How to remain objective when Marvel Studios continues to hit
every movie out of the ballpark?
Doctor Strange is another Marvel property I am not too
familiar with. It has been in this last
year that I started reading Doctor Strange material in preparation for this
movie. However, Marvel has continued to
show their intestinal fortitude in taking their unfamiliar properties like
Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and now Doctor Strange and making them stand
their own ground in the shadow of the Marvel titans like Captain America, Iron
Man, and Thor.
Was Doctor Strange the best Marvel movie released? No, not when stacked up against Captain
America: Winter Soldier and Civil War.
However, it stands apart from these tales in the fun it has with its
story and characters, and the changing of the genre from superhero action to
sorcery-tripping magic. There are not
complicated fight scenes with the hero throwing down with some krav maga;
however, it is replaced with cerebral fighting.
The tagline Doctor Strange has been using of “open your mind” is a must
to watch this because if you enter into this movie expecting the same as what
has come before then you will be disappointed.
Marvel continues to score high on their casting
choices. Robert Downey, Jr., is Tony Stark
a.k.a. Iron Man. Chris Evans is Steve
Rogers a.k.a. Captain America. Now
Benedict Cumberbatch is indeed the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange. Cumberbatch is always a fantastic actor to
watch on screen and to watch him embody this role of one of Marvel’s weirdest
characters is a treat to watch.
Seriously, Benedict Cumberbatch could have just spent two hours on
screen reading the Harry Potter books and I would be okay with it. Add to the cast of Doctor Strange with Serenity actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as the
future Strange villain Mordo and those two alone could carry the whole
movie. Ejiofor provided a solid mentor
role for Doctor Strange, and with the limited time he had showed the potential
for villainy he will soon inhabit. I
foresee Ejiofor’s Mordo becoming a great Marvel villain in line with Tom
Hiddleston’s Loki. He’s that good folks.
The story was straight-forward, and although the effects
were trippy the story stayed consistent throughout the film. There can be some minor complaints about the
film’s film played by Mads Mikkelsen; however, the clever way in which this
film ended the conflict between protagonist and antagonist was fresh and in
line with Doctor Strange. There have
been a lot of complaints about Marvel’s weak villains in comparison with the
strong heroic characters; however, when there is only one villain in a 2-2.5-hour
movie, the villain will rarely get a chance to shine brighter than the
hero. However, like Loki is enough time
is given for the villain to develop then this complaint becomes invalid. I foresee that with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mordo.
The Inception-like
effects were exactly as promised. I
loved the action sequences with the buildings folding in on themselves and the
characters fighting on planes of existence that makes Penrose’s “Impossible
Staircase” somehow easy to transverse. The
opening fight sequence between Tilda Swinton’s The Ancient One and Mads
Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius and his disciples set the stage for the type of fighting
this movie would introduce into the Marvel Universe. I can only imagine the mind-blowing fight
scenes Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will bring when he collides with the
Avengers in later films.
This film was everything I wanted Doctor Strange to be and
then some. Marvel shows no signs of
slowing down as they continue to introduce newer and lesser known
characters. I am excited for the release
of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and of course Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.
This film is kid-friendly with only minor language
issues. There is one decapitation scene
but it is shown through shadows and not directly visualized.
Overall, I enjoyed Doctor Strange. There were some life lessons in this film
that I was able to apply in my current personal life. When a fictional story can relate to the
viewer, it just surpassed the realm of normal film.
Surrender your ego.
Open your mind. Go see this
movie. You will not be disappointed.
