Strange, partly due to superhero movie fatigue and superhero origin story fatigue. Marvel have sort of spoiled us by kinda perfecting the event film. Singular hero films and introducing a new hero to their existing universe doesn’t intrigue me, and Batman Begins has ruined the possibility of doing a better origin story, this is one of the many issues with Doctor Strange, he’s not an interesting enough character to warrant an origin.
The first act is completely devoid of any heart, and it’s so obvious that they’re following a template. It also contains some atrocious exposition. There’s a scene where Cumberbatch emphasizes how bad his accident is, by asking a person. ‘Have you ever seen someone with such severe nerve damage to be cured?’ Instead of us seeing seeing him break down. Like that silent scene in The Dark Knight, when Harvey Dent wakes up.
Doctor Strange, himself seems like a hodgepodge of other MCU characters, he’s a doctor and he’s full of quips! Another quippy character in a Marvel film? Never seen that before. I also don’t think Benedict Cumberbatch was a good choice either, whereas he’s alright. This is more of a casting issue than an acting one. Cumberbatch, for me doesn’t scream superhero, he doesn’t have the the build, the physique or the personality of a super being. He seems out of place, as well. He fits in as these hyper intelligent but humble and selfless people as seen in The Fifth Estate and the incredible The Imitation Game as Julian Assange and Alan Turing. Doctor Strange is sort of a punk, and Cumberbatch can’t make him likable, because I believe even he felt out of place, especially in that first act. The script again doesn’t help, instead of humbling Strange after his accident he’s an arrogant know it all. My recommendation? Get Ewan McGregor in as Doctor Strange.
The supporting cast with the exception of Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen are pretty off as well. More specifically the female cast. Rachel McAdams, this poor woman, she can act. But they keep casting her as a clichéd love interest.
She doesn’t even get to be in complex romance stories such as Blue Valentine. She’s wasted here, and Tilda Swinton’s voice doesn’t break any Octaves, monotonous lone delivery throughout the whole film.
I was rolling my eyes throughout the whole film. It’s so transparent now. The superhero movie genre needs an overhaul, or just stick to TV. Marvel TV is better and more effective than any movie. Plus you can also feel the commercialism in the film. This film could’ve been a boat load of fun if it was rated R. But then the kids won’t be able to see it. We don’t see Doctor Strange rip someone apart with his magic or anything, we see him making circles, and mirrors. Oooooh.
However visually other things are eye pleasing. The LSD type black holes he falls through and how the images marry each other to create something completely new is the highlight of the film for me visually. There’s one scene where all of Strange’s fingers form miniature hands on each finger, and he puts his hand on his face, only for the virtual camera to zoom out and create a painting of his face made of hands. Legitimately made me smile.
Sadly it’s the only time I smiled. With that being said I’m giving Doctor Strange a final score of 2/5. An unnecessary film, and a film which tries nothing new, because it is clearly following a template. My recommendation? Stay home and pop in a Harry Potter film. You’ll feel more satisfied.
