Doctor Strange is
the fourteenth feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this time
following the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Stephen Strange. This film is directed by
Scott Derrickson and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel
McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. The basic premise of
the film is that we meet Stephen Strange, a talented neurosurgeon, who loses
his ability to be a surgeon after his hands are crushed in a car accident and
he ventures to Kathmandu where he discovers a world of magic, sorcery, and
multiple dimensions. I thought that this film was quite strong, enjoyable, and
interesting but not perfect.
There’s a lot of good to say about Doctor Strange. The first
thing many will notice (and rightly so) are the astounding visuals in the film.
These were incredibly well done, trippy, and just extremely interesting. There
are plenty of interesting fractal and kaleidoscope effects that are wonderful
from an art design perspective, but I think the best effects work was with the
very Inception-esque city effects,
the art design of other dimensions, and with the non-magic effects. These push
so many boundaries and look incredible on-screen. I found myself feeling wowed
multiple times with what they were doing both in terms of its boldness and overall
quality. I would also note that the cinematography generally was quite striking
in this film and, though it fits with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it looks a
lot better than many of the films in that universe.
The performances in this film are also top-notch. This film
is attempting to sell some really weird and strange comic book concepts and it
needed the actors to deliver weird lines well and get into convoluted concepts without
losing the audience. They accomplished that. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent
as Doctor Strange (and it may be one of the best performances in the MCU as a
whole) and makes you really buy in. He is additionally supported by a cast that
really brings it as well. Tilda Swinton nailed her role as the Ancient One,
Rachel McAdams was incredibly real and worked well for her limited role, and
Chiwetel Ejiofor brought some solid emotion to the film that made it work
extremely well.
The last thing I really want to compliment in this film was
how unapologetic it was for being a comic book property. It does have a veneer
of humor and relatability that will make this work as a film but it didn’t back
away from the weird concepts. It just went for it. Throwing out crazy terms
like the Eye of Agamotto, the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr, the Dark Dimension,
etc. was fascinating and it was cool to see a general audience, who would
normally not be receptive to such things, eat them up. I think this furthers
comic book movies in a way other films don’t by taking chances that paid off
for me (and seemingly for the audience I was with as well). The film also has
two stellar end credit scenes (one of the best duo of scenes I’ve seen).
This film wasn’t perfect though. For starters, I thought
that a lot of the supporting characters (including the villain) didn’t quite
have enough to do. They all worked for what they were and were clearly drawn
characters but they didn’t have enough screen time or enough to do. I really
felt like a few characters could have used a cool moment to further their
development or to just make the film more effective. I also found the first act
(and a good portion of the second act) felt extremely rushed. I would have
loved to stay with non-magic Stephen Strange longer to get more from that
character and take the training a bit more deliberative. The film is just under
two hours with credits and moves at a good clip and I think if it had fifteen
minutes to half an hour more it could have felt more real and worked more as a
film.
Overall, I highly enjoyed Doctor Strange. It’s not a perfect
movie by any extent (nor one of Marvel’s best necessarily) but it is solid
throughout, extremely captivating, and well-acted. Check the film out and see
it in IMAX 3D if you have the chance. The optimization for IMAX looked really
good despite some of the weirder aspect ratios used occasionally.
Ryan’s Score: 8/10
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