Hello dear reader. So after a brief intermission of about two months, it’s time to write one of those blog thingys and tell you all about a film a watched, whilst in Australia. The being in Australia bit isn’t really that important to the review, but it is worth stating for the record that the film in question didn’t have any extra CGI kangaroos inserted in it. Nor did it have anyone wandering around in the background, wearing those charming hats with corks hanging from them. I’m very happy to report that the film seemed to be unaltered or molested in any way at all and the audience, for the most part, were a nice bunch of Bruce’s and Sheila’s who did not encroach on my viewing pleasure at all. As you can tell from the poster above, the film in question is Marvels Doctor Strange and for those of you who are keeping score, it’s the fourteenth film set in the MCU.
Doctor Sherlock, sorry Strange, is a bit of an odd character. Prior to him becoming a superhero he is a surgeon by trade who is the best in the world at what he does. Couple that with an ego the size of Saturn and an all-encompassing attitude that is two parts ‘superiority complex’, one part ‘money fixes everything’ and a little dash of ‘extrovert’, he does come across as a hard person to like at the start. Things take a bit of a literal left turn for Strange when he crashes his car on the way to an awards dinner, being thrown in his honour. His hands, which are his stock in trade, get broken to the point of almost complete destruction and to cut a long story short, Strange can no longer perform as a surgeon, due to his inability to hold anything, let alone a scalpel, without his hands shaking uncontrollably. This obviously doesn’t go down to well with Strange. His surgical ability was the cornerstone of his powerbase and his happiness. Desperate to be allowed back into the operating theatre, Strange exhausts every avenue, looking for his golden ticket and the means to become whole again. Just as he is about to give up he is told about a patient that had been crippled and then one day waked past the doctor who had been treating him. Strange tracks this patient down and before you can say ‘one way ticket to the Far East please’ he buys a one way ticket to the Far East.
What follows is a fun and visual impressive journey into redemption and realisation that he isn’t the centre of the universe. A journey of discovery that covers the mystic arts, a bit of psychedelia and some alternative dimensions thrown in for good measure. Now to go into the plot any further than that would spoil most of the movie itself. That said, it is, for the most part, an enjoyable watch. There are a few things I would have liked to have seen done differently. Namely, the car crash is a little bit too graphic for my tastes and I suspect it may not be overly popular with parents who take their children to see it either. There’s also problem with the third act. Again, without giving away too much regarding the plot, I will say that Marvel have just reverted to ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it’ and have based the final showdown between Strange and the film’s big bad (more of that later) around a city in peril. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the setup and execution is always exactly the same but since 2012 Avengers Assemble, there have only been three films in the MCU (Iron Man 3, Ant-Man & Captain America: Civil War) that haven’t had their finale based either in, around or above a majorly populated city. Funnily enough, the director of the next and last (if Hugh Jackman is to be believed) Wolverine film, James Mangold, has stated recently that, with regards to his film, now called Logan; ‘if you’re looking for a gravity defying, city block destroying, cgi fuckathon, this ain’t your movie’.
What follows is a fun and visual impressive journey into redemption and realisation that he isn’t the centre of the universe. A journey of discovery that covers the mystic arts, a bit of psychedelia and some alternative dimensions thrown in for good measure. Now to go into the plot any further than that would spoil most of the movie itself. That said, it is, for the most part, an enjoyable watch. There are a few things I would have liked to have seen done differently. Namely, the car crash is a little bit too graphic for my tastes and I suspect it may not be overly popular with parents who take their children to see it either. There’s also problem with the third act. Again, without giving away too much regarding the plot, I will say that Marvel have just reverted to ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it’ and have based the final showdown between Strange and the film’s big bad (more of that later) around a city in peril. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the setup and execution is always exactly the same but since 2012 Avengers Assemble, there have only been three films in the MCU (Iron Man 3, Ant-Man & Captain America: Civil War) that haven’t had their finale based either in, around or above a majorly populated city. Funnily enough, the director of the next and last (if Hugh Jackman is to be believed) Wolverine film, James Mangold, has stated recently that, with regards to his film, now called Logan; ‘if you’re looking for a gravity defying, city block destroying, cgi fuckathon, this ain’t your movie’.
It is a testament to Kevin Feige and Marvel that their movies have, over the last eight years, garnered the reputation that they have. The fact that, for all intents and purposes, they are ‘just’ comic book movies and as such aren’t likely to win anyone an Oscar or any other notable awards for that matter. The scripts aren’t going to push back the boundaries of acting, nor are they likely to require much in the way of emotional range but that hasn’t stopped people like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofer and Rachel McAdams, who are all Oscar nominees, jumping on board this little celluloid special effects train. And if that wasn’t enough, you can also add Mads ‘Hannibal’ Mikklesen, Benjamin Bratt and Benedict Wong into the mix as well. However, the one acting quota where Doctor Strange does fall down and fall down spectacularly is giving its female characters something to do. Sure, Tilda Swinton plays an important part and helps anchor the movie but as far as I can remember she barely has any interaction with any other female roles, let alone talking to them and Rachel McAdams doesn’t fare much better either. Her character is at best treated like if someone had asked her if she fancied the idea of cameoing in a Marvel movie. I do have high hopes for Brie Larson in 2019’s Captain Marvel and that it won’t just be a token character /performance, stuck in the middle of a testosterone overdose, whilst a passing city succumbs to the ravages of wondering bad guy, but I guess only time will tell…
So I’ll finish off with a few other bits and pieces regarding Doctor Strange that I would like to bring to your attention. Firstly, Benedict Wong plays a character simply called Wong, which is probably just one of those unlucky coincidences but just seems very lazy screenwriting to me. Secondly, if they could actually make it I would happily go on the record and say that the cloak of levitation would be at the top of most people’s Christmas list. Thirdly, the visual effects are spectacular but I couldn’t help thinking that at times it looked like a carbon copy of Inception. Lastly the aforementioned bid bad of the movie is an interdimensional entity that is quite keen on the earth being part of his planet collection. This struck me as a bit odd that and again I’m going from memory here, so forgive me if I’ve got this wrong, but having watched Doctor Strange ‘Dormammu’ would seem to be a far more powerful foe than Thanos and has never even been mentioned, in any prior MCU conversation. Yes I know that the infinity gauntlet and the infinity stones are all heading our way and are expected to arrive in the summer of 2018, in the aptly titled Avengers: Infinity War but what’s the point of spending 8 years and several trips to the local multiplex, building up a baddie and then pull the rug out from under him, with only 18 months before he gets here, with an even more powerful and vengeful antagonist. Oh and spoiler alert, Dormammu survives in Doctor Strange so I have to assume that he we either be conveniently forgotten about, the next time the Avengers hit the big screen or possibly join forces with Mr T in the ultimate quest for Power, Prestige and Pokémon. Benedict Cumberbatch actually plays both Doctor Strange and Dormammu as well. Well I say plays, he had his face scanned and then digitally reproduced. The image was then tweaked, prodded and manipulated within an inch of its life and made to look like a an evil bobble head, who’s body is currently AWOL. Dormammu is also only on the screen for about five minutes. Prior to that the bad guy duties fall squarely on the shoulders of Mads Mikkelsen and this band of not so merry men/women. Which is fine but it left me feeling slightly cheated.
So in closing I’ll say this. 2016 has been a great year for the MCU and a solid improvement on 2015. It started with Captain America: Civil war, which I would have to put in the MCU’s top three best films. Then came Doctor Strange, which does have some problems but let’s be honest here, isn’t nearly as catastrophically bad as a certain ‘Son on Krypton vs Son of Gotham’ movie that I can’t bring myself to mention. Next year we get three, yes three, new members of the MCU to look forward to. Firstly, in April, we have Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2 and first impressions of that look great. Then next summer we have Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which we see Tom Holland getting his own movie, fresh from his scene stealing performance in Civil War. However, the film that I’m really looking forward to is Thor: Ragnarok. It’s directed by Taika Waititi and if you don’t know who that is shame on you! Due at the end of next October, it’s another film that seems to have assembled an amazing ensemble cast. Including, Cate Blanchet, Jeff Goldblum, Karl Urban and Sam Neil. Along with the usual suspects of Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Jamie Alexander, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba. Throw in a hammer for good measure and you’ve basically got the ingredients for a movie that will not only knock DC’s Justice League film out of the park. It will (hopefully) be the final nail in the coffin for Zack Snyder’s involvement in their cluttered and messy film franchise…
So go see Doctor Sherlock, sorry Strange. It’s funny, it’s flashy and it’s fashionably repetitive. Not quite a four star movie but it isn’t far off it.
Twitter Review:
2 Benedict’s, 1 Swinton, a Mads & some CGI. Doctor Strange entertains but he needs to work on his bedside manner.
#CloakSoldSeperately
2 Benedict’s, 1 Swinton, a Mads & some CGI. Doctor Strange entertains but he needs to work on his bedside manner.
#CloakSoldSeperately
